Kevin Lane

In Kevin’s four years at GDC, he has become a creative force with which to be reckoned. He’s never afraid to tackle any problem, from big concepts to frontline tactics, research endeavors to creative brainstorming, and billboard one-liners to lengthy web content. Kevin looks at every challenge from every possible angle, arming his thoughts, strategies and words with bulletproof vests. That’s why he works well with clients, account execs, art directors and others—to take in multiple perspectives that build strong, innovative ideas.

The bulk of Kevin’s experience is in crafting web, print and radio for Baptist Health System, Procter & Gamble and Rackspace Hosting. He has also sparked big ideas for Time Warner Cable and Brooks City-Base. As the industry shifts toward more online content, he is currently helping lead our agency's digital integration through information architecture, writing for the web, content management, email marketing, search engine marketing, usability, social media and mobile marketing.

Kevin graduated from Trinity University with a B.S. in Marketing and Management in 2006. When he's off the clock, you can find him at music concerts and disc golf courses.

5 Questions with Kevin

You’ve had 12 different hairstyles since you started at GDC. What’s next?
I can’t decide between a Mohawk or Flock of Seagulls. I’ll flip a coin and get back to you.

Talk about your path from GDC copywriter to GDC strategist.
I’m not sure I’d call myself a strategist, but I enjoy pushing myself. I suppose it started when I majored in marketing and management at Trinity University, which didn’t have a copywriting program way back in the early 2000s. At the time I thought I was “settling,” but now I’ve come to appreciate the solid business background it gave me to see the big picture. Your marketing and advertising can be creative as hell, but if it doesn’t generate revenue, it’s a failure.

That’s why I try to always think strategically. Most will probably tell you that I pose too many questions and overanalyze everything, but that’s my process. In my time at GDC, I’ve learned that if you take the time to go through all that, you usually end up with a formula for success. It’s when you bypass strategy and jump straight to tactics and assumptions that you get into trouble.

You went from driving a Chevy Nova circa 1947 to a Toyota hybrid. Why the change?
I owned a 1969 Chevy Nova from the age of 16 until a little over a year ago. After a decade of having no A/C and polluting the earth with plenty of emissions, I decided I owed it to my sweat glands and my planet to make a switch. Fortunately, I sold the Nova to a nearby neighbor so I hope to buy it back during my midlife crisis.

You created “Breakthrough” at GDC. Can you explain the concept and how it impacts GDC and our clients?
The mission of Breakthrough is simple: cultivating new ideas to grow our clients and ourselves. A GDCer identifies a new idea, does their homework and presents his/her findings to everyone. (If you’re wondering what counts as a “new idea,” the only rule is that it’s undone but doable by GDC.)

We then dissect the idea as a group and decide whether to move forward with it or not. Finally, it’s up to all of us to apply the idea for applicable clients, campaigns and projects. Recently we’ve analyzed mobile apps, mobile ads and data visualization. As a result, we created the Text Ya Later mobile app, and we’re incorporating data visualization into various projects.

Breakthrough helps us and our clients stay current, innovative and proactive. It gets us thinking beyond just what our clients ask for and into the realm of what we haven’t thought of yet.

Rumor has it you pulled off a very real impression of a poolside lifeguard for Halloween last year. What are you plans for this year’s festivities?
Mariachis. My plan is to get as many of my guy friends as possible to rent matching outfits – short coat, bow tie, those pants with clasps down the side, the whole bit – and go together as one big Mariachi band. We’ll each have a different instrument even if we can’t play it. Either we’ll set the Guinness World Record for Largest Mariachi Band, or we’ll be the most annoying guys at the party.