Authentic Brand review

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 20% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 5 · Strong 7 · Weak 1. The typical agency here scores Strong, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Can diagnose market, customer, positioning, funnel, economics, and organizational constraints, then make explicit tradeoffs.

Scores low — Evidence of hard prioritization scores 4-5; generic channel plans score 1-2.

What we found — Authentic Growth is a documented marketing operating system connected to business objectives.

funnel — the path from stranger to customer — awareness at the top, purchase at the bottom. “Full-funnel” means owning the whole path, not one stage.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 18% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 5 · Strong 2 · Adequate 3 · Weak 1 · Poor 2. The typical agency here scores Strong, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Evidence ties leadership to revenue, pipeline, retention, margin, category growth, or durable team capability.

Scores low — Business outcomes score 4-5; activity and awareness-only claims score 1-2.

What we found — The case library names MQL, revenue, deposit, ecommerce, deal-size, EBITDA, and acquisition outcomes.

On the record — “Its client library names outcomes including 200% more MQLs, 50% ecommerce growth, a $1 million EBITDA increase, and a 50% increase in average deal size.” authenticbrand.com ↗

pipeline — the dollar value of open, qualified deals sales is working. “Pipeline created” ties marketing to money, where lead counts don’t.

MQL — marketing-qualified lead: a contact marketing flags as promising — a form fill, a download — before anyone from sales has spoken to them. Easy to produce in volume, which is why MQL counts flatter and revenue numbers don’t.

Evidence: vendor stated — the agency’s own claim, recorded as theirs rather than ours.

Strong — 4 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 16% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 3 · Strong 8 · Adequate 1 · Weak 1. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 3 of them score higher than this one.

Scores high — Named former CMOs or equivalent operators with relevant company-stage and category experience score 4-5.

Scores low — Unnamed consultants or career sellers without operating ownership score 1-2.

What we found — CMOs are employed executives supported by a national firm and shared methodology. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Strong.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 12% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 6 · Strong 2 · Adequate 1 · Weak 3 · Poor 1. The typical agency here scores Strong, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Can design the org, hire/manage agencies and staff, allocate budget, and transfer capability.

Scores low — A stronger in-house team after the engagement scores 5; dependency on the provider's services scores 1-2.

What we found — Client stories and testimonials explicitly cover team design, mentoring, and sustainable systems.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 12% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 4 · Strong 5 · Adequate 2 · Weak 2. The typical agency here scores Strong, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Runs planning, weekly decisions, KPI reviews, experiments, and executive/board communication with clear ownership.

Scores low — Embedded accountability scores 4-5; monthly advice calls score 1-2.

What we found — The model embeds the CMO in the executive team and runs a repeatable operating cadence.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Strong — 4 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 10% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 6 · Strong 5 · Weak 2. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 6 of them score higher than this one.

Scores high — Direct pattern recognition at the buyer's stage, business model, sales motion, and category scores 4-5.

Scores low — Broad 'any company' positioning scores 2.

What we found — Broad named client coverage across growth businesses lowers vertical mismatch risk. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Strong.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Strong — 4 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 6% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Strong 4 · Adequate 7 · Weak 1 · Poor 1. The typical agency here scores Adequate, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Discloses other clients, weekly availability, response expectations, conflicts, and who covers absences.

Scores low — Meaningful committed capacity scores 4-5; a name-only CMO spread across many accounts scores 1-2.

What we found — Employment and firm structure improve accountability; individual capacity is not published.

Evidence: inferred — our reading of indirect evidence, not a documented fact.

Not disclosed — 2 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). Nothing was published about this, so it scores at the bottom of the scale — that is a finding about what the agency discloses, not about the quality of its work. This dimension carries 6% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 2 · Strong 1 · Adequate 4 · Weak 6. The typical agency here scores Adequate, and 7 of them score higher than this one.

Scores high — Transparent monthly/project pricing, short exits, no hidden referral fees, and objective vendor selection score 4-5.

Scores low — Opaque long retainers or forced use of affiliated execution teams score 1-2.

What we found — No public pricing or standard engagement term was located. That is what the low band describes, and nothing published resolves it.

retainer — a fixed monthly fee regardless of hours or output — predictable, but worth tying to a defined scope.

Evidence: unknown

Stronger here: Go Fractional scores Excellent on the same dimension.