Most agencies wouldn’t dream of walking away from a finalist pitch. However, Firehouse CEO Steve Smith and Executive Creative Director Tripp Westbrook lead the advertising agency with what they call “courage in the face of convention.”

Even when it means saying goodbye to a stipend.

One of the best examples of the agency’s bold approach was a pitch they had last year. Despite presenting three deep campaign ideas, Firehouse made the difficult decision to decline the opportunity to work with the potential client.

The Dallas-based agency walks the talk of its convictions. The pitch stipend would have given the potential client a total of 12 ad campaigns. To protect its creative rights, Firehouse even offered to pitch for free to retain their intellectual property, but it was a no-go.

Breaking ‘unwritten rules’

Smith and Westbrook aren’t afraid to shake up the status quo and challenge conventional thinking. That may be why one client calls the 25-year-old agency’s work a break from the “usual crap.”

One of the reasons Firehouse is so successful is their willingness to break the “unwritten rules” of advertising. Firehouse helps brands break out of more traditional marketing formulas when crafting ad campaigns.

In one campaign that was a “huge success,” it advised Interstate Batteries to get beyond run-of-the-mill battery ads. Turns out, market research shows people only think about car batteries when they fail. Firehouse shifted the storyline to “dependability.” And in working with the National Cheer Association, the agency  portrayed cheerleaders as hard-working athletes instead of taking a more expected “glitter and bows” approach. The result? The intended stakeholder group “ran away with the ad campaign themselves,” becoming true brand ambassadors who adopted the hashtag “#TheWorkIsWorthIt.”

Celebrarted creativity

Firehouse’s unconventional approach has been recognized by prestigious award programs like The One Show, The Webbie Awards, The Obies, and Communication Arts. The agency, which counts Lennox, Trupanion, Coinstar, and Mary Kay among its clients, was the only Texas-based agency listed in the 200-employees-or-less category. The agency recently announced that it has been named as a national Best Place to Work in America by Ad Age for the second consecutive year.

A version of this story was originally published in Dallas Innovates 2023.

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