Meet the Sponsors of the LBB & Friends Beach 2023: Kurio

For our company snapshot piece, we want to create a profile that pinpoints exactly what makes your company unique right now in 2023. We want to know about the culture and the competitive edge that you bring as well as finding out how the company has evolved over the past couple of years as new tech and changes in the market have disrupted the industry.

Q> When and why was your company founded?

Having worked in legacy agencies, us founders felt we a) wanted to work in the industry way more, b) do things a little bit differently, and c) focus on social media. And that’s why in 2010 Kurio was born.

Q> Give us an elevator pitch for your company! 

We are a social-first creative agency, with a trophy room that still has room for some Lions. We believe social media has changed marketing – for good. In addition to serving our clients to the max, we have been striving to be a thought-leader in the industry since day one, and done quite nicely at it: publishing various annual whitepapers with e.g. thenetworkone and Cannes Lions, and having been tutoring and keynoting at the latter, too. 

Q> What sets your company apart from others in the industry?

One main thing we focused on creating the foundation for Kurio, was to place ourselves at the intersection between ad agencies, media agencies and PR agencies. That has really grown in its importance and effect, as we have grown as an agency. For our clients it means synergies, efficiencies and just general ease. 

Q> How big is your team and where are your key locations?

Our core team is around 20, but always expandable depending on client needs thanks to our extended family. Our HQ is in Helsinki, but our playground is global social media – wherever the target groups are.

Q> How would you describe your company culture?

As the name goes, curiosity is in our DNA. We’re always pushing things forward for our clients, aiming for the bold, unconventional, surprising, new. And this is only possible with trust. And team effort. And team spirit.

Q> Who are some of the key members of your team that our readers should know?

Us co-founders, that is Elli Tuominen and myself, have really been the faces of the company. Way too much, if you ask us! Anyhow, we have been the ones who have got up on that stage whenever needed: be it tutoring Academies at Eurobest, keynoting in Cannes Lions, or doing jury duties in Dubai Lynx. But if you ask me, you should know, for example, our brand new COO, Saara Silván, who brings 15 years of rock solid media expertise into the team. And of course our CEO Tommi Opas – and should you meet him, a great conversation-starter tip would be the recent AI surge. He did his PhD about the effect of AI on creativity, almost twenty years ago now, and he never gets tired of fighting claims such as “AI is taking our jobs.”

Q> How do you foster creativity within your team?

We believe that creativity lies within the whole team – not in titles. And this includes the whole team, clients and other parties included. Personally I try and foster it as such. As an entity, that guides us all. The creative idea, approach or execution is out there, and anyone can get a hold of it – and help make it a reality. Together. 

Q> How does your company address sustainability, and diversity and Inclusion internally?

I believe it is best done through our work for our clients. They are the ones who are affecting the society as a whole. We’ve had the honour of working with many companies that are regarded as the sustainability leaders in their respective industries. Many of our clients have been Pride movement supporters from the get-go, which has led us doing important work in that regard. Also, we love to bring together different companies for a common campaign, and in many cases some of those have been NGOs working in environmental or societal fields. None of this works, of course, if the home base isn’t aligned – we have zero tolerance on any kind of discrimination at our agency.

Q> What are some of the most interesting projects that your company has worked on in the past year?

Well just a month ago we turned a children’s book character into a virtual influencer with a little help from AI. Our client Helen, one of the leading energy companies in Finland, was about to publish a kids’ book – an amazingly crafted story of a girl called Ellen, who ventures into the fairytale world of energy to discover how it works. You know, to help kids understand the energy crisis and the green transition. Now the client needed a way to get the story spread on social. So we asked ourselves: why should we tell the story of Ellen, when she can do it herself? Combining two hot trends, virtual influencers and generative AI, we created ground-breaking work, that helped to achieve the goals – and beyond. Hats off to the client who boldly ventured into the unknown with us!

Q> What are some of the biggest challenges that your company has faced?

I’m not gonna say the C word, so I’ll just say the pandemic. Although on a serious note, it wasn’t all bad – since everyone all over the world were tied to their small screens 24/7, there was a silver lining to it for a social media agency. 

Q> What are some of the most important lessons that you have learned while running your company?

“ABC – always be closing”. Or more generally, the importance of sales. During our first years, we didn’t really sell. We didn’t have anyone doing it. We were 100% inbound. We spent our time and effort on blogs, keynotes, research papers, podcasts, etc. Now it was all good, don’t get me wrong. And it made a solid backbone for our brand for up until now and into the future. It is still in our DNA doing that. But only when we started to actively and boldly sell, did we start to really grow. This experience, this way of working with pull & push, has really helped us serve our B2B clients – which make up roughly half of our business.

Q> How do you ensure that your company stays competitive in 2023?

This year we’ve really started to leverage generative AI. Although we established Kurio AI unit already in 2016, and did our first Fortune 500 executions back in 2017, only now we’ve really integrated AI into all our working, thinking, doing.

Q> How has your company adapted to changes in the industry over the past couple of years?

We’re firm believers in the purpose-driven business. We’ve been preaching about it since 2013, not least in our 3-day masterclass lectures. As more and more companies have laid out their purpose statements along their missions & visions, we’ve been really glad to help them make those a reality. 

Q> What are some of the most exciting new developments that have taken place at your company recently?

The whole team getting ready for the trip to Cannes Lions? C’est ca.

Q> What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the advertising industry in 2023?

Short-sightedness. Due to the worldwide, big picture uncertainties we’re in a situation where long-term means the next Q.

Q> Looking forward, what are your key goals and ambitions for the year ahead?

Taking Kurio – and especially its clients – to ever more global stages, into bigger and brighter spotlights – but before we London, New York or Tokyo, let’s Cannes.