Sometimes it helps to force brands out of their comfort zone—and that’s where Dakota Media comes in.
Actor Josh Duhamel and media visionary Josh Algra, co-founders of the creative and production agency, joined Adweek CEO Will Lee at Brandweek to discuss their passion for helping companies create consumable content while staying true to their brand story.
Positively disruptive
The duo founded the agency in 2019 and have since worked with major brands like the National Football League’s Los Angeles Rams, the PGA Tour and Hyundai. Their approach is simple and impactful: “We really want to make noise and help these companies be who they are and find a cool way to do it,” Duhamel said.
Algra added: “For us, being positively disruptive is important. It’s not always easy to get there—you kind of have to force people to get out of their comfort zone.”
An example is their campaign for 3M, a tech company that manufactures industrial and consumer products. Dakota Media was tasked with promoting the 3M Open golf tournament and successfully executed campaign goals by highlighting how 3M-manufactured machines built TaylorMade clubs.
“We try to humanize some of these brands,” Algra said, sharing that the team spent a lot of time digging into the brand’s long history, which is rooted in science and tech.
Keeping things fresh
With Duhamel’s experience in front of and behind the camera, and Algra’s experience in tech, sports and tourism, Dakota Media is making its mark in branded content. Its LA Rams campaign for the NFL Draft garnered a lot of attention, featuring A-list talent like Bryan Cranston.
The creative partners attributed the campaign’s success to their collaboration with the Rams marketing team and a certain level of comfort on set for the talent that stems from Duhamel’s prior relationships with some of the stars and athletes. Algra credits his partner with working through a lens of always wanting to make the work different and engaging.
“That’s what we try to do: Try different things, try to shake it up a little bit. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t,” Duhamel summed up.
