Rodgers Townsend, the agency based in St. Louis and part of the DDB network, turned 25 years young in October. The business is a 60-strong, tight knit group with a rich history and proud culture.

To celebrate its recent milestone, Rodgers Townsend invited all past and present employees for a lovely, open-air reunion, underpinning its family ideals. At the helm is CEO Andrew Dauska (founders Tom Townsend and Tim Rodgers retired in 2015 and 2017 respectively). Prior to joining Rodgers Townsend, Andrew has led Effie-winning, cross-functional teams for TBWA\Chiat\Day, Wunderman, Carmichael Lynch and Leo Burnett.

Andrew Dauska, CEO of the St. Louis based, DDB network agency, speaks to LBB’s Addison Capper about why “longevity promotes stability” and being an “entrepreneurially-minded, but network-connected” agency

Rodgers Townsend recently turned 25! Tell me about the history, how did it come to be and what has its journey been like through those 25 years?

In 1996, Tim Rodgers and Tom Townsend left successful careers at what was D’arcy, when most of the Anheuser-Busch work was still at St. Louis agencies. They wanted to create a place where it was easier for great people to make great work.

Southwestern Bell became an early client, and evolved to what is now AT&T, which we count as a 25-year client. In 2006 the agency was acquired by Omnicom and became part of the DDB group. Tom retired around 2015 and Tim in 2017, so we’re really only under the second generation of leadership for an agency that’s 25 years old (or young). RT has evolved as the marketplace has, and as more of our work is built for small glowing rectangles. But the spirit, the commitment to craft, each other, and a common sense to management remain steadfast.

Read more here