[SPOT/LOCAL TV

Mary Honan has been in the advertising business for 27 years. But when she accepted a job at the Austin, Texas-based ad agency GSD&M about six years ago, she finally came home. "It is a special, different place to be," she says. "It mirrors the core values I hold—integrity, winning, freedom and responsibility, curiosity and community."Those values—those words—are engraved in the floor at GSD&M's Austin headquarters. And in the Chicago offices where Honan works, those words are written on the ceiling. "The thing I love about the business is the relationships, and GSD&M is really founded on that," she continues. "It is a great fit."The feeling is mutual. "The timing was perfect," says Judy Trabulsi, GSD&M's founder and executive vp and media director, of Honan's arrival at the agency.Honan arrived just a few years after SBC—now AT&T—named GSD&M its agency of record, and from the start she was managing the media buying for the telecom company, including sports, promotions, print and direct response. A year later, she took on all of the broadcast clients. Now, as the senior vp and director of local buying for GSD&M, Honan oversees local broadcast buys for a half-dozen clients, including BMW and Chili's restaurants, and acts as the agency of record director for AT&T.But Honan's skills go beyond the buy. In addition to her duties as the head of local buying, she helped build proprietary systems within GSD&M to help manage and track every single media buy more efficiently and effectively. "Mary's contribution to our business over time has been invaluable," says Wendy Clark, vp of advertising for AT&T. "It has come in two forms: Not just the expected talents she has as the head of local buying, but she is also extremely talented at systems and behind-the-scenes processes." For a company like AT&T, this is no small favor. AT&T's footprint spans more than 50 markets in 13 states (which will grow to 22 states should a merger with BellSouth go through), which means Honan and her team have to maintain relationships in all of the markets and be able to quickly shift their buys based on the company's needs. "We are apt to change our minds on a dime, and her ability to carry out those changes is incredible," Clark says. "They do it without missing a beat.""I am very process-driven," Honan agrees. "I like to have everything nailed down so there are no questions."The systems Honan put in place at GSD&M include a traffic-verification system, a discrepancy-management system, and a pre-buy and post-buy tracker, which immediately notifies the media buyer if his client's media flight gets disrupted so he can make it up while the flight is still in process. This way, clients don't have to wait weeks and weeks for a makegood. "Now it is easier, and if we say we will deliver 150 target-rating points we can do it," says GSD&M's Trabulsi. "Her ability to step back out of the day to day and look at the big picture to maximize efficiencies is a real talent.""We want to do the best for our clients," Honan says. "It sounds corny—but that's what it is."Honan knew early on that she wanted a career in advertising. She thought she'd land in copywriting, but after taking her first job in the media department at Foote Cone & Belding in Chicago, she found herself drawn to the ratings, the programming, and the negotiations between the buyers and the sellers. So in media she stayed.After FCB, Honan moved over to what was then Tatham, Laird & Kudner—now Euro RSCG—where she spent 16 years. "The big account for me was [Procter & Gamble]," she says. "I loved it."But after a while, Honan found she wanted to work for a media agency, so she began exploring new opportunities. In 1998, she took a job at Initiative in Chicago, where she juggled at least seven automotive clients, including Acura and Oldsmobile. But after two years she left when she heard GSD&M was expanding its presence in Chicago. "Really, when I interviewed I couldn't believe the team and the talent I was going to be able to work with," Honan says. Thirty-five years ago in Austin, six recent University of Texas graduates founded GSD&M on the principle that if you work there, you are family. The GSD&M philosophy, according to its web site, is to work hard and play fair, but play to win. In that they have succeeded. The agency now employs 850 people and generates an estimated $1.8 billion a year in billings, with clients like MasterCard, Southwest Airlines and the U.S. Air Force. Honan considers two of her greatest career achievements have occurred while working for GSD&M. The first was in 2005 when BMW awarded GSD&M all media-buying responsibilities in addition to creative, which the agency had already been handling. It was a moment she describes as "awesome." Then, just a few months later, Honan helped relaunch the new AT&T over the New Year. It was the largest launch in the telecom category, with exposure in every football bowl game on TV, The New York Times crossword puzzle, the Times Square ball drop on New Year's Eve, not to mention online and in print. "There was a total synchronization of all elements," she says with pride. "There wasn't one wrong message."Honan does take a lot of pride in her work, but it is just one part of her life. She reaps most of life's rewards by being with her family. She has been married for 21 years to her husband Pat, a PGA golf pro. They have two daughters, Maura and Megan, and a dog named Kennedy. "They're the biggest part of my team," she says. "They have been supportive through everything."However, her children have yet to show a desire to enter the family business. Instead, it is her niece who has just started at Publicis' Starcom in Chicago. "The cycle begins again," she says excitedly. Megan Larson is a contributing writer to Mediaweek.

Brand Marketing

[SPOT/LOCAL TV

Adweek Staff

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Adweek Staff