Toaster US: 2023 Year in Review

2023 - what a year! As I take the time to reflect, I am filled with an immense sense of gratitude for our team and our clients. This year was not without its challenges. From the wide ranging tech layoffs impacting most of us here in the Bay Area to conflicts happening around the world — there were moments that felt reminiscent of early 2020. However, much like in the pandemic, we were reminded that adaptability and flexibility are key skill sets to have in this industry. We learned to pivot and shift priorities when necessary, and I am so thankful for our team and partners who rose to the challenge.

Despite a few bumps in the road, we have lots to celebrate from this year. We secured more industry award wins than ever before. We produced work that truly moved the needle and improved lives within the health equity, online safety, environmental sustainability and entertainment sectors. We grew closer as a team even while moving to a fully remote workforce. We embarked on new partnerships with clients like Netflix and Google X, and continued our long-standing relationship with Google,YouTube, and other Alphabet subsidiary marketing teams.

Most of all, we learned a lot and had fun along the way. I am looking forward to bringing in the new year with ambitious goals set for our studio in 2024. But in the meantime, a much deserved break for us all. Cheers to a wonderful holiday season, and a bright and successful new year.

Susannah Bard | Managing Director, US

💫 Presenting, our 2023 highlights 💫

A new partnership with Netflix

We recently signed on with Netflix to help their product marketing team develop an array of strategic GTM comms promoting content discovery on the platform.

Tracking viruses with Verily

Scientists at Verily asked for our help creating a robust interactive dashboard to organize wastewater data, track community virus trends in real time, and prevent future outbreaks across the U.S.

West Toast goes fully remote

In the spring, our SF team ditched the office to go fully remote. Not only has this created a culture of greater flexibility and support for our individual lifestyles, but it also fostered more accountability and trust across the team. Know more about the move here.

We designed a site for our partners at Flexport to summarize a larger impact report about the company’s global humanitarian efforts and to entice visitors to make a donation.

Exploring the Sonoma Serengeti

We had our summer offsite at Safari West - a private wildlife preserve in Northern California wine country, where we saw over eighty species of endangered animals and made a donation to further wildlife conservation.

27 award wins, 1 shortlist, and many happy clients

Toaster SF submitted entries in many categories to the MMA Smarties, Greater SF Addys, Muse Creative Awards, and Titan Health Awards. Spoiler alert: we walked away with some hardware!