In the two years since Ryan Apps left Traffik, the agency he co-founded in 2005, he’s worked for and consulted with a handful of agencies that were trying to become leaner, more relevant partners for brands while trying to accomodate the changing nature of the ad business (i.e. a greater interest in content and customer-centric work at the expense of interruptive advertising).
Ryan Apps
Armed with that insight, he has now soft-launched Defyent, a “strategic entertainment” consultancy that seeks to build partnership opportunities for brands with music, sport and film companies and their thronging masses of fans.
What does that look like?
“Right now, we’re working with a national brand, building out their music strategy for the entire year, and then doing all the activation and planning, working with and securing the artists, and building a really collaborative model between artist and brand.”
Apps positions his new company (for which he serves as president and managing partner) as representing both brands and the entertainment industry, seeking transparency and benefit for both sides as opposed to acting as a brand’s advocate only.
But make no mistake — Apps does not see Defyent as a sponsorship agency.
“We have to disrupt the lexicon of the industry,” Apps said. “We’re in conversation with brands right now that have been sponsoring events for year, but they don’t see value. For the most part, when you talk about a long-term [sponsorship] agreement, one side doesn’t win. People are getting smarter about what sponsorship means.
“Our world is about collaborative business models. And we’re already creating our own properties to create our own revenue streams. [Defyent] will take the risk of an executive producer or promoter role to distance the risk away from the brand. But, the brand still has a revenue stream from [ticket sales]. That revenue goes back into content creation and extending the relationships.”
The company is already working with seven clients, including a global alcohol brand and a U.S.-based fashion company, and is on the way to establishing its first retainer-based relationship.
Defyent currently has four employees, but while Apps wants the company to run lean, he doesn’t want it quite that lean. Plans are afoot for two more offices, including one in Vancouver to let the company more effectively operate in Hollywood’s Pacific timezone.
