Curiosity

2010

Cincinnati

Full-service

60

Underdog

Coming up as a small agency in Cincinnati teaches you a lot about being an underdog. No beaches, no NBA team, no holding company backing—just curiosity, guts, and a growing roster of brands willing to bet on both.

But when Ashley Walters, Trey Harness, and Jeff Warman took the reins of Curiosity in 2019, becoming equity partners of the then-nine-year-old shop, they had a clear five-year mission to overcome their underdog status: scale intelligently, build a culture people wanted to be part of, and prove that a scrappy Midwest agency could hang with the big boys. 

The results? Five straight years of 30%+ YOY growth, a reputation for work that punches above its weight, and a pipeline of high-growth brands eager for what Curiosity does best—smart, culturally relevant creative that grows businesses.

In 2024, the mission was to keep scaling without sacrificing culture. And the year kicked off hotter than a bowl of Skyline Chili. 

Within the first six months, Curiosity landed Stop & Shop, pH-D Feminine Health, Jordan’s Granola, and Crazy Candy. We launched a viral Super Bowl stunt and ESPN partnership for DUDE Wipes, produced Academy Sports’ biggest campaign ever, and helped SeeHer bring its vision for gender equality to life—in Times Square, no less. We broke taboos with pH-D Feminine Health by normalizing the word “vagina” (and “poonanie,” and “beaver”) in TV spots, billboards, and social. We bought a building. We added new leadership across strategy, client service, social, and analytics—marking the launch of a new department and proprietary tool offering predictive modeling insights at a fraction of the cost. We built new incentive programs, kicked off community service initiatives, and launched four DEI committees. 

Then came the call. Native—our largest client, for whom we’ve been media AOR since 2020, hit $1B in revenue. Normally a time to celebrate, especially given we helped grow the brand from $30M to $1B in just five years. But the call wasn’t to celebrate. It was to inform us that due to P&G policy, the brand needed to move its media to a holding company–though creative could continue on a project-basis.

Well, fuck.

It was a gut punch—but not a knockout. Curiosity responded the way underdogs do: we regrouped, doubled down, and refused to lose momentum.

By the end of 2024, Curiosity hit $22.6 million, up 41% from 2023, making it the biggest revenue and profit year in history. And our high-growth clients? Still climbing:

• Zevo went from obscurity to #1 bug killer in America

• DUDE Wipes jumped from $70M to $200M in sales

• pH-D became #1 in the category

• We signed Crazy Candy—the freeze-dried candy market leader and third best-selling candy at Target

Three of these clients expanded scope for 2025.

By Q2, Curiosity was back winning: AOR for Splenda, a huge creative project for Blue Buffalo, NICKS ice cream, and a spot on the Helen of Troy roster.

We may not be underdogs anymore. But we still know how to fight like one. 

At Curiosity, we’ve never been big on following trends—especially the ugly ones. We don’t root for bullies; we work for progress.

In 2024, we worked hard to make our company more inclusive, equitable and accountable. We underwent our third-party equity audit and certification process to ensure employees are paid fairly across age, religion, race, sex and gender. The audit also ensures we’re mitigating bias in hiring, evaluating, promoting and compensating our people. And because we believe in holding ourselves accountable, we publish our progress right on our website.

We launched Cur Lab, a Shark-Tank style initiative where employees pitch our partners and Shark Tank’s DUDE Wipes darling and CEO Sean Riley, on their ideas to solve real-world problems, whether in their communities, the broader world, or for their kid’s soccer team. Winning ideas get $25K in funding– one more way we let our people know their voices and ideas matter. 

We also created four employee-led DEI committees, each with a distinct mission: Education & Awareness, Community Building, Recruiting and Creative. These committees led everything from backpack drives for underserved kids, to a pen pal program with local elementary schools, to Paint the Town, an initiative where our team revives neglected spaces in our city with paint, design and creative love.

Beyond our walls, we’re supporting equity and representation across the industry. We mentor students from ONE School, the free portfolio school for Black Creatives. We’re also longtime partners with SeeHer, the global movement to accurately represent women and girls in marketing and media. With gender equality at risk, we doubled down by partnering with SEEHER’s Chris Guilfoyle and P&G CEO Marc Pritchard to produce the movement’s first major awareness campaign, pro bono. The result? A fresh wave of new recruits and accountability for existing members wavering on their commitments.

Closer to home, we run a monthly social media program that shines a spotlight on and drives business to local, minority-owned businesses, like Pata Roja Tacos, Rad OTR vintage shop, Columbian coffee shop Coffia, Eliza Jane Bake Shop, and BlaCk Coffee.

In this age of crumbling standards and rising cruelty–with many brands jumping on the bandwagon–we’ll be sticking to our values.

On the tech side of things, we democratized predictive modeling insights – offering them to clients at a fraction of the normal six-figure cost. Built so clients could afford it and their businesses could benefit from it. Market Mix Model (MMM) makes predictions based on historical data to identify incremental sales, quantifies contribution to business results, calculates the adstock effect, quantifies ROI, and provides guidance on diminishing returns. 

The business:

Curiosity hit $22.6 million in revenue by the end of 2024, up 40% from 2023; and rebounded from the Native loss by reeling in $2.3 million in new business. We also dropped 562 pieces of original content, boosting our social following 31% from June '24; and attracted 24+ hires across creative, account, and strategy teams.

Finally, we doubled down on DEI and leaned in pro bono to promote the SEEHER message that's so closely tied to our mission.

The culture:

In terms of things we do that no holdco could – don't get us started. 

Curious People series:

The brief was simple: Prove that we have the most Curious People in the world. We set out to make a series of short documentaries spotlighting our curious people’s curious hobbies. The result? A heart-warming showcase of what makes our weirdos, weirdos. The goal? Show clients the hearts behind the hustle, show future employees who they’ll be lunching with, and maybe – just maybe – make someone say, “Okay, I’ve gotta work there.” Episode one racked up over 8,700 views across social and YouTube, with episode 2 set to debut in early September. And yes, one of our James Beard-recognized Analysts (you read that right) is hosting a restaurant pop-up. Come one, come all.

Extreme Makeover: Curiosity Edition

How do you launch our new space in style? A six-minute spoof. Shot over 18 months, we set out to create a “move that bus!!” moment that captured the hearts of clients, consultants, and followers. With 12k+ views and hundreds of engagements, it wasn’t just a building launch. It was a brand moment dripping in humor and heart – and a few questionable outfits.

Cur Lab:

We launched Cur Lab, a Shark-Tank style initiative where employees pitch our partners and Former NFL lineman-turned-entrepreneur Dhani Jones, on their ideas to solve real-world problems, whether its the local lifeguard shortage shuttering Cincinnati pools, lack of baby changing tables in men's restrooms, or the inaccessible cost of the city’s bikeshare program, Cur Lab encourages people to dream big, then pitch, for a chance to land 25K in funding and week off from their typical clients duties to bring their solution to life. Pitch day is in September, stay tuned.

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