Our Story
In 1984, BDSmktg was founded as a field marketing agency by three partners (Baker, Dean, and Sherwood) whose vision was to provide an excellent working environment for employees. They believed that by focusing on putting employees first, their employees would in turn take great care of their clients. The rest was history.
In the early years, BDS was a boutique agency that ran customer promotions and sampling events for a few clients. Since then, we have grown to be a leading retail marketing and sales agency in the U.S. We support Fortune 500 brands, world-class manufacturers, and retailers with a streamlined suite of integrated sales and marketing solutions, award-winning in-house experts, and over 7,000 representatives in our network. To get where we are today, we made a number of partnerships and acquisitions throughout the years that allowed us to meet our clients’ needs and create an ecosystem of consumer influence touch-points.
The first major addition to the BDS family was in 2006 when we acquired Channel Partners to enrich our Training, Assisted Sales, and Product Launch offerings. The following year, Keystone Marketing Specialists was purchased, which added the Flex Force shared model, along with the Retail Access training platform, into our mix of capabilities. In 2013, BDS brought RMSe on board to offer Retail Installation and Construction services as an in-house capability, further expanding our solutions to include Retail Environments.
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In 2016, BDS partnered with Apollo Retail Specialists and its equity partners to form BDS Solutions Group, LLC, a platform organization that has allowed us to significantly expand our field team and service offerings to further influence purchase decisions throughout the entire customer shopping journey. That same year we formed additional divisions under the BDSmktg brand, including: BDS Research, an expansion of our Business Intelligence capabilities focused on primary research. Then in 2017, we acquired digital marketing agency, wowbrands, to form our newest division, BDS Digital. From social media campaigns and digital advertising, to website design and microsites, BDS Digital has allowed us to expand beyond retail to generate demand and further influence sales for our clients.
While the agency has evolved over the years, one thing has never changed: our culture. We continue to have a “work hard, play hard” mentality. On top of that, we are proud to staff an amazing team of people who we call co-workers and friends. We’ve worked our fair share of late nights, weekends and client emergencies, and we have lots of great stories. Just ask any BDSer. Better yet, let’s create a new story together!
Values
Our values are ingrained in our culture and guide our actions each day. It’s what we stand for.
Achievement
Achievement is getting it done and getting it done right. Know what result you are looking for, break it down into meaningful goals and be relentless in pursuing it. Use what you know works, and don’t reinvent the wheel. When things get tough, get tougher.
Agility
Agility is being fast and flexible. Know the lay of the land and what lies ahead. Trust your instincts but know when to get creative. Put things together in new ways. Embrace
change and act bravely.
Authenticity
Authenticity is coming from a place of
truth. Be true to yourself and be real with
others. Share the whole picture: the good,
the bad, and the ugly. Set clear
expectations, live by your word, and
always assume good intentions.
Mission
Our mission is to spread brand enthusiasm, connect people and products, and simplify the sale.
Vision
Influence every brand choice.