Ep 11 Dave Paulus - From Sorting Letters to a Dentsu Acquisition.

The Marketing Marriage

Are you seasoned enough to remember the times when direct marketing was limited to receiving a pile of mailed ads at home? Most of you will chuckle at the thought of spending evenings and nights at a mail house sorting out direct mail letters to reach customers. Our guest, Dave Paulus was part of an incredible journey that started in a black and white print shop (there were no color printers at the time 🫣), progressed into what was initially the wild west of email marketing, and ultimately evolved into a digital marketing agency acquired for an undisclosed amount by Dentsu, one of the largest global marketing and advertising agency networks in the world. Dave shares how a simple philosophy - finding, acquiring, and growing customer databases for clients - enabled what was once a 200 people company to pivot and to grow into a 14K employee powerhouse. In our chat, we discuss the internal family-like culture of work hard, play hard, how having technology as an integral part of a business makes it sticky, and why it’s important to look at a journey as parts and pieces. Listen to the end for a perspective on the GenZ from a guy who started his career in 1988.

After graduating from Clemson University in 1987 Dave began a career rooted in consumer data and marketing. As part of the Executive Team at Merkle, Dave led sales and client growth initiatives globally. Today Dave splits time between Colorado and Montana while spending as much time as possible with family and friends. In addition Dave works with several startups in an advisory and coaching capacity. You can find him on IG @d_paulus - Instagram and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-paulus-3b591.