How it started
History
The agency started with local retail accounts and expanded to more regional work. In 1986, the agency created the Don't Mess with Texas anti-litter slogan for the Texas Department of Transportation.
In the 1990s GSD&M began to acquire more national brands outside of Texas and was regarded as a "creative hot-shop".
The agency relinquished Chili's, DreamWorks, Frito-Lay, Fannie Mae and UnitedHealthcare in 2006–2007. The agency's Omnicom sibling, BBDO, was given the lead on the AT&T account, although GSD&M still has a portion of the business. That loss eventually reduced the number of employees from a high of over 900 to fewer than 400.
The agency was known as GSD&M until August 27, 2007 when it changed its name to GSD&M's Idea City. "Idea City" was previously the name of the agency's Austin headquarters. The "Idea City" name was dropped from the firm name in January 2011.
On February 5, 2009, GSD&M founder Roy Spence published It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For. The book, co-authored with Haley Rushing, is a business book that suggests the key to high-performing organizations is that they have a purpose. Purpose, according to the book, is defined as "a definitive statement about the difference you are trying to make in the world."
From Wikipedia’s article on GSD&M, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2