Executive Interview Series: Q&A with Joe Yakuel on Building Systems That Scale

Today, we’re speaking with Joe Yakuel, Founder and CEO of WITHIN, the leading digital marketing agency for retail and consumer brands. His agency works with companies like The North Face, Timberland, and Ben & Jerry’s to unify brand, media, and data into one cohesive strategy for measurable growth.

At NY Engineers, we understand how critical smart systems are to long-term success. Whether we’re designing an HVAC layout or an entire building’s MEP framework, our focus is on performance, scalability, and resilience. That same logic applies to how Joe and his team approach marketing: not as one-off campaigns, but as connected systems built to withstand pressure, deliver consistently, and evolve over time.

We spoke with Joe about the parallels between engineering and brand strategy and how applying structured thinking to marketing can lead to stronger brand-building and more measurable outcomes.

NY Engineers: Engineers are obsessed with systems that scale and don’t break under pressure. How does that mindset apply to brand marketing?

Joe Yakuel: It’s almost identical. In marketing, scale is where most systems start to show their weaknesses. When a brand grows, the complexity grows with it: more channels, more creativity, more customer touchpoints. If you haven’t designed the foundation to handle that, things start to crack.

At WITHIN, we build growth models like engineers build systems: you design for stress before it happens. That means putting structure around decision-making, accountability, and data flow. The idea is that when the system is tested, whether it’s a holiday season, a product launch, or a PR moment, it doesn’t break. It flexes.

NY Engineers: Engineers use modeling and simulation to stress-test ideas before they’re built. Is there a version of that in marketing?

Yakuel: Absolutely. We do it with data and creative testing. Before we scale a campaign, we’ll simulate outcomes using small audience segments or limited budgets. It’s the same concept: you build a model, test it under controlled conditions, and look for failure points before committing real resources. If we can predict how something performs in a micro-environment, we can scale it with confidence. That’s what good engineering and good marketing have in common.

NY Engineers: Most engineering projects involve teams from different disciplines, like mechanical, electrical, plumbing, all coordinating under one plan. What have you learned about cross-functional collaboration in brand building?

Yakuel: The biggest breakdowns happen when each team optimizes for their own goal without considering the larger system. In marketing, that can mean the Creative team wants to promote the most compelling story, the Product team wants to highlight the newest feature, and the Media team wants to lead with the offer that converts. Same campaign but completely different priorities.

We approach marketing the same way you’d approach a coordinated build: every team works from the same blueprint and knows exactly how their part fits into the larger system.

NY Engineers: Engineers are always solving for tradeoffs: cost vs. performance, speed vs. efficiency. What kinds of tradeoffs do marketers deal with that outsiders don’t see?

Yakuel: The biggest tradeoff is between control and scale. The more personalized and human you make marketing, the harder it is to scale efficiently. But if you scale too fast, you lose connection and precision. Finding that balance is the constant challenge.

There’s also a tradeoff between short-term performance and long-term brand equity. You can push hard for conversions today, but that can come at the cost of trust tomorrow. The smartest marketers are the ones who manage both, building systems that drive results now but don’t burn the brand out in the process.