Kwasi is 15! That’s right; we are officially old enough to have witnessed several generations of Google algorithms, more social media platforms than we care to remember, the rise of AI, at least 42 reported deaths of SEO (and subsequent resurrections), and an inexplicable number of changes to Google Ads.
Honestly, you see a lot after 15 years in digital marketing. You also learn a lot more.
To celebrate Kwasi’s 15th anniversary, we’re taking a walk down memory lane to look at what’s changed, what hasn’t, and everything we’ve somehow managed to fit into the decade and a half since 2011.
First, Let’s Go Back to 2011
Fifteen years is a long time on the internet.
For context, when Kwasi started in 2011, Party Rock Anthem was the inescapable earworm and the final Harry Potter film hit cinema screens. We saw Prince William and Catherine Middleton get married, US President Barack Obama visited Australia, Instagram was barely a year old, and for reasons no one can still explain, planking was a global phenomenon.
And asking ChatGPT whether publishing 400 near-identical suburb pages was a good idea wasn’t on any SEO strategist’s radar.
It’s fair to say that digital marketing principles and practices looked pretty different back then.
15 years ago, SEO focused much more heavily on individual keywords and rankings. Exact-match domains were everywhere. Google Ads was still Google AdWords. Marketers had access to far more user-level data than they do today, cookies weren’t yet a regular topic of conversation, and artificial intelligence wasn’t writing meeting summaries or answering search queries.
Kwasi began right in the thick of it all.
Our digital marketing approach was born from a pretty simple idea: instead of manipulating Google with short-term tricks, we would build something actually beneficial for businesses and the people they were trying to reach.
A lot has changed since 2011. Our approach to digital marketing? Well, the tools may have changed, but our approach hasn’t.
From SEO to GEO – and Just About Everything in Between
Since Kwasi started 15 years ago, Search has probably changed more than we could have possibly imagined.
We’ve seen Google roll out algorithm update after algorithm update. Back in the early 2010s, these updates were named after animals like Panda and Penguin. In the 2020s, they’re just called “Core updates”. Much less cute and fluffy. We’ve evolved from obsessing over exact-match keywords to thinking about search intent, topics, entities, journeys, and audiences.
Search results also evolved, expanding from 10 blue links per page (with a few paid or sponsored links sprinkled throughout) to include maps, shopping results, videos, featured snippets, People Also Ask results and, now, AI-generated answers.
Despite many commentators and experts claiming that “SEO is dead”, it hasn’t actually died. It hasn’t even disappeared. Like Kwasi, SEO has evolved.
Today, we’re thinking about how brands appear not only in traditional search results, but also how generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude understand, mention, reference, and cite them in a new era of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
Where Does Paid Media Fit in the Picture?
Paid media has experienced a similar transformation. No longer do we try to manually control almost every keyword, bid, and variation. Machine learning, automated bidding, Performance Max, audience signals, enormous creative libraries, and algorithms that make thousands of decisions behind the scenes have effectively replaced those practices.
But much like with SEO, our job has evolved with the changes to Paid Search. There may be less button-pushing, but there is more strategy, measurement, experimentation, and often simply figuring out whether the machine actually knows what it’s doing.
And, you know what? Sometimes it does. Sometimes we still have questions.
What About Data Analysis?
Then there’s analytics.
Over the course of 15 years, digital marketers have gone from:
- Universal Analytics to GA4.
- Fairly straightforward attribution to increasingly fragmented customer journeys.
- Abundant cookies to consent requirements and privacy restrictions.
- Measuring website visits to connecting advertising platforms, CRMs, automation systems, and offline sales data.
Marketing has become considerably more sophisticated since 2011.
(It has also become considerably better at producing spreadsheets.)
Statistics of a Quindecennial (Yes, it’s a Real Word)
Yes, we looked it up. A 15th anniversary is called a quindecennial.
And, honestly, what better way for a data-led digital marketing agency to celebrate one than by turning 15 years of work into a collection of completely unnecessary statistics?
- Since 2011, Kwasi has worked with 241 clients.
- Across that time, 71 people have been part of the Kwasi team.
- We’ve worked from five different offices, starting from the founder, Woj Kwasi’s home office, to our current Hutt St premises.
Our Prowess With Project Management
We’ve also had around 180 planning and retro days over the years. That’s roughly one opportunity every month for 15 years to discuss what worked, what didn’t, what we’d change next time and, presumably, what everyone wanted for lunch.
Then there are the task numbers.
Kwasi didn’t even start using Jira until November 2020. Since then, though, we’ve created 10,885 Jira cards and another 42,731 subtasks.
That’s 53,616 cards and subtasks in just under six years.
We’ve also clocked up 1,273 sprints. Are we proud of that number or slightly concerned? The jury is still out on that.
Communication
And then there’s Slack. Unfortunately, our available Slack analytics only go back 13 months, so we can’t tell you exactly how many messages Kwasi has sent over the entire 15 years.
What we can tell you is that in those 13 months alone, we’ve sent 59,474 Slack messages. Yes, that’s nearly 60,000 messages flying back and forth.
We’ll leave you to decide how many of those were strategically important business communications, how many were calls for lunch suggestions, and how many were GIFs.
Sure, numbers like these might be a slightly ridiculous way to look back at a business.
But they also tell a story.
- 241 clients means 241 businesses we’ve had the opportunity to learn about, challenge ourselves on, and hopefully make a positive difference to.
- 71 employees means 71 people who’ve brought their own ideas, skills, personalities, and perspectives into Kwasi.
- Five offices means five different versions of what coming to work at Kwasi has looked like over the years.
- And 53,616 Jira cards and subtasks means… well, mostly that we’ve done a lot of stuff.
15 Years of Clients, Challenges, and Some Very Good Problems to Solve
But while the statistics are certainly fun, it’s the projects behind the stats that we really remember.
Since 2011, Kwasi has welcomed many opportunities to work with businesses of just about every shape and size. These include local businesses, national organisations, financial services companies, education providers, tourism brands, ecommerce businesses, software companies, and businesses selling things we previously knew absolutely nothing about.
Every client has come to Kwasi with a different problem for us to help solve or a need to address.
The needs have varied greatly over 15 years, and continue to do so. Some clients come to us wanting more leads. Others want more sales or better visibility. Some just simply want a more user-friendly website navigation, or to tap into a new market.
While the platforms, tools, and tactics at our disposal have changed enormously over 15 years, the fundamental challenge hasn’t.
- Understand the business.
- Understand the customer.
- Work out what’s getting in the way.
- Fix it.
- Measure it.
- Make it better.
- Then do it again.
So, Exactly How Old Does 15 Make Us Feel?
One particularly effective way to answer this question is to look at what everyone at Kwasi was doing back in 2011.
- Founder and CEO Woj was establishing the Kwasi agency.
- CEO Greg was 36 years old and running two PT studios with his soul dog Ortino.
- Administrative Assistant and Graphic Designer Katie was 35 years of age and just having her first baby.
- Technical Lead and Project Manager Andrew was 19 years old and making his way through uni.
- Digital Account Manager Diva was 13 years old, in eighth grade at school, and proudly showing off her new Micromax bling phone.
- Paid Media Manager Oscar was 18 years old and finishing high school.
- Digital Marketing Assistant Johana was in her mid-20s, travelling to Chile and Peru. and working as a creative director for Coca-Cola in Bolivia.
- Digital Marketing Assistant Caitlyn was 21 and graduating from university with a degree in Social Work.
- Digital Marketing Assistant Marissa was 14 and just starting high school in Ohio.
- Digital Marketing Assistant David was 32 years old, a year away from moving to Melbourne and months away from trying his hand at open mic stand-up comedy.
We’ll allow everyone a moment to process that information.
The team itself has changed enormously over those 15 years too. Some stayed for a short period; others considerably longer. But every one of us who came to work – whether for a month, a year, or longer – brought new ideas, experience, and perspectives that helped to shape the agency we became.
Sure, the disciplines in 2026 might be broader and the technology considerably more complicated. But at the end of the day, we’re still a team of people who get disproportionately excited about data, good creative, clever strategy, and solving things that probably shouldn’t be as difficult as they are.
The Rest of the Story: Office Life and Other Adventures
15 years at work have been more than just campaigns, reports and client meetings. Outside of the 9-to-5 (and sometimes inside it), we’ve enjoyed:
- Fringe nights.
- Anniversary parties.
- Team lunches.
- Coffee runs.
- Planning days.
- Monthly retros.
- Conferences.
- Christmas parties.
- Office moves.
- Celebrating big wins
And an extraordinary number of conversations that began with, “This might be a stupid idea, but…”
Thankfully, some of those stupid ideas turned out to be pretty good.
Here’s to the Next 15 Years… and Beyond
As we reflect on 15 years of Kwasi, we look back at an agency that has changed alongside the people in it. Since 2011, we’ve had staff members come and go. Some join the business in one role and move into a completely different position as they grow in the company.
Looking back at our journey from a small home office to serving hundreds of clients, one lesson stands out: digital marketing never stands still.
Marking Kwasi’s 15th anniversary allows us to really see how quickly and how frequently digital marketing evolves. We’ve navigated everything from changing algorithms and evolving data analysis tools to the emergence of new AI-powered technologies that are changing the way people search online. Underneath it all, however, the work remains deeply human: connecting people looking for solutions with businesses ready to help them.
To the 241 clients who have trusted us, the 71 team members who have been part of our journey, and everyone who has collaborated with or supported us over the past 15 years: thank you. Here’s to the next decade and a half, and whatever the internet throws at us next!
