Kate Whatley knew social media was going to revolutionize how the world looks at advertising. Unfortunately, the traditional advertising agency she worked for didn’t really agree. Repeatedly — and unsuccessfully —pitching social campaigns, Kate even resorted to covertly adding social support to multimedia campaigns.
Growing increasingly more tired of watching advertising agencies getting left behind, senior art director Kate decided to do the same and found Social Forces. Built on a passion for social and interactive media, Social Forces — or SoFo as Kate lovingly calls it — is all about helping brands create meaningful connections with their consumers. “I couldn’t stand by and watch the advertising industry get flipped on its head,” says Kate, “I’d just have to go build the future of advertising.”
While the move made sense, it also meant a big career switch from a creative focus to that of account management. Kate admits that things were Ramen-every-night-for-dinner rocky at first, but given time and the right people, things started to fall into place. “It’s been a hard path, [but it’s] my path and … I can’t imagine any other one for myself.”