Kent Lewis, Anvil Media: The April Fool's NFT Release That Worked Q&A

Originally published 2021. Updated June 15, 2026.

Part of PR Agency Q&A Profiles · See also: Katerina Antonova, Aeris PR · Kristin Daher, Powerhouse Communications

Kent Lewis is the President and Founder of Anvil Media, a digital marketing agency based in Portland, Oregon, founded in 2000 — two years after Google launched as a search engine and the same year AdWords unveiled. Anvil is one of the oldest search engine marketing-focused digital agencies in the Pacific Northwest, specializing in analytics, SEO, paid media, organic social media, online PR, and reputation management. In 2021, an April Fool's parody press release about NFT marketing turned into real new business with a Fortune 50 technology company.

The Interview

Q: What is Anvil Media all about?

A: Anvil Media was founded in 2000, two years after Google officially launched and the same year AdWords unveiled. As one of the oldest search engine marketing-focused digital agencies in the Pacific Northwest, Anvil prides itself on its ability to delight customers and consistently generate measurable results. While Anvil specializes in analytics, SEO, paid media, and organic social media strategy, we provide a full-service approach to integrated marketing, including online PR and reputation management. More recently, we've expanded into Amazon, email, and NFT marketing strategy.

Q: Examples of Anvil's elevated experience?

A: The most interesting recent example: we turned an April Fool's press release into a large new business opportunity with a Fortune 50 company. April 1st this year, we wrote and syndicated an annual April Fool's release about NFT marketing. The response was so overwhelming, we decided to double-down on NFT marketing — authoring syndicated articles, guest-hosting podcasts, being quoted in high-profile publications on NFTs. A few weeks ago, a marketing contact at a global technology company reached out for help with an NFT project, having read our press release (and may not have realized it was a parody). We're still in talks.

Q: What are Anvil's core values?

A: Three Core Values: Commitment, Passion, and Growth-Mindedness. Commitment: our clients value commitment above all else, and we feel the same about our team and clients. Passion: we live for digital marketing, data, and generating results. Growth-Mindedness: our team has an unprecedented thirst for learning. We never stop learning, so we never stop growing.

Q: Running a digital agency during COVID-19?

A: When COVID-19 hit, Anvil revenue was already down nearly 30 percent. I took an immediate pay cut to protect my employees. Rather than focus externally on ramping up sales and marketing, we focused internally on the team's health and safety, refreshing documents and processes, and delighting and elevating our clients. The net result is that we meaningfully increased profitability despite flat revenue year-over-year. More importantly, our clients gave us the highest Net Promoter Scores (NPS) in over a decade.

Q: Anvil has a wide breadth of clientele — how do you specialize?

A: I've been told successful agencies focus on one discipline or one industry vertical. I've never subscribed to that logic. We vet clients based on alignment with our Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Core Values. We do have deeper expertise in ecommerce, healthcare, education, and B2B technology.