Marketing should not feel like a crapshoot. That’s the idea behind Hopeless Marketing, a creative agency crafted to combat aimless, ego-driven, throw-ads-at-it-and-see-what-sticks brand promotion.

We serve just businesses — in other words, anyone who’s trying to make the world better for more people through their work.

If you run an org like that, you’ve got a chance to make a difference.

But you’ll have to make some sales first.

Hopeless is the brainchild of creative strategist Benjie Hughes. Benjie’s an entrepreneur who built and scaled a music business to hundreds of events a year. And he’s a 20-year veteran of small marketing agencies, where he led messaging and branding efforts for companies like

• the world’s largest pea-protein manufacturer,

• the research firm that investigated the Shroud of Turin, and

• the software team whose app powered a citywide COVID response.

Benjie has consulted on mayoral and presidential campaigns, messaged company moves and nonprofit mergers, and designed campaigns for consultancies, fintech firms and prototypers.

What he loved was helping organizations express what it was that made them different.

What he loathed was seeing teams lose sight of that expression over time. Their purpose was a pretty website message — but it didn’t stick, because it wasn’t aligned with everything in the business. It wasn’t culture.

Purpose wasn’t strategy.

Hopeless Marketing aims to change that with a strategy-first approach that gets your people aligned not just on purpose, but on how you mean to make that purpose real.

First, we help your team align around a clear identity.

Then, we build the creative tools and systems your teams needs to activate it.

When strategy aligns with purpose, sales and marketing take you further. Which is how your impact grows.

And yes, The agency name’s a joke.

We want you to feel great about your marketing. We want your employees and your clients bright and optimistic and delighted – everything our logo’s not.

We just know dreams and wishes aren’t what get you there.

Who needs them?

Abandon hope. Hope’s not a strategy.

Hopeless helps you win.