Marketing Against The Grain

Episode: AI Tools to Replace Your $10k+ Creative Agency

Date: October 7, 2025

Hosts: Kipp Bodnar & Kieran Flanagan (HubSpot Media)
Guest: Rory Flynn

Episode Overview

In this episode, Kipp and Kieran sit down with AI creative expert Rory Flynn for an in-depth exploration of how AI tools are revolutionizing the creative side of marketing. Rory shares his journey from agency pain points to building scalable, AI-first workflows that rival the output of traditional creative agencies—all at a fraction of the cost and time. Listeners get actionable frameworks for scaling image and video assets, dissecting the anatomy of effective prompts, and leveraging rapidly evolving AI tools.

Rory doesn’t just theorize; he walks through real workflows, shares building blocks and strategies, and unpacks the philosophy that “this is the golden age of making things”—for everyone, not just the agencies with big budgets.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rory’s Path to AI-Driven Creativity

• Agency Bottlenecks Lead to AI Discovery

  • Rory describes running a fast-growing digital agency that struggled to keep up with content demand, leading him to experiment with AI image-generation (e.g., Midjourney) for client creative needs.
  • The “Pope in a Balenciaga jacket” (02:08) meme moment kickstarted his curiosity, rapidly followed by deep dives into prompt design and team training.

  “I got to figure out a way to make my team sort of not hate me and walk out on me on this stuff.”
  — Rory Flynn (01:25)

2. Breakthrough Tools & Workflows

• Weavy AI (03:02): Rory’s favorite for creative workflow automation, likened to “Zapier for creative workflows”.
  • Node-based structure, massive API access, workflow sharing, and team scaling—“You just need one good person who’s laser focused and you can build a whole team around that.”
• Custom GPTs & Modular Workflows: Rory points out how rapidly reusable, shareable workflows can turn one person into an agency (07:03, 08:33).

3. AI’s “Aha” Moment & Scaling Prompts

• First public speaking opportunity at a marketing conference cemented the business case for AI-driven prompt frameworks (04:48).

• Reverse engineering professional imagery into prompt “formulas” is the unlock—turning anyone into a scalable asset creator.

  “It was like, oh, this is how everything works with AI…its ability to reverse-engineer assets and create templates that then can be reusable by people is one of the most powerful skills it has.”
  — Rory Flynn (06:52), Kieran Flanagan (07:03)

4. Building-Block Framework for Prompts

• Key Variables in Image Creation (08:33–13:52)

  • Shot/photo type (e.g., close-up, drone)
  • Subject & action
  • Environment & color scheme
  • Camera & lens choice (visual aesthetic)
  • Composition, mood/emotion, lighting, textures, modifiers (props, details)

• This framework empowers anyone to deconstruct images and iterate quickly—“visual building blocks”, a system for modular, scalable prompts.

  “Once you have these, then everything becomes a lot easier.”
  — Rory Flynn (15:06)

5. Simple to Complex: The Science of Prompting

• Start with simple, condensed prompts and add complexity only as needed (16:46).

• Example: A single prompt written in modular blocks can scale one asset into thousands (17:46).

  “Start simple and add versus starting complex and taking away.”
  — Kipp Bodnar (17:40)

6. Open-Sourcing Prompts & Democratizing Creative Power

• Rory advocates for transparency and skill-sharing, acknowledging past disruptions (e.g., Fiverr) and the existential anxiety creatives feel (21:09).
• His philosophy: "If we can get everyone at least to a good level of understanding of how to do this, then they can be valuable… I love getting people to that [‘see the Matrix’] moment." (21:09–22:39)

7. Replicating Entire Creative Workflows

• Detailed Demo: E-commerce Product Photo Shoots with AI

  • Using Weavy to cover everything from “creating the model” to “putting the clothes on,” then batch processing photo angles and actions (25:59–32:56).
  • Key Technique: System prompts and batch operations (array functions) create hundreds of product shots—saving massive time and cost.

  “If I was the listener…what you’re going to show is the amount of time and effort you put into actually creating context for the prompt. Like this is all context of what good looks like.”
  — Kieran Flanagan (12:32)

8. Bridging Image & Video Creation

• Rory explains using AI-generated stills as keyframes for precise video generation with tools like Luma and Runway, allowing for high-fidelity, controllable brand video assets (33:24–35:20).

  “If I can control the images, I can control the video. That’s sort of how I look at everything.”
  — Rory Flynn (34:44)

9. The New Creative Stack: “Curation vs. Creation”

• Transforming creative teams from asset makers to curators—leveraging system prompts, visual brand profiles, and massive prompt scaling in minutes (36:32–38:51).

  “It’s curating versus creating. At this point, the curation portion is going into the system prompt and the actual building of the tool. And then, that’s the creative piece to me at this point.”
  — Rory Flynn (38:28)

10. The Impact on Agencies & Teams

• What cost tens of thousands of dollars and weeks at a traditional agency can now be achieved in minutes (39:20–43:16).

• Teams across functions (not just design) can and should be self-sufficient in asset generation.

  “You would have to pay a friggin’ fortune to get a creative design agency to come back with this amount…now you just pick from a thousand images.”
  — Kieran Flanagan (39:20)

11. Strategic Takeaways & Career Advice

• Reverse-engineer from the desired output and scale backwards (43:44–45:22):

  • “Start with the outcome and then reverse engineer into scale. It's the only way to do it as a pro." (45:16)

• AI doesn't eliminate work; it shifts it and multiplies opportunity (43:16):

  • “We just created more work for ourselves, to be honest…It’s just having optionality and freedom.” (43:16)

• AI democratizes high-quality creative assets:

  • “Historically, the only people who could get [great creative assets] is people who could afford to do that through creative design agencies or photographers. And now it kind of democratizes the ability for everyone to get that.” (46:37)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the "Golden Age" of Creative Work:
  “It's the golden age of making things.”
  — Kipp Bodnar (08:13)

• On Open Source Prompts:
  “Once they get there, I know they're fine. It's just like, you have to get to that moment of oh, I see what's going on here.”
  — Rory Flynn (21:09–22:39)

• On AI Replacing Agency Workflows:
  “You can build a whole creative design agency through a single tool and a bunch of prompts.”
  — Kieran Flanagan (39:19)

• On Prompting Philosophy:
  “Give it the condensed version...then I'll keep adding water to it to sort of like, you know, make it fit.”
  — Rory Flynn (17:40)

• B2B Creative Memes:
  “My campaigns are so good, your spam folder wants an autograph.”
  — Rory Flynn (40:59, demoing on B2B ad creative)

Important Timestamps

• [03:02]: Rory introduces Weavy AI for creative workflows
• [04:48]: Rory’s “aha” moment with public speaking and seeing demand explode
• [08:33–13:52]: Deconstructing the building blocks of effective image prompts
• [16:46]: Rationale for starting simple in prompt development
• [21:09]: The ethics and strategy behind sharing effective prompts openly
• [25:59–32:56]: Step-by-step walk-through of replicating e-commerce photo shoots with Weavy
• [33:24–35:20]: Using AI-generated images as foundations/keyframes for video
• [38:28]: Transition from "creating" to "curating" using AI
• [39:20–43:16]: Quantifying the agency cost/time savings through these new workflows
• [43:44–45:22]: Start with output, reverse engineer workflows for scale

Actionable Takeaways

• Master a few core tools and frameworks—not every tool, but enough to deconstruct and rebuild creative assets at will.
• Deconstruct the anatomy of your needed asset (image, video, ad) into key variables and build modular prompts.
• Begin with the output in mind; reverse engineer a scalable workflow to get there.
• Share and learn openly—democratizing skill sets makes teams (and individuals) irreplaceable.
• Equip non-design teams to generate their own assets—use tools and workflows that unlock creative self-sufficiency.

Downloadable Resources & Workflows

• Rory is making template workflows and prompts available for listeners—links and access details to be found in the episode comments/description.

Episode Tone & Final Note

The conversation is candid, optimistic, and practical—blending riffing, step-by-step walkthroughs, technical tips, and career advice. The hosts and Rory keep the energy high, break down technical jargon, and focus on making the AI revolution actionable for every marketer or creative listener, regardless of background.

Key Takeaway:
“This is the time to create. Learn the building blocks, share the knowledge, and scale your impact—it’s never been more accessible.”