By Linda Permenter, Class of 2017
Southwest Airlines, where “Bags Fly Free.”
Walgreens, “At the Corner
of Happy and Healthy.”
The PGA Tour declares “These
Guys are Good.”
What do these memorable slogans have in common? They’re all
award-winning work from GSD&M,
an Austin-based advertising agency founded in 1971. The Marketing Fellows had
the privilege of touring the downtown Austin office with Executive Vice President
and CMO, J.B. Raftus. Displayed in large letters in the entryway is the phrase
“Ideas That Make a Difference.” J.B. explained that this statement guides their
work with every client. When a client comes calling, GSD&M takes the time
to understand the client’s unique purpose for being. Southwest doesn’t just
sell airline seats, they want to democratize the skies. Chipotle doesn’t just
make burritos, they exist to serve food with integrity. With these examples, J.B. illustrated how the
client’s larger purpose informs the entire creative strategy for communicating
value to the consumer.
GSD&M CMO J.B. Raftus shows the Marketing Fellows "The 40 Best Things We Ever Did" Poster Series, a labor of love honoring GSD&M's 40 years in business. |
Our reason for visiting GSD&M was two-fold – 1) develop
a respectful envy for their talent and 2) receive an assignment! In teams of
four, we are developing a complete campaign for a brand new Hilton property, Tru by Hilton. I’m not sure how much I can
divulge about this revolutionary development in hotel accommodations, so I’ll
let this Forbes
article from January 2016 do the talking. In a couple of weeks we are due
back at GSD&M’s office to present our fully-developed ideas to the agency
and the client. Who knows? We could see some of the Marketing Fellows’ ideas in
a social campaign for Tru by Hilton!
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