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GSD&M history
GSD&M company history timeline
The firm was founded in 1971 by six University of Texas graduates, four of whom continue to hold key positions.
The group subsequently put on a series of shows both on and off the campus, and upon graduation in 1971 decided to form an advertising agency together.
1978: The company opens an office in San Antonio to facilitate work for Pearl Beer.
By 1980 GSD&M was doing work for United States Home Corp., Pearl Beer, and Church's Fried Chicken, and had opened additional offices in Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston.
In 1981, the firm lost all three of its top accounts, Church's, United States Home Corp., and Pearl, which accounted for $10 million in billings and 80 percent of its business.
1981: GSD&M loses its top three clients, but then wins account of Southwest Airlines.
By 1985 GSD&M was working for 80 different clients with combined billings of $76 million.
The company's award-winning "Don't Mess with Texas" antilitter campaign, launched in 1986, featured entertainers like Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker making offbeat pitches to keep the state clean.
The company's ads were credited with a 75 percent reduction in roadside litter since they began in 1986.
In 1986, the agency created the Don't Mess with Texas anti-litter slogan for the Texas Department of Transportation.
1987: GSD&M begin working for Coors Beer and Wal-Mart.
GGT, a publicly traded advertising and consulting company based in the United Kingdom, had been pursuing a strategy of acquiring regional American ad agencies since 1988.
Annual billings topped $150 million by 1989.
Also in 1992, the company won the account of Tandy Corp., owner of the Radio Shack electronics chain.
1995: GSD&M wins 86 million MasterCard media buying account.
1998 also saw the enlargement of "Idea City" for the company's rapidly growing ranks of employees, now numbering more than 400.
During 1998, GSD&M also became the agency of record for telecommunications giant SBC Communications, and opened an office in San Francisco to handle work for Pacific Bell Mobile Services.
In March of 1999, the company was given the nod and began to handle media planning and buying for Dreamworks' Features, Home Video, and GameWorks divisions, which had total billings of $100 million.
Also during 2000, GSD&M's newly formed publishing unit, Idea University Press, issued its first title, a children's book written by a staffer.
In 2001, the company began working for the makers of Dial soap, as well as the Kohler Co.
During the spring of 2002 the company's film unit began shooting an Imax movie for the Texas State History Museum Foundation called Texas: The Big Picture.
In the spring of 2003 GSD&M began working for the antismoking agency, American Legacy Foundation, and early the next year GSD&M's movie unit, Mythos Studios, began filming a $1.5 million comedy feature, Drop Dead Sexy, which starred Crispin Glover and Jason Lee.
In the spring of 2005 the company was tapped to create an ad campaign for Frito-Lay's Sun Chips brand, and in the fall it was awarded the $150 million North American advertising account of BMW. GSD&M had been actively seeking another carmaker after losing earlier bids to serve Subaru and Kia.
Baar, Aaron, and Andrew McMains, "GSD&M Won't Re-Pitch Wal-Mart Account," Adweek, December 14, 2006.
On a happier note, during 2006 the firm's publishing arm, now known as Idea City Press, published a book commemorating the 20th anniversary of the popular "Don't Mess with Texas" ad campaign.
Revenues for 2006 hit $112 million while total ad billings increased to $1.7 billion, with the firm's recently formed interactive division, which bought Internet ads, accounting for $135 million.
GSD&M protégé Duff Stewart, who was named president of the agency in 2007, assumed the role of CEO last July from Spence, the most recognizable face of GSD&M.
The agency was known as GSD&M until August 27, 2007 when it changed its name to GSD&M's Idea City. "Idea City" was previously the name of the agency's Austin headquarters.
Although all four founders are still active in GSD&M, they have been handing over day-to-day duties to other leaders since 2007 as they work on other projects.
In early 2007 GSD&M took more hits when it lost the $110 million Chili's Grill & Bar account, as well as work promoting Frito-Lay's Tostitos brand.
On February 5, 2009, GSD&M founder Roy Spence published It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For.
GSD&M has had a handful of account wins in 2009, including Golfsmith’s national creative and media work, Harrah’s international creative work, Ace Hardware’s national creative work and BMW’s global creative work.
GSD&M is owned by publicly traded Omnicom Group Inc. [NYSE: OMC]. Omnicom’s revenue during the first three months of 2010 was $2.92 billion, up 6.3 percent compared with the first three months of last year.
The "Idea City" name was dropped from the firm name in January 2011.
In January 2016, Blue Bunny Ice Cream appointed GSD&M as its lead media partner.
"GSD&M's Idea City ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 22, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/gsdms-idea-city
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GSD&M competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zimmerman Advertising | 1984 | $120.0M | 630 | 22 |
| TBWA Worldwide | 1970 | $1.2B | 1,290 | - |
| Omnicom Group | 1986 | $15.7B | 64,100 | 21 |
| Omnicom Media Group | 2000 | $15.0B | 79,500 | 144 |
| Crispin Porter + Bogusky | 1965 | $98.0M | 700 | - |
| Carat | 1968 | $15.0M | 100 | - |
| Havas Worldwide | 1991 | $1.2B | 11,000 | 1 |
| Deutsch LA | 1969 | $495.0M | 3,500 | - |
| RPA | 1986 | $210.0M | 750 | 1 |
| Grey Group | 1917 | $1.3B | 2,400 | 86 |
GSD&M history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of GSD&M, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about GSD&M. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at GSD&M. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by GSD&M. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of GSD&M and its employees or that of Zippia.
GSD&M may also be known as or be related to GSD&M, GSD&M Idea City LLC, GSD&m Idea City LLC and Gsd&m.