About The Auxiliary
Who We Are
We are professional journalists-turned-marketers who bring a native understanding of digital media to the comms challenges of today. Founded in March 2020 by Imran Hafiz and Beckett Mufson, our agency was born from a desire to combat the global “infodemic” of misinformation that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we have expanded our focus to include a broad range of creative services addressing the most pressing cultural, media, and policy issues of our time.
Our Mission
Our mission is to identify and collaborate with the architects of a better future by offering them our expertise in branding, communication, and efficiency.
Our Vision
Our vision is a world where interdisciplinary approaches to policy challenges are the norm, not the exception.
Our Values
Hope – Hope isn’t optimism. Hope is the belief that we can make positive change if we do something. Hope isn’t all you need, but nothing ever improves without it.
Empiricism – Marketing is the art of creating a persuasive idea in the right person’s head, repeatably. It is not a science—but scientists have studied it empirically. The Auxiliary’s work is always informed by research and experts’ understanding of this mysterious process.
Alchemy – Ogilvy UK Vice Chairman (and adviser to The Auxiliary) Rory Sutherland is great at keeping creative ideas alive in bureaucratic environments. He uses the term “Alchemy” to describe “the science of knowing what economists are wrong about.” In a world where creative ads are 11x more effective at growing market share than straightforward ones[1], The Auxiliary uses Sutherland’s Alchemical philosophy to protect creative ideas at all costs. See our Alchemical Solutions in The Auxiliary’s Case Studies.
Love – In America’s post-ironic online culture, talking about love can come off as “too earnest.” However, love is a key ingredient missing from many marketing strategies. When marketers see human beings as nothing but numbers going up on a chart, they lose opportunities for impact. How can you market to an audience without loving them enough to understand what drives them?
What Sets Us Apart
Unlike traditional agencies, The Auxiliary’s approach is grounded in empirical research and informed by cutting-edge social science and public policy education. Our team brings a unique blend of experience across policy institutions, youth media companies, and the art and music industries. This diverse background enables us to develop creative strategies that go beyond the surface, providing our clients with messaging that is both impactful and honest. We’re not here to deliver you decks on what you should do. When you plug into The Auxiliary, we’ll help you accomplish your objectives every step of the way.
Meet the Founders
Imran Hafiz has a rich background in public policy and media, with experience at VICE Media’s creative agency, VIRTUE Worldwide. His work spans collaborations with major brands and meaningful contributions to social causes, making him a powerful advocate for creative solutions in public policy.
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Beckett Mufson is a seasoned journalist, copywriter, and creative with a history of impactful storytelling across various media platforms. His work has appeared in major publications including VICE, MTV News, and Publishers Weekly, and he has a deep understanding of the intersection between technology, culture, and communication.
Our Story
Imran and Beckett met at VICE in 2014, the peak of New York online media’s venture capital-fueled rise. When they started at VICE, the company was valued at $1.4 billion. When they left, it had risen to a high of $5.7 billion.
Imran produced science and technology documentaries for Motherboard while Beckett wrote articles about new media and tech art for The Creators Project. They bonded over a shared Epicurean lifestyle, a penchant for philosophizing over drinks at ungodly hours, and a belief in making positive change through culture.
At VICE, employees had to shapeshift to survive the volatile digital media landscape. The IPOs. The social media bubble. The pivot to video. The streaming wars.
Imran worked in seven different departments throughout his seven years at the company. He started as an intern for the Emmy Award-winning VICE on HBO team that sent Dennis Rodman to North Korea, and ended as the director of his own Insights Department at VIRTUE Worldwide, where he shared cultural signals analysis with Fortune 500 executives.
Beckett worked as an intern, associate editor, and staff writer for The Creators Project until it shuttered in 2017, at which point he joined VICE’s flagship site as a staff writer and video host. He honed a sense for art and culture stories that resonate with the chronically online crowd, from an early interview with the creators of Rick and Morty to a profile of the UN’s first creative director. He learned how to write headlines that got millions of clicks.
After VICE, Imran plugged Beckett into Marketing World. They first collaborated at Brandathon 2019, where they rebranded NYC’s largest indie music promoter, AdHoc Presents, over the course of a weekend-long sprint. (AdHoc went on to hire The Auxiliary for multiple contracts to develop the creative ideas from that weekend.)
When COVID-19 hit the US, Imran and Beckett hit the road. They left Brooklyn with 12 hours’ notice. They took nothing but the few bags they and Imran’s now wife, Lara, could fit in their friend Tommy’s compact SUV. Once they escaped New York, they were safe while others scrambled to make their COVID plans. Amid the unprecedented shock to global culture, they quit their jobs and started The Auxiliary to use their skill sets to try to help.
The Auxiliary initially focused on the challenges of misinformation and the opportunity to strengthen brands by producing truthful, persuasive public health communication. Imran and Beckett leveraged their experience in creative services and journalism to organize hackathons with over 150 collaborators, resulting in projects like a gospel rap music video for public housing residents, an Aspen Award-winning anti-disinformation video game, and a peer-reviewed index to measure disinformation susceptibility on a county level. The agency has since expanded its scope.
Today, The Auxiliary fuels brand growth with creative ideas that address young people’s key stressors, such as inequity in the culture industry, polarization in American politics, and water sustainability.
Explore how Imran and Beckett have helped brands like Johnnie Walker, Michelin, and Lululemon navigate the complexities of modern marketing with our alchemical approach to creativity and strategy in our Case Studies.