I attended Rochester Institute of Technology. While my major was photography, during my junior and senior year I spent a significant amount of time in the design school. I realized early on that the design process was very strategic and therefore would be far more interesting. Early in my career I found it very interesting to listen to a client’s business goals and then work with a team to develop an exciting solution to achieve those objectives. Now well into my career, I still get the same enjoyment! And what is very exciting is that more and more companies are learning how powerful it is to merge their business and brand strategies together to build value for their companies.

We were introduced to Knut Hartman by Herb Meyers formerly of Gerstman & Meyers [now part of Interbrand]. Knut had a vision for an international alliance of independent firms. In the early stages of developing the alliance we exchanged ideas, trends and simply learned about the global marketplace. Today the GDS alliance offers our clients and staff members a way to access Asia, Europe and the USA.

Bailey Brand Consulting is a founding member of GDS. And so perhaps a good way to answer the question is that Bailey Brand Consulting wears a GDS hat for specific global initiatives. Each of the respective firms that form GDS have their own staff members and clients that we serve. However in today’s global marketplace, we collectively believe “the whole [GDS] is greater than the sum of the parts.” Together there is something very special. Some of the highlights include:
• Staff Exchange – in which we send employees to work in other GDS firms. This allows them to work in a different country, learning about other markets, cultural trends and new ways to approach our business.
• Project Collaboration – in which one of the member firms has a client that has a specific need or expertise. This can range from a specific discipline, to knowledge of local or regional trends to consumer research. We may even present a broad range of concepts leveraging the entire GDS talent pool.
• Enhancing Client Relationships – recently we have started having workshops and meetings with key clients in our respective countries. It allows our clients to meet the principles of GDS along with key staff members. The workshop format allows our clients to brainstorm ideas with an international group of experienced brand consultants.

With the ever-changing global marketplace I would expect that GDS will continue to evolve to respond to our collective client needs.