How to stop sounding like every other agency

For those who are new here: we're a collective built by agency founders, for agency founders. Nothing quite like us exists, and that's the point.

Part of our magic is our community mindset. We're founder focused, people led, and focused on getting better every day.

Our community is growing every month.

After only launching last year, we're over the moon to be 17 members and partners strong, and we’re not slowing down.

Most recently, we’re delighted to be joined by:

• ​Super Digital: Based in the West Midlands Super Digital is a digital marketing agency built by Chris Derrer. They are known for their punchy content, striking socials and campaigns that stand out.
• ​Rampart and Founder Sales Club: This one is a two parter. Headed by Daniel Wardle, both RampartGTM and Founder Sales Club add some serious GTM firepower to the collective.

We believe some of the best thinking happens when you step out of the business. As a founder, you need to take time physically out of it, so you can focus on the bigger picture.

But it’s difficult to force yourself to take that time.

So later this year, our Unusual founders and senior leaders are heading over to Doma, just outside Lisbon, Portugal. We're taking over an 18-hectare estate for what will be our biggest gathering yet.

We’re bringing together our incredible community, our newest thinking, and our most inspiring keynote contacts to deliver world-class workshops and sessions designed to give perspective. There's also a myriad of fun activities, wellness sessions, an Unusual DJ set, and a few surprises planned.
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It's the perfect opportunity to zoom out from the hectic founder life and focus on your business.

If you're not a member yet, this is the perfect time to join us and our community of agency founders.

Join the collective

Walk through 10 agency websites in any sector. Eight say ‘AI-powered.’ Six say ‘AI-native.’ Four have a hero section about transforming something with intelligent automation.
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Clients can feel the monotony. They can't tell agencies apart because the agencies can't tell themselves apart.

The instinct is to update the services page, push out a bit of thought leadership on prompt engineering, and run a webinar on workflow automation. But everyone else is doing the same thing. More AI language doesn't fix a positioning problem.

Here’s why it matters beyond the pitch.

Sameness isn't just costing you deals, it’s costing you your valuation. Generalist agencies in the mid-market are currently exiting at 4 to 6x EBITDA. Specialists with documented methodologies and defensible positioning are exiting at 8 to 15x. Same revenue, similar margins, two or three times the multiple, all coming down to one question: why do clients choose you?

This is exactly the type of structural decision we work through across the collective. The Unusual Method covers 86 specific points across 8 pillars, from positioning and commercial model through to systems, AI enablement and exit readiness. It exists because the same patterns appear in every agency we work with, and the gap between agencies that compound and agencies that plateau almost always traces back to a small number of structural decisions made early.

What the Creator Economy M&A Boom Tells Agency Founders About Building for Scale

The creator economy generated 81 acquisitions in 2025. That is a 17% year-on-year increase, and the market is forecast to reach $528 billion by 2030. Most founders read that and think: interesting sector. What they should think about is what ‌this tells us about how buyers value businesses.

Read our article here to find out what scaling agencies are doing differently.

If You Bill by the Hour, You’re Penalising Your Progress

For decades, the billable hour was the safe, standard language of the agency world. It was easy to track, easy to invoice, and easy for clients to understand. Not anymore.

Businesses now have roughly an 18-month window to rethink how they price their work before the traditional model erodes their bottom line.

Read more here.

Now, a bit of exciting news to share. I’m a finalist in the 2026 Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards for Start-Up Entrepreneur of the Year. ​

Known as the Grammys of Entrepreneurship, it's a pleasure to be nominated again. I was awarded Creative Industries Entrepreneur of the Year back in 2020, so being shortlisted alongside such incredible founders this time round means just as much.

Thanks for being in our corner.

Until next time,

Luke
​CEO & Founder of Unusual Group

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