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Welcome to The Trailblazers Podcast hosted by Pave Talent. Step into the world of groundbreaking leaders, inventive pioneers, and expert entrepreneurs as we explore groundbreaking stories and priceless advice from the foremost experts in the industry.
Today we have special guest Rob Gaedtke, President and CEO of KPS3, a full service
advertising agency based in Reno, Nevada.
Rob has been with KPS3 for nearly 20 years, climbing the ranks from a production artist to
president and CEO today.
Under his guidance, KPS3 has grown to be recognized as the best place to work for eight
consecutive years.
And today we'll explore Rob's journey and the unique approaches that have made KPS3 stand
out in the competitive world of marketing and advertising.
Welcome, Rob.
Thanks for having me, Jeff.
Of course.
guess starting out, tell us a little bit about kind of what drew you to the marketing and
advertising industry.
Yeah, it's a very pointed story.
I was a high school kid with wanting to have zero classes.
My mom said, no, take a journalism class.
And now I own a journalism business.
There you go.
And you've been with the company for almost two decades starting kind of at the bottom,
right?
Starting as a production artist.
What were some of the pivotal moments in your career that kind of led you to where you're
at today?
Yeah, know, started off, actually worked for a photographer during college and I got to
meet all the art directors and creative directors around town.
Kind of a perfect job if you're trying to get into advertising.
But I'm on a photo shoot and one of the creative directors in town, actually the S in KPS3
was on a shoot.
Got to show him my portfolio and that's kind of how I got started at KPS3.
After that, I got to meet both the owners.
and got offered a job right there on the spot.
So it was pretty awesome.
Perfect.
And what has kind motivated you along the way eventually leading to, you know, company
president?
Tell me about what some of your kind of key inspirations and motivations were through that
journey.
Yeah, know, lot of stuff in the industry, right?
It's a pretty dynamic industry, lots of fun, late nights, hard work.
But I think, you know, there's been a couple of pieces along the way.
Number one, I definitely wanted to own a business, but I knew that owners that I'd worked
with or people that only had kind of one side of the picture.
I didn't feel like it could motivate both sides, right?
It's a creative and technical industry, and then there's account services, and those are
kind of the two divides in advertising.
And so I started on the creative side.
And one of the harder moments was when I actually left KPS3.
I decided to explore that account side, the project management side.
I left KPS3 in probably 08.
and decided to work for a company called 12 Horses.
They were a tech company.
I was a project manager for a pretty cutting edge technical company.
They had an email platform and we're building some pretty sophisticated ticketing systems
and websites.
So jump ship over there.
And I think that exposed me to like the cool side of the tech industry, right?
It was that 2010s and just showed me what a vibrant company culture could be.
so dove headfirst into that, loved managing clients.
that company actually ended up getting bought out.
Probably another pivotal moment for me, by a global digital firm, one -to -one
interactive.
during that buyout, I got to see sort of corporate, digital companies.
And it really did remind me that if you're the digital kid in marketing, you don't get to
sit at the big kid table.
Whereas KPS3, right, was a brand marketing PR agency.
And that's really where the real magic of a company happens, right?
Tech's fantastic, but without a brand behind it, it doesn't go as far.
So I think that movement was really instrumental.
And then the realization that I didn't want a tech company, I wanted a marketing company
that was really, really sophisticated in technology.
so that was a big deal, I think there, and then, you know, once I moved back over to KPS
three and I had both sides of that picture, the, sort of creative tech side and the
account side of the house, I felt pretty confident that I could lead a team.
Yeah, definitely.
Well, let's talk a little bit about the company as a whole, know, tell me a little bit
about where the company's at today and how that has evolved over, you know, the 33 years
that the company's been around.
Yeah, company started Stephanie Cruz and Associates, it's just Stephanie Cruz, just one
person as most businesses do.
And really focused on sort of marketing as a strategy, Those higher strategy pieces and
not the creative technical design.
You know, it grew when I came on board, there was about 11 of us.
And today we're 54 full -time employees across eight states.
So much different company, but still rooted in that kind of Stephanie's an amazing person.
She's bold, she's powerful.
And the company still has a lot of those vibes.
Yeah, definitely.
You mentioned across eight states.
How did, I guess, how did COVID impact the business from a remote standpoint?
Were you already kind of spread out and having a remote workforce prior to COVID or how
did that impact the business?
Yeah, it was actually really interesting.
So again, we're very tech forward.
We always have been.
One of my business partners now, Kevin Jones, was always pushing for remote environments.
So, you we were on Slack, we had Google Meets, we had that type of environment pre -COVID,
but it was like 80 % in the office, 20 % at home, right?
COVID happened, obviously 100 % in the office.
And I bet you, I'm not even in the office today, I bet you there's, you know, maybe eight
people in the Reno office right now.
Yeah, that makes sense.
I'm the same way.
mean, it flipped the whole script for me too.
I had an office and now everybody's remote in five different countries.
yeah.
And I know when we talking earlier, you said kind of about half of your revenue comes from
the tech space.
Tell me a little bit about how this focus of technology has kind of shaped your agency's
approach to marketing.
Yeah, definitely.
I just love the intersection between that creativity, marketing strategy, and then
technology.
And our revenue is tied into both of those arenas.
So we have search and digital media marketing.
We have email marketing, and we do a lot of web app development.
And so that arm adds a layer of like
project management, you have to use Scrum models and right tracking, ticket tracking,
those types of things.
Whereas the traditional agency model, creative process, right?
All of those things are much looser.
know, timelines are a little bit more flexible.
like so that dynamic is really awesome to see, right?
We can bring sort of the best of the tech industry into
into the more traditional industry and then vice versa, right?
Like the tech industry, some of that stuff is cumbersome and hindering, right?
It can stifle some things.
So that part's really awesome.
But I think the best part is what our sort of clients get to feel.
And because of the technology background, right?
Because we can link up 10 different platforms to share the same data set.
It means that when we run public relations programs or when we launch a new brand, can
really track and follow not only sort of the heart and emotional side, but the data side,
right?
We know what's happening out there.
We know who's doing it.
We know what's doing it.
So it's really a pretty awesome merge, I think, of the two disciplines and the two skill
sets.
Yeah, definitely.
I know earlier we mentioned some of one of your unique approaches is, you know, really the
vision of changing the way that marketing is measured.
Tell me a little bit about, you know, how metrics and kind of what approaches you use to
set yourself apart from other agencies.
Yeah, definitely.
know, that sort of phrase, you know, it's our vision statement and it really does come
into play threefold.
know you're talking about one specific element of it, but when we talk about changing the
way marketing is measured, it really does come to our employees, it comes to, you know,
our clients, and then it comes to the physical piece you're talking about, the actual
tracking and metrics.
Really quickly on
you know, the people side of the house.
We get so many employees and we'll hear people talk in the world.
If you talk to somebody who's been in advertising, you know, they'll say they're agency
scarred or they're, you know, I'll never work at an agency again.
They just push you to the limits.
And I think that's ridiculous, right?
We have, I think we're celebrating two more 10 year anniversaries at KPS3 this month.
And we have about six people that have been here longer than 10 years.
And so that's different and that's what we're trying to change.
And then from a client perspective, right, agencies are expensive, they're slow.
They don't provide as much value as they should.
You know, talk to our clients, we have clients for 30 years that have been with us from
day one of Stephanie, Cruz and Associates.
And you don't get there unless you do provide that value.
you know, being a partner, telling them your KPSC is not the right company.
You know, that's very unique, right?
That's sort of changing how an agency is measuring.
But then the meat of it, right?
The data.
When a company comes to us and says, need, you know, 50 qualified leads a month, right?
And they need to be at X revenue.
Having the tools in place to actually say, yes, we did that, or that's impossible, we're
never gonna do that.
is really critical.
And again, most digital agencies can handle that footprint, right?
They can handle integrations and marketo, Salesforce, all those pieces of the pie.
They can integrate those.
But where they fall short is when you place a billboard, when you are running a television
ad, when you're doing a change marketing campaign.
Like, how do we measure sentiment?
How do we tie
those metrics to just public perception and are we actually moving the needle?
So those are some of the areas that we're really, I think, spearheading, changing the way
we measure marketing.
And it's not just one piece or the other.
It's really the roll up, the summary of the marketing funnel.
And if you have a clear picture of that, I think you can create pretty awesome programs.
Yeah, definitely.
Well, let's dive into the first kind of part of that with the employees.
And I know that you guys have been recognized as the best place to work, I think, for, you
said, eight years running.
Tell me about some of the specific initiatives or cultural policies that you think really
contribute to achieving that.
Yeah, you know, I think at the end of the day, a CEO's job, right, is to make sure that
he's got a clear vision, right, change the way marketing is measured, and then the
happiest people you can possibly have, right, satisfied, pushed, all of those things.
So, you know, that is truly my role is to make sure that the people are happy.
And a big factor of that is do they want to work at KPS3?
You know, I think from...
no matter what it's about the people's managers, right?
So the leadership team at KPS3, everybody quits because their boss sucks, right?
That's what happens.
Tons of studies on it.
That's why people quit.
So that's the number one focus, right?
We gotta make sure that the people all the way across the board are happy that they value
their boss and they feel like their boss cares for them.
We talk about...
leadership at KPS3 and I had a speaker once tell me that the brain needs three things.
It needs to be challenged.
It needs to feel cared for and valued and it needs to be empowered.
And if you can give them those three, you'll have somebody who's satisfied, right?
So that's kind of step one of leadership at KPS3 is making sure you're pushing your people
as hard as you can because we want to feel like we're making a difference, right?
that you're not micromanaging them, right?
You're letting them run free and make their own choices.
And then that you're valuing them, that's compensation, right?
That's recognition, that's those pieces.
So when we focus on those three at the leadership level, it really does make for pretty
satisfied employees.
Some pieces in there that I think you're asking specifically about, right?
Compensation.
We need to make sure that we're compensating our people, right?
Making sure that you're at or above market is number one.
And then above that is really the, I think, important part.
We do bonuses at the end of the year.
throughout the entire year, every month, we'll share where the company sits.
Everything, if somebody wants to see a balance sheet or a P &L, I'll share it to them, but
I give the highlights in a staff meeting.
And if we achieve our numbers or if we're even close, 50 % of the profits go back to the
people, the employees, and 50 % go to the owners of KPS3.
So that's another salary component.
If somebody uses a cell phone, we pay for it.
If you want to have lunch, buy it.
I think some of these things that people forget or feel like are small, they really do add
up.
you volunteer, we'll...
We'll give a donation to any, any organization that people are a part of at KPS3.
No questions asked.
Here's an organization.
I'm a part of it.
We'll support it.
You know, and then all the crazy stuff, right?
They really good health insurance for everybody.
Right?
Pet insurance, life insurance, all the, all the nuts and bolts are there.
We give people a lifestyle benefit.
Everybody has a credit card to KPS3.
They can, they can spend their, their lifestyle benefits on
anything that makes them happy, right?
So I know one employee bought a lens a couple of days ago for the camera.
Other people get massages or, you know, retreats.
Other people buy groceries.
That's what makes them happy.
ahead.
And so it's that lifestyle benefit.
that like up to a certain spend that they can spend?
Yeah, it's an annual benefit.
-huh.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
that.
I haven't heard about that.
It's really unique.
You don't hear a lot of being that transparent about 50 -50 split with sharing the
profits.
And if you want to see the balance sheet in P &L, being open to that.
that's really awesome.
Tell me a little bit about, we talked about the philosophy of specializing and not
specializing.
Elaborate on what that means and how it benefits your clients.
Yeah, you know, it's a phrase kind of carried through lots of different areas, even in my
life.
Like you don't want to be pigeonholed, right?
But the real benefit of specializing and not specializing is diversity, right?
So if you're a tourism agency, right, you get these blinders on.
If you're just a B2B SaaS company, all you know is tech, right?
And you don't know about consumer marketing.
So when...
when we say that, we're marketing experts.
We understand how to get people to take an action and our clients are experts in their
profession, right?
They're industrial real estate developers.
They're, you know, again, tourism agencies or whatnot.
So I think that really does separate and bring ideas that are very specific to one
industry.
into another.
I know some things that we love to say.
We work in the tourism space and then we also work in very technical environments.
And in those companies, they understand tech stacks, they understand very sophisticated
sales cycles.
Tourism industry, they don't even understand that language.
They don't have that kind of stuff.
So we're able to bring that into and say, hey, let's track these customers.
Let's follow them in a more sophisticated way.
And then likewise, right, sometimes these more sort of tech companies, they can get their
blinders onto the data and all they care about is that exact dollar amount.
And like this channel is not working.
It's like, well, that's a part of the, if they don't get that, they're less likely to
convert at that stage.
So we can, we can share some of the tourism insights into inspiration, right?
Into the, the buying process and how people imagine themselves and destinations.
and bring that into that space.
again, specializing and not specializing, I think is a way of saying like all ideas should
be brought to the table to make the best solution for the client.
Definitely.
No, I love that.
And I think there's a lot of things you can take from other industries and apply them to
new industries.
And I think that's where a lot of innovation happens.
Even in my own business groups that I'm in, I have a group of business advisors and they
all own completely different companies.
Some of them own tree care companies, others own consumer product companies completely
different than mine, but the value that I receive from them is immense.
And I've been able to apply them to my business.
Let's dive into some of the specific kind of key moments and strategic decisions that you
had to make.
So I guess when you're looking at the history of the company, is there a specific kind of
like project or campaign that was particularly transformative for the company and maybe
what made it so significant to the company?
Yeah, you know, there's been a few.
You know, I think if I think back, probably the first large initiative where we really got
into sort of the idea of disruptive marketing, we were trying to steal businesses from
California and have them come over to Nevada, right?
So if you think about the two, those two states, right?
have, Nevada has a lot of benefits over California.
so we ran a, a, a missing campaign, all about like, Hey, the Golden Gate bridge moved to
Nevada and the California bear moved to Nevada.
But, but I think why it was so successful, is, is because we had flyers, across the
capitals in, in downtown Sacramento.
we, we plastered, billboards with these missing signs, in, in LA.
we wrapped a ferry boat, in, in San Diego.
And I think that was one of the first really big campaigns that used grassroots, used
traditional marketing, it used all these different variables.
And so I think that was like step one of our level up.
The next one, we won the bid for rolling out the Nevada HealthLink.
We actually got to name it the Nevada HealthLink and that's the Obamacare initiative.
And that was huge for KPS3 because that allowed us to bring in tip to tail from the start
of that entire program.
had experts and doctors sharing their opinions.
We got to merge a big research data set.
And then again, this was an online portal, right?
It's a digital portal to buy insurance.
That's the marketplace.
Mm -hmm.
And so, you know, working with the federal government on what that sort of looks like, it
was awesome.
KPS3 actually got to develop some of the screens, some of the user flows for that system.
So just again, a very integrated approach that I think leveled KPS3 up again.
You know, then I think was the digital transformation of KPS3.
We actually purchased two companies over my tenure here.
One was a search in...
analytics company, so they did SEO work and analytic work.
That's Bob Whitefield, another owner of the company now.
And then we purchased a company called Fuse that had a content management system that they
had developed, had a series of clients that were much more sophisticated.
So when we purchased those two companies, that really established our footprint as a true
digital player in the marketing space.
And then
You know, recently we've done some cool stuff.
We built a digital swirl machine for Santa Maria Valley that you could control online and
throw wine against a piece of paper.
And yeah, that's a really cool one to explore because that's like eight, is in a pie
magazine and a few others just because of the tech side.
So yeah, like lots of transformational times.
People Grove, I think is the latest one that we just sort of rolled out a rebrand.
of a software, a SaaS company for colleges that really connects students to alumni, to
university, to new jobs.
And rolling that brand out was a pretty big and awesome endeavor for KPS3.
Yeah, definitely.
And I know every agency faces kind of its unique set of challenges, I guess.
What would you say are some of the challenges that you're facing?
I guess, how are you planning on addressing them?
Yeah.
Yeah, I think like you mentioned, right?
We're no different than any other growing company hiring the right people, making sure
that there's growth paths and that the good ones stay and the bad ones leave.
I don't think that'll ever not be a problem for a business, but we can feel it, right?
50 is an interesting size for a company.
You're kind of in that middle realm here where you either need to grow up or get
specialized.
So I think that's a big
piece that we're dealing with now.
also think just as companies evolve, you know, the things that they were good at
yesterday, maybe not what they're good at today.
So being really open and honest about, hey, can we build those types of things now?
Can we do that kind of marketing still?
You know, we have a couple of phrases, right?
Like, what are some of the old beliefs we need to get rid of?
What are some new beliefs we need to add to our vocabulary?
So I think that's a big piece.
Probably the other part of marketing, right?
You know, nobody can talk about any business right now without understanding what AI is
doing to it.
But because we're in an artistic place, right?
We all know that AI and imagery is brutal and it's really easy to generate images from
scratch.
Likewise in development, right?
You can develop code now.
And both of those have their scares and their issues with folks.
So that's definitely another area that we're paying close attention to.
Yeah, definitely.
It's such a rapidly shifting landscape that you're wondering how are competitors
leveraging AI, trying to stay ahead of the curve on that.
What about in terms of economic fluctuations?
I know on my end, I've seen a lot of businesses be tighter with their spend, slower to
make key decisions around budgetary.
matters, how is kind of the macro economic environment impacted your business?
this year and how do you navigate some of these uncertain.
Times in the economy.
Yeah, you know, I'd say the biggest thing that we see is just lead times, right?
Lead times for approvals, lead times for projects.
I think you're absolutely right.
People are just a little scared to sign the dotted line, right?
And tackle a new website or a new app builder, whatever they want to do.
So we're seeing long lead times for sure.
Also in the sales process, right?
We're seeing people ask for multiple bids.
Maybe we provided a proposal a year ago and now they want to talk about it again.
So that's a big one.
I would say most of our current clients, thanks to the specializing and not specializing,
will have industries that'll slow or will have segments or areas in the country that sort
of slow down, but others are picking up, right?
I think that's what you'll see in the market right now too.
Yes, as a whole, things are sort of in an interesting place, but there's plenty of sectors
that are doing just fine and in fact booming.
So I think that diversity of client base and types of services has also sort of insulated
us a little bit.
We're not immune to any of it, but definitely helpful.
Yeah.
No, I agree.
We're very diverse from that perspective.
And there's always bull markets happening in certain industries, right?
I mean, we're seeing a lot of food and beverage and alternative protein bull market,
right?
We're seeing chemical manufacturing still growing a lot, right?
And so you just have to be able to be flexible to pivot.
And it sounds like you already do that by specializing and not specializing.
I'm curious how you...
to stay ahead of the curve with AI?
I know certain companies are creating chief AI officers or they're coming up with
committees or groups.
How do you plan to stay ahead of the curve with some of the innovations happening in the
AI space?
Yeah, you know, last year was so we're on a fiscal.
So we just ended our our year.
So the previous year we had an initiative for AI.
That's really when we started like rolling it out to the company.
We held sort of all day hackathon with the whole company.
We said, hey, here's a marketing campaign.
You can only use AI to create it.
And then the four teams.
pitched their campaigns right at the end of the day and they were hysterical.
But we had TV spots, had radio spots, had ads and strategies all developed 100 % by AI.
So I think number one is you've got to just let people use it.
So have budgets, let people explore and do it.
So that was kind of last year, right?
And last year was like, let's get comfortable in AI.
And this year is all about, all right, now we need to get formalized in AI.
So our initiatives this year are to develop a philosophy for it.
So what is KPS3 stance and philosophy on AI?
And then after that, who are our champions?
So we have, again, five different departments.
We have two different teams.
And so we need to make sure that all of those arenas are adept at AI and have a champion
that they can go to say,
What are you doing in AI?
How can how can it make my life better easier faster?
Whatever?
So so that's kind of the the second piece of that and then the third piece of that is is
really understanding the the sort of ramifications the legalities What what is all of this
about for our clients?
So we don't put anything on right now.
That's it's you know confidential or specific We keep it sort of generalized, but we know
we need to get to there
So setting that sort of legal piece up.
So those are the three initiatives that we're tackling this year.
Nice.
And transitioning more into just your own personal growth and leadership, you know, when
you reflect on your career and your personal growth lessons, what have you found to be the
most impactful in your professional journey?
Yeah, so I'd say hands down the biggest was joining a group.
So I've been a part of the Vistage group for a decade now.
I actually left for a year and was like, why did I leave and I'm back?
But I think that hands down has been the best personal leadership experience.
You know, when you expose yourself to six...
speakers a year all on leadership topics when you have insights from various businesses
and industries and sectors.
I think you just start to understand the space more.
You understand who you are as a leader.
So I think that was a big part of probably the last 10 years of my development.
I'd say personally developing like
who I am as a leader, really like looking at me personally of, okay, what do you do,
right?
Who are you as a leader?
How do you show up every day?
What's your role?
Even just defining that the only purpose of Rob Gatke at KPS3 is to set a vision and then
inspire the people to get that vision done, right?
Like even just stating that was kind of transformational for me to know that like I don't
have to do the other stuff.
So, you know, setting that and then, you know, personally, I have a sort of personal
tagline is to do amazing things.
And so I think that really helps me sort of push myself to push the team, the company to
do stuff that's kind of remarkable, you know.
Yeah, definitely.
And I agree, my top one personally for myself is joining EO and my involvement in EO.
When you surround yourself by like -minded people that own their own businesses that are
all focused on self -growth, it's really amazing what comes out of that.
Even though they're all in different industries, they all have different business sizes.
You learn so much from it.
And that has definitely made the biggest impact on my business and my...
Constant evolving of my you know as my business grows and I'm sure you know this your job
changes so frequently It's like you got to keep up with that, right?
And I'm curious, you know if you the landscape has changed so much, know, and you've
learned a lot You know I'm sure in your last kind of 20 years if you were to start your
career from scratch in today's market and You can't do what you're doing now, you know,
what industry would you what industry would you choose and what what and why?
Yeah, you know, it's one of those impossible questions for sure, right?
But I actually think I would have a shop.
I think that I love building stuff, whether it's woodworking or houses.
I would definitely be a builder.
I think if I was starting over, no marketing, no nothing, I think I'd be in that field.
Again, whether it's making furniture or construction or...
or something, you know, I get to build teams now, but it's very different than the hands
on like physical stuff.
Yeah.
cool.
Nice.
And I guess, where do you see, I guess, as you look into the next kind of five years, as
we start to look towards 2030 and you start to really look at the big picture, what do you
think some of the bigger pictures are when you see the intersection of technology and
marketing evolving?
And I guess what excites you about where the industry could go in the next five years as
things evolve?
Yeah, you know, I kind of love it because I've had the, I've been lucky enough to witness
some, some pretty big swings in, in the space, right?
We started in marketing and like the internet barely was, was a thing, right?
So we're doing raw HTML static websites for stuff.
And then, and then it was like all tech, right?
And it was like, how cool of of a stunt in the technology thing can you make?
And I think that pendulum is coming back.
I think society is really caring about humans.
We're caring about health, like you mentioned, right?
Those are industries that are growing right now.
So I think this sort of health wellness human perspective is where sort of marketing's
gonna go.
And I think technology's gonna take a sort of step back.
They'll be there.
And it'll probably be more technology, but I think it'll be more hidden, right?
I think it'll, you'll, you'll be wanting to hide that technology.
So it's all about the heart, right?
because I think that's where society needs right now.
I think that's where I think we, want to feel connected more, but not through false means
of, you know, superficial engagements, right?
It's a 30 minute combo.
It's a 30 minute podcast, right?
Versus, you know, a, a 60 second, swipe in TikTok.
So.
I think that's where it's going.
Yeah, someone told me like, you know, right now we're still going to technology, but I
technology is going to start coming to us and it's just going to show up and it's going to
be there when you need it.
And you're not necessarily going to have to go searching for what you're going to need to
search for.
It's going to just kind of be embedded.
But also I think from a marketing perspective, probably micro influence influencers and
really just authentic marketing, right?
Sometimes you see these traditionally we've seen large celebrities doing these things.
And I see that.
these trend of micro influencers, just really authentic, genuine marketing, real people,
real conversations, things like that.
Yeah, definitely.
Well, my last question for you here is if you were to go back to your 18 year old self and
give yourself three pieces of advice, what would you say those three pieces of advice are
besides buying Tesla stock or buying Amazon stock?
It is an E
Yeah, I think I just heard that from somebody in EO, know, like some great leaders save
space for feedback, right?
And I think sometimes you get so triggered by feedback and you shut down, but it's like
just reminding yourself, like great leaders always have space for feedback, you know?
Yep, exactly.
And that's how we grow.
Well, I really, this was a great conversation.
I really enjoyed learning about your journey and I just want to thank you for sharing your
insights and experiences with us.
And, you know,
These are really valuable lessons, I guess, for professionals across various industries
like we talked about.
So I appreciate your time.