Today's Digital Storytelling topic is a very interesting one. As a woman who owns an independent agency, I was completely blown away when talking to Gay Gaddis. Gay Gaddis is the Founder and CEO of T3, which is the largest woman-owned, independent advertising agency in the country. With over 200 employees nationwide and more than $300 million in capitalized billing, she is a total trailblazer. She has numerous awards under her belt including being a part of Fortune's Most Powerful Women network. What's most interesting is the versatility within Gay's career - she's not only an agency owner, but she's a rancher, she's an artist, and she's doing incredible things.
Key Topics
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The Fascinating Story of Gay's Career
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Competing with Holding Companies
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Being Nimble and Innovative
Key Answers
How did you get through times of trouble in the agency space and how did you approach that as you grew?
"We've definitely had bumps in the road - 90% of these have been based on the economy. When the economy goes down, the dollars get cut fast and furiously on the marketing side. I've also had to walk away from big clients because we weren't aligned. But how do you do that? You have to stick to your guns and think about whether it's right for you, whether it's right for your clients, whether it's right for your staff, your culture and your organization, while still moving forward. When this happens, you have to make quick decisions. We have a disaster plan in place at all times and this tells us what we need to do in order to survive. Making those painful decisions does allow you to move forward in the long run."
How have you seen advertising change over the span of your career and how did you manage these changes within your agency?
"We happened to be in the right place at the right time. We started working with Dell in the early 90's so we had a client that was pushing us - and we were pushing them - to develop some of the very first effective online marketing campaigns in the country. We learned how to do all of these things before anyone even knew it was going to become anything! It became the Trojan Horse for us. The momentum we built from being early adopters of the internet was incredible and it changed the face of the company forever. So I really have that client to thank because if we hadn't been working with them, I may not have jumped into it with such gusto. Even though we still do some traditional advertising, the center of everything for us is digital."
Key Soundbites
"Having a disaster plan in place is really important. Use it when you have to make those tough decisions in order to survive."
"We wanted to create award-winning creative, meshed with tangible results."
"We believe that brands have to do first and then say, because the world has changed with how people want to engage with them."
Resources
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Company Website: https://www.t-3.com/
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Personal Twitter:@GayGaddis
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Company Twitter: @T3thinktank
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Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaygaddis
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Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/t3
Enjoy, and check back here for more episodes of the All the Social Ladies podcast on Social Media Today.
This article was originally published on Apple News: