Quality Guest Speaker on Strategy

So in my advertising class a couple of weeks ago we had a guest lecture given by Steve Grant, who is the Head of Strategy for an up and coming digital advertising agency.  I have to say, I was pretty impressed, not only by doing some preliminary research before the lecture, but by Steve himself who seems so enthusiastic about his industry and job.  Just by doing a simple Google search on Steve and his company, Modea, it brang up a load of articles dated around the time he was hired by the company.  I read some interviews he had given at the time, and they all seemed to be pointing in the same direction as for his future plans of Modea.  His plan at the time was to bring in a intensly competitive strategy to this small advertising agency.  He wanted to expand the company and take on more challenges.  Both plans worked out well.  What I gathered from Steve in person, was that he brought in a strategy that dealt intesively around the focus of its' clients.  Modea had been a small agency located in a rural southern town of Blacksburg, Virginia.  Now they are able to take on clients like Prudential because of the name they have established in customer satisfaction.  Prudential seemed like Steve's most exciting, as well as challenging experience he has had with Modea so far.  Steve emphasized the importance of doing research to gather consumer insights on the company as the first order of business when dealing with a new client.  The reason Prudential was such a challenging client is because everyone seemed to know the name Prudential, but they weren't familiar with all of their business practices.  Prudential does such a variety of practices, that some cannabalize other parts of their business.  They wanted the public to know that they also offer retirement plans, and financial expertise.  Steve went on to tell us about allt he challenges that arose in his deal with Prudential, but at no point did he seem unhappy or dissatisfied.  Overall, Steve was very energetic about his experiences and insights.  I realy enjoyed his guest appearance in class.