For David Clarke and BGT Partners, the agency he co-founded, it all starts with a problem.
"People hire us to solve business problems like increasing conversion, lowering abandonment, or increasing the number of people coming into the funnel," he told Forrester's Q&Agency blog. "Strategy is where we start, but we take a project all the way through execution to advanced analytics."
Since its founding in 1996, Clarke has championed BGT's analytics-driven philosophy as the best avenue to achieving tangible results for the client. But those who think Clarke's leadership is solely about the numbers miss the human strength of the agency he helped build. Fifteen years on, BGT has an employee retention rate near 100 percent. It's a fact that helped BGT earn "Best Place to Work" accolades from Ad Age the last two years. But according to Clarke, employee satisfaction and a lack of turnover have allowed BGT to fine-tune its teams and leverage institutional knowledge.
It's a recipe that has paid off. In the last three years, BtoB Magazine has recognized five BGT-built websites in its annual list of "Great B2B Sites." The sites are:
Clarke is a regular contributor to iMedia Connection, where he often writes about brand engagement on Facebook. He has also contributed to Ad Age, BusinessWeek, The Miami Herald, and the South Florida Business Journal. Clarke is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Fun fact: To support Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Clarke created an initiative where BGT donates $1 to the charity for every new Facebook "like" the agency receives. To date, the initiative has raised more than $10,000 in donations.
He tweets at @dlclarke.
Backstory
The editorial team at iMedia Connection is proud to present the iMedia25 Class of 2011, compiled with the help of our 2010 honorees and our community of digital industry professionals. This list recognizes the accomplishments of key influencers in interactive marketing, who not only excel in their own business roles but are also able to execute on innovative ideas, share them with peers and consumers, and push this vital field to new levels of success and significance.
