# Column Five

> Column Five is a privately held B2B marketing agency that grew from three Orange County founders making early infographics for Mint into a strategy-led partner for SaaS, AI, fintech, and enterprise teams. It now sells a staged system - a $25,000 foundation sprint, a $60,000-$150,000 implementation, and ongoing operation at $15,000-$45,000 per month - spanning narrative, identity, content strategy, AEO/SEO, web, data visualization, video, campaigns, and sales enablement.

- **Founded:** 2009
- **Headquarters:** Newport Beach, United States
- **Founders:** Joshua Ritchie (Co-founder), Ross Crooks (Co-founder), Jason Lankow (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** 34 employees in supplied Apollo data; LinkedIn lists a 51-200 employee size band. The company's own history says it reached 50 people across two coasts within its first five years.
- **Products:** Foundation Sprint, Content System Implementation, Ongoing Content System Operation, Content Strategy, Brand Identity
- **Notable:** Helped early client Mint use infographics that could attract hundreds of thousands or millions of visits before Mint's 2009 acquisition by Intuit., Co-created Microsoft's 2013 'Child of the 90s' film, which reached 7 million views in its first week, more than 48 million total views, and an 18% increase in Microsoft's brand power index according to its Shorty Awards entry., Reached 50 employees and opened a Brooklyn office within five years of starting as a three-person operation.

## Products & services

- **Foundation Sprint** — A four-week, $25,000 engagement to sharpen the brand narrative and assess content-system readiness.
- **Content System Implementation** — An eight-to-sixteen-week, $60,000-$150,000 build that codifies story, voice, visuals, governance, and an AI-enabled production rhythm.
- **Ongoing Content System Operation** — A $15,000-$45,000 monthly engagement in which the agency runs or supports the system and improves it through use.
- **Content Strategy** — Story Scan, AEO and SEO consulting, campaign planning, media planning, research, and editorial roadmaps.
- **Brand Identity** — Visual identity, messaging, voice, and tone for B2B technology brands.
- **Content Creation** — AEO content, video, motion graphics, explainers, conversational AI, interactive web work, data visualization, reports, ebooks, sales enablement, and executive thought leadership.
- **Best Story Wins** — A podcast launched in 2023 featuring marketing and brand leaders; it passed 50 episodes by early 2025.
- **Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling** — A Wiley book co-authored by the founders and published in multiple languages.

## Achievements

- Helped early client Mint use infographics that could attract hundreds of thousands or millions of visits before Mint's 2009 acquisition by Intuit.
- Co-created Microsoft's 2013 'Child of the 90s' film, which reached 7 million views in its first week, more than 48 million total views, and an 18% increase in Microsoft's brand power index according to its Shorty Awards entry.
- Reached 50 employees and opened a Brooklyn office within five years of starting as a three-person operation.
- Published Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling with Wiley in 2012 and taught visual communication at Columbia University.
- Ranked No. 291 on the 2013 Inc. 500, according to the company profile and secondary histories.
- Reports that Dropbox work lifted brand perception 19% and its Glassdoor rating from 3.7 to 4.5.
- Reports an 850% first-month MQL increase after VideoAmp's website launch and a 5x webinar-engagement increase in 90 days in later work.
- Reports a 183% traffic increase and more than 50 priority unbranded keywords on Google's first page for Blend.
- Produced more than 115 assets and three video spots for an Instacart campaign in a matter of weeks.
- Won a 2025 Breakthrough Culture Award from the Maya Culture Awards.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Column Five's current positioning centers on closing the 'clarity gap' between what a brand intends to say and how people and AI systems summarize it, sold through a staged content-system model.
- **2026-02** — Published a guide arguing that original B2B research can anchor durable marketing assets amid rising volumes of generic AI-generated content.
- **2026-01** — Published a Best Story Wins discussion with Suki AI's creative lead on why AI efficiency should not replace the creative journey.
- **2025-11** — Announced a 2025 Breakthrough Culture Award and described distributed work, transparent financials, bias-aware hiring, and flexible systems.
- **2025-03** — The Best Story Wins podcast passed 50 conversations with marketing and branding leaders.

## Links

- Website: https://www.columnfivemedia.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/column-five/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/columnfive
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/columnfivemedia
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/columnfive/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/columnfivemedia

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/column-five
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-16