Goodby, Silverstein & Partners spent 2022 proving once again that 40 years in the advertising business doesn’t mean a shop can’t be versatile. Co-Chairman and Partner Jeff Goodby knew the only way to stay ahead was to focus on transformation. “No longer are the days clients are calling us for our creativity,” he told a room of chief marketing officers at the Forbes CMO Summit in November. “They are looking for business solutions powered by creative thinking.”
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Goodby, Silverstein & Partners tackles business solutions creatively
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People, from left: Co-Chairman and Co-Founder Rich Silverstein, Managing Partner Leslie Barrett, Managing Partner Brian McPherson, Chief Creative Officer Margaret Johnson, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder Jeff Goodby, Head of Communication Strategy Christine Chen and Head of Brand Strategy Bonnie Wan. Dogs, clockwise from left: Machu Gravier, Samwise Goodby, Willie Nelson Vellines, Birdy Hamilton and Rico Hart.
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GSP
GS&P went about the business of transformation with the strategy of “Mass Intimacy,” believing that “only smart, brave and famous work brings people closer to our clients’ businesses” and inspires consumers to care and take action. Clients clearly liked what they saw. GS&P had a client retention rate of 97% in 2022 and picked up new clients including Planet Partnership's Beyond Jerky, marketed via a joint venture between PepsiCo and Beyond Meat; Frito-Lay's Smartfood; and eMed.
The agency kicked off the year with not one but two hit Super Bowl commercials, bringing BMW back to the Big Game after a seven-year hiatus with a charming spot starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Zeus, Salma Hayek as Hera and their electric car, the BMW iX. The work drove a 624% increase in BMW site traffic.
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The second Super Bowl spot, for Frito-Lay’s Flamin’ Hot Potato Chips, starred Megan Thee Stallion remixing Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.” GS&P also turned Doritos snacks into mini streaming platforms using Snapchat’s newest augmented-reality lens, which led to a double-digit sales increase for the brand.
GS&P further expanded its Brand Camp offering, hiring YouTube, Google and Spotify alumnus Eric Solomon to head the program. The agency says the six-week accelerated strategy workshop is the fastest-growing part of its business. In 2022, Brand Camp added Interior Logic Group, Renaissance and TeamHealth from Blackstone Group to its client roster.
In an effort to diversify the ad industry’s workforce, the agency created the Academy at GS&P, an in-house, tuition-free advertising school whose first class was 74% people of color. GS&P also partnered with industry nonprofit Free the Work on Residence, an artist-in-residence program designed to open up real-world opportunities for diverse directors.
