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Cut to the Chase with Jason Therrien, President and CEO of thunder::tech, an integrated marketing agency| Ep. 9

Cut to the Chase with Jason Therrien, President and CEO of thundertech, an integrated marketing agency

Jason Therrien is a founder, investor, board member and civic volunteer and has started several businesses since 1997, including thunder::tech, an integrated marketing agency that accelerates brands for a connected world.

Today, thunder::tech has grown into a 50+ person integrated marketing agency servicing middle-market clients coast to coast with offices in Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit and Chicago.

They specialize in digital marketing, brand strategy, communications, web development and advertising.

His experience includes creating integrated marketing strategies for clients ranging from Simple Mills, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Life Fitness, Cedar Fair, USA Track and Field, Parker Hannifin and many more.

Some key highlights from our interview:

  • Founding the agency in ‘99 and the path there.

  • Where the name thunder::tech came from (it’s fun)

  • thunder::tech’s horizontal positioning, working across multiple verticals-how Jason and the team handle it from a business development perspective (per Jason, like an investment portfolio-had never heard it put that way before)

  • Jason’s advice to agencies considering a horizontally-focused approach.

  • We talk agency specialization and the need for intentionality.

  • thunder::tech as an “agency that is a practitioner.” What it means in practice.

  • Treating your agency like a client. (“We’re our own R&D lab-we test it on ourselves first)

  • The agency content creation process, which includes multiple individuals at the agency, including Jason.

  • How content has evolved for the agency (They’re bringing physical mail back!)

  • The frequency of content for the agency and the philosophy behind it (Agencies are their own worst critics when it comes to content.”)

  • The COPE acronym-how it’s helped the team think through their investment in content

  • Jason’s thoughts on “the giant, sociological experiment that we are all participating in at work” and the piece he wrote on LinkedIn that got some nice traction. WFH is ever evolving and Jason has some insightful thoughts.

  • Jason’s involvement in Destination Cleveland, and his alma mater John Carroll University and his whole philosophy on giving back.

  • And one piece of advice Jason would give to marketers to make their agency relationships more effective what would it be?

More about Jason: In addition to his involvement with thunder::tech, an integrated marketing agency, Therrien is a corporate board member and investor in several businesses that range from publishing to transportation. thunder::tech has been awarded a place on the Inc. Magazine 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in America four times and Therrien has also been recognized in Crain’s Cleveland Business 150 names to know in Northeast Ohio three separate times.

He has been quoted in USA Today, AdAge, Time, Crain’s and other media outlets on various marketing topics. Therrien is an active member in his community, serving on a number of boards and is a proud father of two crazy, awesome kids that he loves to travel with.

Key URLs: thunder::tech site: https://www.thundertech.com/

Jason’s LinkedIn:   / jasontherrien  

thunder::tech content https://www.thundertech.com/blog-news

Jason’s piece on WFH (great read): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jasont…

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