Phil Aronson and Jeff Hecht are the backbone of AHA!, but it didn’t start out that way. The company came to life in 1984 as the Arthur Hecht Agency, founded by Jeff’s father, a veteran of the New York ad agency scene. Fast forward to 2012, when Jeff launched his own agency, borrowing the AHA! logo, rebranded to the Aronson Hecht Agency. It was the first of the agency’s branding efforts. It certainly wouldn’t be the last.
From a practical sense, AHA! is an agency that does the things that you’d think an advertising agency would do in today’s world: branding, web design, e-commerce, graphic and logo design, video production, SEO management, social, reputation management — it’s all there on their website (aronsonhecht.com). What you will not find on the site is the most important thing that they offer: their advice to you.
“I was in the business of solving problems as Chief Technology Officer of a global telecom company. At AHA!, we don’t just build sites. We will offer advice to our clients as to how to improve things within their business. We look to work with small and medium-sized businesses and say, ‘look, make us your marketing department. All of the things that a smaller business doesn’t have time for, but desperately need in order to grow and thrive.”
Jeff’s experience started with global telecoms in the long distance business, but saw an entrepreneurial new path to success as that industry began to wane. In addition to a high-tech sales position, he also began a computer gaming store, long before the days of Gamestop and Dave & Busters. He learned website design for the new local business that he opened, pioneering things like live video streaming way back in 2001. It wasn’t long before others who’d come into his store took notice and hired him to develop websites for their local businesses. The store was eventually sold as the web design business took flight.
That’s when the rebranded AHA! was reborn. But his sales and technology wizardry would need a partner. Not long after, he was talking with his lifelong friend, “you’re one of the most creative people I know. Come join me and help me build this business.”
Creative brainchild Phil had a vastly different path. He grew up in the advertising business as well, as his father was at CBS for over 30 years as VP of Advertising and Promotion. He was married to Emme, a former supermodel who’d graced the cover of Vogue, People’s “Most Beautiful People”, etc., deciding to leave the Madison Avenue agency he’d founded with his twin brother (where they worked with such brands as Bauer, Titleist, and Häagen-Dazs) in order to manage her career. Along the way, he’d carved out a path for her to become an influencer — before that was even a thing — handling her PR, image two clothing lines, books, and more. Meanwhile he’d also become an author, singer-songwriter and, as he puts it, a “life changer.” When they divorced, his new stage was about to open to him.
Building upon his website acumen and activating their advertising past, the agency began adding services to support what their clients would need most. “A website isn’t a field of dreams,” Jeff explains. “If you simply build it, they’re not coming. You need SEO, pay-per-click advertising, paid search, social media management, so forth, because it helps our customers grow.”
Wellness for your body, your mind, or your business is not a quick-hit, instant fix. It comes from a sustained commitment to long-term, lifetime success. And that’s what drives AHA! to partner with their clients. Keeping a business healthy is hard work. Jeff and Phil recognize the value that they have, the experience they can bring to those who need it but can’t manage it on their own.
As Phil likes to say, “our clients become our friends — and we don’t let our friends down.”