THINK TANK MARKETING

Writer / Gavin LaPaille Photography Provided

Think Tank

Marketing believes it can help small businesses, because it is also a small business.

The Louisvilleowned marketing, advertising and social media agency partners with other companies in the local community that have a story to be told. Featuring passionate clients that want to share their work, product or services, Think Tank believes it can help any business reach new heights.

“It’s hard to be a small business,” says Think Tank Marketing CEO and Co-founder Randy Blevins. “We feel like people should have access to the quality marketing needed in order to be successful in today’s world. When you’re a business owner, you have to do everything and you can’t always hire a lot of people. We want to remove the burden of marketing and social media off the owner so they can get back to what they are in business for.”

Blevins started Think Tank in 2011 after he was laid off from a previous position during the 2009 recession and completed his Master of Business Administration degree. During this time, the popularity of social media from a business perspective began to expand, and Blevins saw an opportunity to take his career in a new direction. After originally starting with a partner, Blevins eventually moved forward alone and continues to run Think Tank today.

“I recognized social media was this new and exciting medium that was going to be a good tool to market your business,” Blevins says. “I decided to go on and start my own thing, which is scary. It was kind of out of necessity because the job opportunities at the time were nonexistent, but also out of curiosity from the new social media platforms that were emerging.”

Think Tank offers services in strategic marketing planning, social media management, media relations and event promotion, as well as traditional and digital advertising. Knowing each of its clients requires a different strategy, Blevins and his team of four develop unique and creative plans that fit specific brands.

“We work in social media and use those platforms to get the word out about products and services,” Blevins says. “It’s a two-way engagement. When you’re having a conversation with someone, you’re sizing them up, trying to figure out who they are. You also are trying to earn their trust, and that is what we try to do.”

Think Tank’s clients include the Louisville Orchestra, Royal Jewelers, Digs Home and Garden, and Bourbons Bistro. With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic limiting marketing budgets across the board, Blevins took the time to examine what companies he partners with and why, coming up with the technique of social-centric.

“It’s important to me that we’re working with people who want to be part of our community and participate,” Blevins says. “There’s nothing wrong with getting into business just to make a profit, and that’s usually an important goal for clients, but that’s not how we approach our marketing. We approach it from a social-centric perspective, which means you are a business that has a mission, a purpose and a goal that betters our community. We work better with people who have that type of outlook on their business.”

Blevins is always looking for new clients to partner with, and welcomes the opportunity to learn about any industry, even if he hasn’t worked with it in the past.

“It’s always fun to learn a new industry we aren’t familiar with and maybe come up with some new, creative ideas they haven’t thought about,” Blevins says. “We’re always open to new challenges.”

Having a sick child is a scary time in parents’ lives. TyiaLynn Scott knows this all too well.

“One of my children, now 22, was diagnosed with internal bleeding and being medically complex,” Scott says. “It took me 10 years to navigate items such as fighting denied medical claims, and I chose homeschooling because I was unaware of 504 education plans available. We had so many trips to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and without a specific diagnosis, it can make the path even more difficult.”

For these reasons, the former consultant in the for-profit business world felt a calling to establish Critically Loved, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Its focus is providing assistance to parents for managing their children’s health care, parental peer support, professional