The Charles Group: Meet the Agency Sparking Growth with Reinvention

“We often say we’re the ‘agency you’ve never heard of’, because we strive to be our clients’ secret weapon - and we love playing that role”. 

The Charles Group, an NYC-based company with offices in Chicago and London, is an agency with a difference. Founded by sibling duo Samantha and Aaron Edwards (CCO and CEO respectively), The Charles has developed a habit for fuelling growth for brands through creativity and reinvention. A diverse array of brands including HP, Ferrari, Birkenstock, Cartier, Turnberry and many more have leaned on The Charles to put together the kind of creative that cuts through modern media clutter and finds a genuine, authentic connection with an audience - no matter whether that audience is pre-existing or entirely new. 

Finding previously untapped audiences for a brand is no easy task, but it’s a challenge The Charles Group relishes. “First, we dive into the data to identify untapped audience segments - groups the brand may not usually target - and test new ideas with these audiences on a smaller scale,” explains Samantha. “If those tests succeed, we gradually expand the approach to include more core audiences.”

An example of that playing out in practice is the agency’s work with Russel Athletic, a legacy name in the athletic apparel space having been in business since 1902. As part of a wider strategic refresh for the brand, The Charles Group produced comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research that identified new audiences, whilst creating a new brand strategy and positioning that set up the foundation for a brand book, campaign photoshoot, and editorial catalogue that celebrated Russel Athletic’s history with a new creative positioning statement: ‘Stitched for Authenticity’. 

“We never abandon what makes a brand special” continues Samantha, reflecting on the process. “Instead of declaring, ‘It’s all new,’ we go back to the brand’s essence - the heart and soul that initially drew customers in. We focus on what still resonates in the brand’s DNA and use that as a foundation to introduce new ideas.”

For a positioning which is all about ‘authenticity’, it was essential that the entire process remained authentic to the brand. That’s not something that only applies to Russel Athletic, however - a commitment to authenticity is becoming the price of entry for any brand looking to forge a meaningful connection with its audience. That’s at least in part because, as Aaron goes on to explain, a brand “can’t hide anymore.” 

“With the constantly evolving landscape of social media, the audience is in control - and they will call you out in an instant,” warns Aaron. “That’s why honesty and transparency are more critical than ever. Brands need to have a clear sense of who they are, and stay true to that identity.”

Communicating with authenticity is a muscle that The Charles Group has built up over the course of more than ten years in the business. A process of trial, error, and innovation has led the agency to a point where they’re able to help a brand communicate with confidence and fluency. 

“If we could go back, we’d tell our younger selves: Don’t be afraid of the thoughtful yes and the strategic no,” notes Samantha as she reflects on the early days of The Charles. “Early on, we often took on clients that weren’t the right strategic fit, largely because we hadn’t fully defined who we were as an agency yet.”

But now, the agency has refined its identity and honed in on what it does best. “This clarity has allowed us to align with clients who truly benefit from our expertise, and it shows in the results we’re able to deliver,” continues the CCO. “Being intentional about the partnerships we take on has been a game-changer, both for our work and for the success of the brands we support.”

When a brand truly knows and understands its audience, that audience is more inclined to listen to what that brand has to say. This is the simple trick at the heart of so much of The Charles’ success - and it’s particularly effective at a time when there’s so much noise across culture more broadly. 

“The old adage ‘any publicity is good publicity’ simply doesn’t hold true anymore. For us, it’s about helping the brands we work with cut through the noise in their specific category and with their core consumers,” explains Samantha. “Capturing their attention is the first step - and in today’s distraction-filled world, that’s no small feat.”

And it hasn’t come around by accident. There’s a science behind the agency’s approach, which Aaron breaks down for LBB. “To accurately assess audience response, we employ a suite of methodologies, including new AI-powered predictive pre-testing, multivariate A/B testing, in-depth audience feedback analysis, and controlled concept piloting across proprietary channels,” he says. “Additionally, we prioritise seamless collaboration with clients at every stage to ensure strategic alignment and the delivery of quantifiable results. ROI? say less.”

At the heart of it all is a fundamentally human understanding of what makes a brand a brand - the difference between an abstract logo and something culturally relevant. It’s especially powerful in an age of content oversaturation and seemingly endless noise - a trend that emerging tech like AI seems destined to entrench. The Charles Group is curious and open-minded when it comes to artificial intelligence, but not in the ways you might first expect. 

“Whilst focusing on AI and its implications to workflow and output is important, we are much more interested in automation”, Aaron tells LBB. “Imagine a world where instead of a delayed project being manually updated in spreadsheets and resourcing having to be addressed a week later, it's all automated, teams are alerted in real time, milestones are shifted and resources are now effectively reallocated to other work streams seamlessly.”

That fundamental framing of AI as a tool for better - rather than simply more - is at the heart of where The Charles Group sees success in the future. At the end of our interview, LBB asks Aaron what he thinks we’d be talking about if we were to have this conversation again exactly one year from now. 

“The industry loves to dress up old ideas in new buzzwords, but real innovation is rare,” posits the CEO. “Meanwhile, we’ll be talking about the slow-motion collapse of the holding company model—because clients are tired of bloated structures, inefficiencies, and paying for layers of bureaucracy that don’t add value.”

And, true to what’s powered The Charles Group’s success to this point, he predicts a resurgence in organic, authentic, and meaningful content - even if it feels unlikely in the present moment. “We will also be talking about what we are coining ‘kraftwerk’ - human made content for humans - and not algorithms and bots (which is where we are currently heading)”, he adds. 

Zoom out, and it feels entirely obvious - to connect with real people, you need to make work that’s real. For many brands and marketers, that represents a challenge. But for The Charles Group, it’s just second nature.