Make It in Brooklyn: Blue State
Field: Creative strategy agency for purpose-driven organizations
Est: 2004
BK HQ: 41 Flatbush Avenue
With more than 75 employees at its Downtown Brooklyn office, Blue State partners with leading causes, companies, and campaigns to provide strategic direction and digital services. The agency, which relocated last year to the Pioneer Building at 41 Flatbush Ave, has its roots in political campaigning and grew rapidly after leading digital strategy for Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign in 2008. Today, they have a team of technologists, strategists, makers, and producers across five cities, with clients such as Google, UNICEF, and Earthjustice.
Central Accessibility
After outgrowing space in Soho in 2018, the agency realized that – with 70% of staff already living in Brooklyn – a Downtown Brooklyn office would reduce commute times across the team. In the past year, several additional staff members have relocated to the borough. The team appreciates quick access to JFK for business travel, and Blue State’s clients enjoy visiting the neighborhood for meetings. COO Kate Swann recognizes the convenience of having a regional transit hub down the street: “Everything happens at Atlantic Terminal – all of the subways, the LIRR – so no matter how you’re travelling, you’re able to get here.”
Designed to Motivate
Blue State hired the designer behind The Wing to customize their 21K SF office in the recently-redeveloped Pioneer Building. The loft-like space, which allows the entire team to work from a single expansive floor with noteworthy downtown views, features bright conference rooms and seating areas for gathering, as well as private spaces for focused individual work. Staff members collaborated on wall murals and signage that bring color and inspiration to the space and highlight notable figures from progressive movements.
Global Reach
The agency works with an international roster of corporate, nonprofit, and political clients to mobilize people around a common purpose. The team harnessed grassroots support for marriage equality for Freedom to Marry, launched a digital social sharing platform for Ford, and helped UNICEF creatively envision how to use technology to support fundraising and engagement.
Read more about Blue State here, and find more Make It in Brooklyn profiles here.
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