Joe is the president of The Slade Group, an Austin, Texas brand management and marketing services firm directly impacting the financial success of Fortune 1000, middle-market and small companies through the sales acceleration strategies and the marketing communications solutions it creates and delivers. His career can be characterized as focused on innovation, successfully bringing new products to market and leadership in producing exceptional client success.

His background includes managing a large health-care entity, market penetration assignments for a top-five computer hardware manufacturer, repeated successes and awards working for a Top-10 New York ad agency and a reputation for excellence in corporate and financial communications. His Houston, Texas ad agency grew from a modest B2B beginning to an agency powerhouse in the country's fourth largest business market and The Slade Group has been successful since it relocated to Austin.

Joe likes to work with start-ups and has been at the forefront of over 250 new-product launches for both public and private-equity companies operating regionally and globally.

He is recognized nationally as an award-winning writer and creative director. Joe also gives something back to the community and is currently a leadership development volunteer for the Austin ISD and for a major Texas university. He earned both Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing Management and Master of Business Administration in Corporate Finance degrees from The University of Houston. He is the father of three daughters.

How We Connect . . .

First, we seek out and find top performers who demonstrate the skills, drive and passion to do their best. Then we decide how we can best mesh on both a project basis and as a part of a sustainable relationship. We meet, we talk and listen to each other, we Skype™ and we connect by phone and e-mail. Texting is limited because it is limiting. This is our process, guided by specific objectives, timeframes and budget guidelines. We are constantly working to improve it.

The Market Research Team

A former senior vice president of marketing for Fortune 500 B2B and B2C companies, he loves the process of digging into the numbers to find patterns and opportunities. The second member is a cohort who has great fun doing environmental scans and exploiting our clients' competitors.

Our Creative Teams

Well, one is a husband/wife team who has worked with and for us for over two decades while constantly upgrading their skills and design software. They have won more awards for creative excellence that you can stuff in a big storage unit. The other teams comprise design specialists who come from the interchangeable parts of an Austin design group that is web savvy, nimble and not-generationally challenged.

Internet & Social Media Team

This group is evolving about as fast as the calendar and the weather change. At the core are two individuals who both do it and teach it. They blog, they connect on LinkedIn and Facebook and they show up at the tech networking events. They bring insight and some edginess to our client's game plans, but they don't take it personally if not all of their suggestions are implemented.