At Tait, we take great pride in serving the organizations that are so integral to our way of life: they keep communities safe, our lights on, transport flowing, and provide the raw materials for modern life. To offer them the great support Tait is renowned for, we have a dedicated team of individuals all over the world that work hard to deliver results. In this blog we meet Drew Davis, Channel Marketing Specialist at Tait.
Drew works for Tait as a Channel Marketing Specialist and is based in Houston, Texas. Since joining Tait last March, Drew has been an integral part of developing the One Tait Dealer Program and other supporting marketing programs like the Under Hood webinars and the On the Dot newsletter for our North American channel partners.
Want to get to know our team? You can find other Tait Staff Spotlight posts here.
Meet Drew Davis, Channel Marketing Specialist at Tait
Drew made a mid-career change from sales to marketing. After working for Edward Jones in marketing, he earned a graduate degree from the University of North Texas in Interactive and Digital Communications.
Drew developed experience in channel marketing working for three sister companies in which he was able to lead the marketing for a distributor, and manufacturers selling through channel partners.
To be on the same team with our channel partners, it also helps to showcase who we are as a company and our Tait colleagues. Tait is more than just outstanding products and services, we have outstanding people too.
To find out a little more about Drew, we decided to ask him some questions:
How do you spend your time outside of work?
That is so hard to remember! We love the international food scene in Houston, and we were regulars at plays, operas and art museums around the city.
Having grown up in the landlocked midwest (St. Louis and Kansas City), I am always looking for an excuse to go to the beach at Galveston.
However, since those activities aren’t available at the moment, I have kept myself busy with settling into a new townhouse with my wife and 13-year-old son.
Tell us, what is channel marketing?
Tait has an extensive network of channel partners across the world. In North America we have distributors and dealers geographically spread across the United States and Canada.
Part of my role is to support the marketing efforts of our channel, and build awareness of Tait products and services. Ultimately the goal is to help our channel to sell and market Tait and support our channel partners as they grow their businesses.
Our channel partners have relationships with their customers to maintain, so it is crucial that we maintain our relationship with them. What we do can affect the relationships between our channel partners and their customers.
To be on the same team with our channel partners, it also helps to showcase who we are as a company and our Tait colleagues. Tait is more than just outstanding products and services, we have outstanding people too.
What is most rewarding about your job?
It has been amazing to be at the very beginning of a new channel program. There has been so much thought that has been put into everything; so everything that gets executed is like a good idea brought to life.
It has also been really interesting to be in a regional office, the global marketing team in New Zealand are such a huge part of making all of those good ideas a reality.
What are your hidden talents?
While working in marketing for Edward Jones in St. Louis, I moonlighted as a freelance arts writer with articles published in Missouri Life Magazine, the Columbia Daily Tribune, St. Louis Magazine and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The first gallery I reviewed had just gotten a really bad review and they were anxious to change the narrative, so the curator walked me through this little gallery and explained every decision they made. I learned so much!
The highlight of my career was being on the press tour for the Lucian Freud exhibit in Fort Worth.
What would the title of your autobiography be?
Living is Learning! I just am just so amazed to experience different things, and Houston is such a great place for that. I love asking people, whether it is a curator or a waiter or a taxi driver, the question ‘what is your favorite?’ Even though something is new to me, other people have given it a lot of thought. You don’t just borrow their experience, you get to borrow their point of view.
I love that about marketing. It is always changing, and there is always more to learn. People have different interests and experiences. And it is just a privilege being able to pull insights from other business areas.
In the case of channel marketing you are trying to understand an external reaction to our messaging as well, and then to see if our partners re-purpose or reuse our marketing. It is just incredibly interesting.
Favorite quote?
“To be indispensable, you have to be different” – Coco Chanel
Bringing his experience in channel marketing, Drew has quickly become a key part of our North American marketing team, and we’re delighted to have him on board. Drew reports to Maria Rowe, Director of Marketing and Communications at Tait.
Get in Touch with Tait
If there’s anything Drew or the team at any of our regional offices can do to help you, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
