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 Along with five college friends, Roy Spence founded what is now known as GSD&M, one of the most successful advertising agency start-ups in the country. His early mentors included noted entrepreneurs Sam Walton, Herb Kelleher, Norman Brinker and Red McCombs — all business legends to whom Roy ultimately became both friend and trusted advisor. Today GSD&M is the consumer voice of the marketplace’s most respected brands, including Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines, AT&T, Chili’s, DreamWorks Animation, BMW, AARP, the U.S. Air Force and MasterCard.
Roy developed Purpose-based Branding for GSD&M, a to-the-market philosophy which seeks to uncover and articulate the purpose behind great brands. “What a company stands for is as important as what it sells,” says Spence. “Great communication strategies flow out of a company or organization’s authentic purpose — what it stands for beyond making money.” It was this interest in purpose coupled with an unsettling sense that the country had taken a turn for the worse when it came to religious dialogue that inspired this book.
Honored and sought by corporate boards, national not-for-profits and other organizations to speak on marketing and brand-building, Roy has been tapped by Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA TODAY, CNBC and Bloomberg for his opinions on a wide variety of business issues.
Having grown up in Brownwood, Texas, Roy went to The University of Texas at Austin, from which he holds a B.A. in government and was recently named a Distinguished Alumnus. He currently serves as chair of the Development Board for The University of Texas at Austin. Roy has been married to his wife, Mary, for nearly 30 years and has three children, Courtney, Ashley and Shay.
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