Empowering Efficiency: How Thesis Achieved 12% Cost Reduction - Airtable

Creative agency streamlines operations, cutting costs by 12%


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For Thesis to move at the pace and scale their clients demand, they were told they needed fancy, complex, expensive tools to overhaul their way of working. Instead, they chose to go all in on Airtable and build it themselves.

500,000+

Hours tracked across 3,500 projects since implementation.

12%

Reduction in operating costs within the first year of using Airtable.

3,000+

Hours saved annually through automations, enhancing team productivity.

Thesis, a digital marketing agency in Portland, OR, delivers high-volume creative at scale for some of the world’s most well-known names, including  the world’s largest sportswear brand.

Thesis was challenged to increase the volume and speed of their work to meet their clients' fast-paced needs.Their fragmented tech stack—with separate tools for time tracking, project management, and financial reporting—created inefficiencies and slowed collaboration.

“We had multiple tools for time tracking, project planning, financial reporting, and collaboration. This fragmented setup was time-consuming and meant team members often spent more time on finding information, missed connections, and admin-project management than necessary.”

Molly Leaf

Head of Operations at Thesis

The agency needed a cohesive, scalable solution that would allow its teams to work together seamlessly, centralize project data, and ultimately better serve itself and its clients. After weeks of engaging with out-of-the-box agency management systems sales teams, what was available in the marketplace proved to be both expensive and rigid - meaning Thesis would have to overhaul their processes to fit the tool, not design a tool to meet the way they worked.

Enter ORDR: One resource done right

ORDR is a network of Airtable bases that empowered Thesis to collaborate and connectedly manage their work. Airtable helped Thesis unite a handful of tools into a single source of truth, eliminating manual efforts and streamlining communication across the agency. 

“We knew Airtable could provide the custom solutions our business needed. With ORDR, we’re faster, more connected, and fully in control of our tools and processes.”

Morgan Nystrom

Creative Operations Director

The most impressive part? Thesis built ORDR from the ground up and launched it in just three months, sunsetting their legacy systems. ORDR transformed day-to-day processes for the email team so successfully, there was immediate demand from other teams to bring workflows into Airtable. To answer this need, Thesis formed a team dedicated to managing the Airtable ecosystem, focused on building custom bases for multiple use cases.

A connected, customizable Airtable ecosystem

ORDR enabled operational alignment across project management, finance, team planning, and time tracking across all client accounts, allowing for more effective collaboration and visibility into each project’s impact. 

“We went from disconnected tools to a fully connected, centralized system.”

Jim Nowierski

Head of Strategy at Thesis

Thesis’ teams can track client invoicing, manage prospecting, organize project timelines, forecast finances, and oversee campaign metrics—all while maintaining real-time insights into ROI.

The result? Empowered teams, reduced costs, and faster impact

500,000 Hours Tracked Across 3,500 Projects

Since 2016, Thesis has tracked over 500,000 hours across 3,500 projects. Within ORDR, time tracking is enabled right from the task, enabling leadership to assess project timelines, monitor resource allocation, and make strategic business decisions. This level of insight has allowed the agency to prioritize projects that deliver the highest client value, ultimately driving business impact.

200+ Automations that bolster Efficiency and Revenue

Thesis implemented over 200 Airtable automations across ORDR, streamlining repetitive tasks and reducing time spent on manual processes. Automations notify team members of project updates, generate client reports, and track project expenses in real time. As a result, teams are more productive and client communication is streamlined, allowing the agency to respond faster and deliver consistent outcomes for clients.

12% Reduction in Operating Costs and 3,000+ Hours Saved in the First Year Alone

The shift to ORDR has generated significant time and cost savings, enabled by speed and phasing out components of their previous tech stack. With project and financial data seamlessly connected, Thesis reduced operating costs by 12%. These savings have allowed the agency to reallocate resources to revenue-generating projects and improve client outcomes, creating a competitive edge in a fast-paced industry.

“ORDR has allowed us to eliminate redundant tasks and reallocate resources strategically. The reduction in operating costs has given us the freedom to focus on projects that truly move the needle for our clients.”

Adam Peaker

Chief Financial Officer at Thesis

ORDR’s centralized system has enabled Thesis to help their clients do more with less, spending more time on the creative process and less on time-consuming admin.

What’s in store for Thesis: enhance ORDR features to anticipate client and business needs

With a deep understanding of evolving client priorities, Thesis shares what it continues to learn from ORDR to help its clients build efficient content studios within their companies.

“ORDR is more than just a set of tools—it’s a strategy for empowering our team and maximizing client impact. We’re excited to explore new possibilities with Airtable to keep building on our success.”

Keely York

CEO at Thesis.

Thesis is empowered to bring Airtable's cohesion and ease to more than just their creative clients. As of 2024, Thesis is a Gold Accredited Airtable Services Partner and is exploring additional automated integrations and customizations to continue evolving its project management, design tools, and reporting capabilities. By deepening their Airtable ecosystem, they aim to create even more powerful solutions to propel themselves and their clients forward.


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