ConCreates Founders Vincent Bragg and Joe Nickson
A few months ago, I was told about this “unique” advertising agency that operated under a business model that leveraged a network of individuals who provided insights and personal life experiences to fuel creative ideas that looked and felt fresh and authentic. And this agency was partnering with companies like Meta, United Airlines, Warner Media, and Google, among others.
What makes them unique? The fact that the agency's founders are formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs, and their network is mainly comprised of current or formerly incarcerated individuals.
‘We give these radical thinkers a chance to harness their creativity in a positive way by providing radical ideas to brands looking to break the mold. In the process, we hope to shatter the stigma associated with 1/3 of the U.S. population who have criminal histories, provide people with a second chance to be valuable members of society, and reduce recidivism.’ This is the way the founders self-describe their agency, ConCreates.
I spoke with Joe Nickson and Vincent Bragg, co-founders of ConCreates, and below is an edited version of our conversation.
Isaac Mizrahi - How was ConCreates started?
Joe Nickson - ConCreates started with the universe opening up and saying it was time for the world to know your contributions to creativity. It was the most organic experience that I've had in my life. When opportunity and preparation meet, it's nice.
Vincent Bragg - I am Vincent Bragg, co-founder, and CEO of ConCreates. I broke federal laws that landed me in prison, where I was able to re-educate myself. I was able to self-reflect and reevaluate my position with humankind. During my incarceration, I met my dear friend Joe Nickson who had this radical idea for an underwear company. It was implemented and went viral. This idea was the spark that led us to form ConCreates.
Mizrahi - How do you define ConCreates?
Nickson - I would define ConCreates as a permanent fixture at the intersection of passion and purpose.
Bragg - A voice for the voiceless.
Mizrahi - Could you describe how you operate on a given project?
Nickson - Organically. It truly depends on the brief because they are all so different. Everyone on our team wears multiple hats and works very well together. We always do a thorough research phase when we first receive a brief. We then jump into a creative session to ideate together and present our best ideas to our client. From there, we pull in our related talent contacts and execute the project.
Bragg - Think of our executive team as a coffee filter; the brief is the coffee grounds. Then we enlist it in with the water (ConCreates, our network), the ideas come out raw, then we add cream and sugar (or flavor), and then we help your day get started.
Mizrahi - Who are your clients? Were they reluctant when they started working with you?
Nickson - The artist formerly known as Facebook, whom the world knows as Meta now, was one of our number 1 advocates. They never attempted to stifle our creativity and always supported us growing, all the while trying to create a platform so the world could hear and feel our creativity. We've also worked with Google, MeUndies, WarnerMedia, United Airlines, and many other great companies.
Bragg - Not any one of those companies was reluctant when they started working with us.
Mizrahi - Could you share an example of a project you worked on with a corporate client?
Nickson - We recently collaborated with United Airlines and Ms. Opal to create a Juneteenth that we are very proud of. This video featured the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” Ms. Opal Lee; black pilots from United Airlines' BEACON program; and young aspiring pilots in an aviation program. The video highlighted the progress we've made, with much more to come.
Bragg - One of the works I am most proud of would be something that never made it into the world. We had the privilege of working with the great experiential marketing company, the Joe Lewis Company. We were briefed on a project for the G20 Summit, a huge event involving world leaders, dignitaries, and many nations. This was the first year it would be open to the public, and we were tasked with coming up with ideas for the experience. Long story short, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia approved the ideas, but the pandemic happened, and the event was canceled. Having the unique population we represent leads us to be able to lend having each nation included and acknowledged for its contribution to humanity.
Mizrahi - What messages would you like to share with the marketing community?
Nickson - Allow for intuition to lead the way. Creativity is currency, don't ever forget that.
Bragg - I always say they taught us how to read in school, but they never taught us how to read between the lines. What that means to me is that what is on paper doesn't always attribute to someone's potential or capabilities. So how do we begin to read between the lines? You can see that in the ConCreates team. The things we did that were against the law have transferable skill sets.
As we experience economic headwinds, future-forward companies need to engage different thinkers to unlock business value in new ways. Moreover, efforts like this one from ConCreates can help our marketing and advertising industry understand that the search for a more diverse and inclusive society can start from within, making our industry more open to new and different voices.
