Team

Every member of GDC’s team represents the brainpower that clients love and the heart that our culture is built upon.

  • Beth Ochoa

    CEO/Partner

    bio

    Beth's ability to lead, construct and manage teams from an operational standpoint is matched only by her vast knowledge and experience in the marketing and advertising industry.

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    • With over 20 years of agency experience, Beth has worked on numerous marquis national, regional and local accounts, providing strategic guidance and day-to-day operational leadership to each. Perhaps most notably, Beth was responsible for acquiring Sprint/Nextel to GDC’s roster of clients and leading the account’s national field marketing efforts for more than four years. She also has an impressive background in health care marketing, spearheading the strategic development for Baptist Health System and Resolute Health.

      Currently, Beth acts as GDC’s Chief Executive Officer, working to achieve operational efficiency and superior account service for all the agency’s clients. Her dual view of the business, both internal and client facing, positions her as an all-around expert able to see all sides of a challenge and take swift, decisive and appropriate actions.

      Beth graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a degree in radio/television/film. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Organizational Development and Leadership from University of the Incarnate Word. Beth’s experience and leadership make her a pivotal member to the GDC team, and an invaluable asset to any client.

  • Carey Quackenbush

    Chief Ideation Officer/Partner

    bio

    Carey brings a mix of creative experience, leadership, marketing and business strategy to the table on any account he works on.

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    • As the agency’s Chief Ideation Officer, he leads the charge to translate client objectives into meaningful connections with target audiences. The result is a creative product that is meaningful to the audience, actionable to the client, and beneficial to all.

      Beginning his career as a copywriter at BBDO Houston, Carey gained a great deal of experience working across all media for national clients including Pizza Hut, Texaco and Havoline. He then took that experience into the San Antonio market and worked his way quickly into a creative leadership position as an associate creative director and eventually creative director, developing award-winning and strategically sound campaigns for clients such as Sprint/Nextel, Time Warner Cable, American Cancer Society, Procter & Gamble, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, San Antonio Spurs, CPS Energy, San Antonio Water Systems and many more.

      In addition to his vast experience working on the creative side of marketing and advertising, Carey’s drive to immerse himself in all aspects of his clients’ business led him to seek out an M.B.A. with a focus on Marketing Management. It’s this diversified background and approach to every challenge that ensures bold creative concepts that not only stand out from the clutter, but also meet and exceed the business requirements of the marketing effort.

      Carey also holds a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, where he successfully completed the highly competitive Texas Creative sequence.

  • Michele Brown

    COO

    bio

    Michele uses her strong strategic and organizational skills to lead and manage the day-to-day operations of GDC. Her experience in marketing, advertising, PR, and broadcast journalism allows her to respond to client and agency needs in multi-faceted and creative ways.

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    • Michele first joined GDC close to 25 years ago, in the earliest days of the agency after working on the national PR team for Builders Square for Anderson Advertising. She used her experience in public relations and broadcast journalism to help clients like Citibank and H-E-B create internal communication campaigns to engage their teams across the country. Michele quickly moved up the ranks in GDC and was named group account director for all agency retail and CPG clients, including the Shopper Marketing team at Procter & Gamble with a focus on 300+ H-E-B stores in Texas and 3,500 Albertson’s stores across the US.

      While at GDC, and using insights from her CPG and retail experience, she became a founding partner in CartStart™, an in-aisle sales application for retail employees. Funded in part by Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Revlon, and L’Oreal and others, the sales app was leveraged by over 80 H-E-B beauty departments in Texas to help the store’s Beauty Advisors position the right hair, skin, or cosmetic brand based on customer’s needs.

      After leaving GDC in 2015, Michele focused on her two passions—children’s mental health and education and worked in leadership roles for Child Guidance Center and KIPP Texas Public Schools. Michele accepted the opportunity to re-join GDC as the Chief Operating Officer in 2020.

      Michele is an alumna of Leadership San Antonio and sits on the LSA Alumni board of directors and on the board of SA2020. She is married and has two children, one in college studying to be a teacher and one in high school most likely found on a volleyball court.

  • Ana-Maria Phillips

    CSO

    bio

    Ana-María Phillips serves as chief strategy officer for GDC. Her vast experience in both the general and Hispanic markets, along with her unique bicultural background, ideally position her to help GDC clients connect with their audiences.

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    • Ana-María has a degree in Radio, TV & Film with a minor in journalism and an emphasis in broadcasting from the University of Southern Mississippi. She started her career as a news anchor, reporter, and producer, then moved to San Antonio, where her bilingual skills were an asset in the advertising agency world. She has spent over 20 years in broadcasting, marketing and advertising. Her account experience covers a diverse range of clients and brands including IBC Bank, Christus Santa Rosa Health Care, Luby’s, Proctor & Gamble® and Foley’s.

      In addition to working with brands and clients, Ana-Maria has also worked extensively in corporate communications, with a focus on seeking inclusivity for employees of diverse backgrounds. Ana-Maria also has a unique ability to customize information and pitch ideas to the media that are intriguing and relevant to their specific audiences. She has conducted national media tours for corporate executives, helped plan significant events at a statewide level with dignitaries, developed strategic public relations communications plans and helped clients address crisis situations honest communications.

      When she’s not helping GDC clients connect with diverse audiences, Ana-Maria enjoys spending time with her daughter. Together they foster animals and educate people on the importance of spaying and neutering pets.

  • Tom Lewis

    Controller

    bio

    If something’s out of order, Tom notices. He’s “a little OCD” and likes to keep his pictures hanging straight, his receipts in a shoebox, and his dog neatly brushed.

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    • The trait obviously comes in handy in leading our accounting team at GDC. And the best part is, he streamlines the paperwork process to keep the message in the numbers clear and concise.

      Though he was born with an eye for the details, Tom has further developed the skill with a lengthy accounting résumé. When he came to GDC in 2009, he brought with him extensive experience from the Interpublic Group family of agencies. And he began his career in public accounting with an emphasis in retail at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in North Carolina.

      Tom is married with two daughters and a mutt. The family garage remains a mess, but he’s working on it.

    • Marcie Casas

      Chief Communications & Culture Officer

      With 20 years of industry experience, Marcie specializes in audience engagement through all modes of communication including experiential marketing, social media, community relations and grassroots outreach. As the Culture Officer, she is responsible for the diversity, talent and well-being of agency employees and for promoting an agency culture in which employees can thrive.

    • Lisa Gomez

      Media Director

      Lisa has a gift for knowing the best way to reach people through creative, cost‐effective media solutions—and another gift of getting that same level of media buying and planning excellence from her team. Her background includes extensive media planning and placement at the local, regional and national levels.

    Services

    GDC’s mission to Inspire Change guides everything we do to connect brands with customers and audiences. Here’s the toolbox we use to do so.

    • ideation

      ideation

      Business- and industry-changing ideas don’t just come out of thin air. Beginning with research, GDC’s ideation team constantly seeks out gaps and opportunities that exist in the world around us. Rather than focusing on how things have been done, we focus on how things could or should be done. The results won’t be what you expect – and that’s the point.

    • Millennial Marketing

      Millennial Marketing

      It’s the question every company and organization wants answered – how do you connect with Millennials? The Millennial market represents a shift in the entire model of marketing and communications, where the audience has more power and more of a voice than any previous generation. GDC’s team of Millennial marketing experts understands how to leverage this shift in power dynamics to break through the clutter and create allies for your brand.

    • hispanic marketing

      hispanic marketing

      The rapidly growing Hispanic market can no longer be viewed as a minority audience. Which is why GDC employs a dedicated team of multi-cultural and bilingual strategists and creatives dedicated to understanding and connecting with the growing Hispanic population. As the lines continue to blur between the general market and the Hispanic market, GDC has the knowledge, the insights and the experience to bring the buying power of the Hispanic market to your business.

      See our Hispanic Work.

    • public relations

      public relations

      Shaping perception is an art form. Our seasoned public relations team provides top-drawer strategic planning and crisis counsel, creative ideas, traffic-driving promotions, aggressive media relations and attention-grabbing special events. And we have a reputation for getting results.

    • Media

      Media

      Tough negotiating and decisive planning go hand-in-hand. That’s why we put equal emphasis on creating media plans that reach the most targeted audience possible and get you the best value available.

      And it all starts with the I-Level Process.

    • Digital Marketing

      Digital Marketing

      From website development to search engine marketing/optimization, content strategy and social engagement, GDC’s team of digital strategists, creatives and developers leverage technology to drive real-time results.

      See Our Digital Work

    • EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

      EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

      GDC has launched several experiential campaigns for TxDOT, each crafted in a way to deliver core campaign messaging directly to the targeted audiences. These unique experiential initiatives deeply connect the audience to your brand and create memorable impressions that actually change behavior.

      See our experiential work

    • Branding

      Branding

      Your brand goes far beyond your identity, and when properly harnessed, it can be your most powerful asset. Through MirrorBranding™, GDC uncovers the connection point between what your organization offers and what your customers value to create a strong brand strategy.

      See the Process

    • Consumer Research

      Consumer Research

      Guesswork has no place within the walls of GDC. Led by our on-staff cultural anthropologist, our commitment to uncovering actionable insights through quantitative and qualitative research is infused throughout every stage of our process.

      See the Process

      Join a Survey panel

    • Marketing Strategy

      Marketing Strategy

      GDC’s mission to Inspire Change guides everything we do to connect brands with customers and audiences. Here’s the toolbox we use to do so.

      See the Process

    • Creative Development

      Creative Development

      Great creative must be unique enough to stand out, clear enough to understand and strong enough to drive results. Our team of art directors and copywriters work from strategy to execution to ensure an end product that is as effective as it is creative.

      See Our Work

    Process

    GDC’s proven process uses research to identify what drives people to act, a branding process to ensure your communications are a reflection of their individual needs and desires and a strategic planning process to deliver your message directly to each target audience of one.

    • I-Level Process

      I-Level Process

      We live in the age of “Me” media. In order to make meaningful connections, your business can no longer communicate with customers at a 30,000 foot level. We bring messaging down to a personal or “I” level. Using I-Level Strategic Planning , GDC creates the appropriate mix of strategies and tactics to connect with consumers in ways that are meaningful to each individual.The result is the right mix of traditional and non-traditional channels to bring your message face to face with the individuals that are most valuable to your growth and success.

    • Certitude™

      Certitude™

      Certitude is our quantitative research product which tests the effectiveness of marketing messages that allows us to identify the difference between messages that are simply popular from those that are powerfully persuasive. Before we go to market with a particular message, we use Certitude™ to gather focus-group quality information from real people in real time. And we do it fast – this takes weeks, not months.

    • Humanalysis™

      Humanalysis™

      Why do people act the way they do? Humanalysis ™ is our qualitative product used for combining cultural anthropology, the study of people and humanity, and ethnography, an in-depth research methodology, to answer that very question. Humanalysis ™ does not rely solely on common research techniques or take what people say at face value. Rather, it seeks to dig deeper and get to the core of consumers’ behavior through means that immerse GDC in people’s daily lives.

      Learn more about the research offerings of GDC Insights or join a research panel.

    • MirrorBranding™

      MirrorBranding™

      MirrorBranding™ is GDC’s branding tool that cuts to the core of what makes branding effective – creating a connection point between what you do and say as an organization and how that makes your audience feel. Ultimately, for people to connect with your brand they need to see their own values, beliefs and desires reflected in what you offer and what you stand for. That’s what MirrorBranding ™ does and it takes just weeks to uncover the foundational brand principles that will make your brand just as much a part of your audience as it is a part of your organization.