“We have that challenger mentality,” Almeida said. “A lot of the brands we work with ... want to shake the tree a little bit. They want to change things up.”

All of these things appealed to Gable, who wanted Archer Roose’s “luxury wine”-but-in-a-can to stand out in a crowded alcoholic beverage market. The Colossus cofounders had created strong work for Boston Beer while at MMB, she said, and its startup mentality made Colossus a better fit than the big shops for a small company like hers.

This spring, Gable put Colossus and its small-agency model to the test when actress Elizabeth Banks committed to be a celebrity spokeswoman for Archer Roose, a deal that made her a co-owner and chief creative officer. Banks came on board in April, and Archer Roose needed a completed ad by the end of May. Within a week, the Colossus crew had pitched a variety of ideas, which Archer Roose executives reviewed with Banks. The ad was in production by the end of April.

The 60-second ad’s script features Banks arriving uninvited into a facsimile of Archer Roose chief executive Marian Leitner-Waldman’s home. Leitner-Waldman plays herself as she grumbles about how to get Banks to leave while the actress, also playing herself, makes herself comfortable — clipping her toenails, gargling wine, complaining about a stuck toilet, and declaring herself the new Archer Roose spokesperson. By the end of May, it was ready to go.

Good thing for Archer Roose that it had an ad agency at its side that could move fast.

“That just speaks miles to the willingness of Colossus to make sure we don’t squander an opportunity and really step up to the bat ... even when the odds might be stacked against us with a tight timeline,” Gable said of the agency’s rapid turnaround.