Strategic Design & Advertising

What Strategic Design & Advertising does

Strategic Design & Advertising (SDA) is a full-service, multidisciplinary creative agency operating under parent company Post House Creative (PHC), led by CEO & Founder Timothy M Flaherty. The agency delivers brand strategy, creative, digital, video, and public relations services to clients across multiple verticals including travel and tourism, professional sports, healthcare, financial services, and the arts. Notable long-tenure clients include Steamboat Ski & Resort (since 2010), UCHealth and the Columbus Blue Jackets (both since 2014), Yampa Valley Bank (12+ years), Strings Music Festival (30+ years), Columbus Crew, JobsOhio, Inspirato, and Moving Mountains.

The agency is staffed by approximately 13 multidisciplinary professionals and operates from four offices in Steamboat Springs, Denver, Columbus, and Austin, providing national reach anchored in regional client clusters. Its core production stack is built on Adobe Creative Suite, video production equipment, and motion graphics capabilities, with the 2024 MLS All-Star Game announcement video serving as a notable large-scale production reference. The legal entity of record is Lookthinkmake.

The business model is project-based professional services revenue generated through retainers and project fees from enterprise and mid-market clients across diversified verticals. Revenue is anchored by multi-year relationships with named enterprise accounts rather than a long-tail SMB book, and pricing follows industry-standard agency rate structures tied to creative deliverables, campaign execution, and ongoing brand stewardship. The agency's growth lever is expansion of service lines (most recently Public Relations) and deepening within the professional sports vertical.

Name

Strategic Design & Advertising

Legal name

Lookthinkmake

Website

https://sdasteamboat.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Strategic Design & Advertising is a full-service multidisciplinary creative agency with offices in Colorado, Ohio, and Texas, serving enterprise clients across tourism, sports, healthcare, financial services, and the arts through brand strategy, creative, digital, video, and PR services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative & Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Creative & Brand Campaign Development (BPAFAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Strategy & Positioning (BPAFAEAA), Content Strategy & Planning (BPAFAIAG), Graphic Design & Visual Communications (Collateral, Illustration) (MPAAAEAC)

Keywords

• Advertising agency services
• Brand strategy consulting
• Video production services
• Digital marketing services
• Public relations services

Headquarters

HQ city

Steamboat Springs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Advertising and Creative Services: Project-based professional services for brand strategy, creative design, video production, digital marketing, and public relations. Revenue is generated through client engagements, campaign development, and ongoing creative partnerships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Strategic Design + Advertising is a full-service, multidisciplinary advertising and creative agency offering five integrated service modules: Brand Strategy, Creative, Digital, Video, and Public Relations. The agency delivers comprehensive multimedia storytelling and brand-building campaigns from strategic planning through production and distribution for clients in travel/tourism, sports, healthcare, financial services, and arts/music industries. Engagements are project-based with custom quotes for each client partnership.

Product overview

Strategic Design + Advertising is a full-service, multidisciplinary advertising and creative agency offering five integrated service modules: Brand Strategy, Creative, Digital, Video, and Public Relations. These services work together as a unified agency offering, enabling the company to deliver comprehensive multimedia storytelling and brand-building campaigns from strategic planning through production and distribution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Strategy Strategic consulting service encompassing brand discovery workshops, marketing plans, audience insights, and media buying to help brands define their positioning and reach target audiences effectively. Delivered to enterprise clients across travel, tourism, financial services, healthcare, and sports verticals.
• Creative Design and advertising production service including brand design, advertising campaigns, copywriting, and collateral design for print, digital, and outdoor media. Delivered to enterprise and mid-market clients across all served verticals.
• Digital Digital marketing service covering digital advertising campaigns, social media management, website design and development, content marketing, and analytics and insights. Delivered to enterprise clients across travel, healthcare, sports, and financial services verticals.
• Video Full-service video production including pre-production, scripts and storyboards, location services, production, editing and post-production, animation and motion graphics, and distribution and media management. Emmy Award-recognized capability. Delivered to enterprise clients including NHL teams, MLS, luxury travel, and healthcare networks.
• Public Relations Public relations service including press kits and press releases, media outreach, community relations, event PR, and crisis communications. Delivered to enterprise clients across sports, travel, healthcare, financial services, and nonprofit verticals.

Named customers10 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Post House Creative (PHC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPost House Creative is the parent company of Strategic Design + Advertising. SDA operates as a Post House Creative company, combining talent and expertise to run a full-service agency with national reach. The partnership enables resource sharing, cross-office collaboration, and expanded service capabilities across multiple locations.
• lookthinkmakeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociated creative company with shared connections. Lookthinkmake is mentioned alongside SDA and PHC in footer content, suggesting a network of related creative companies operating in similar spaces.
• LookthinkmakeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as the company entity for privacy policy purposes at address 1801 E 51st St. Ste. 365-285, Austin, Texas 78723. May be the legal entity or related affiliate under the same ownership/network.
• Alterra Mountain CompanycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOwner of Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation; SDA has been a creative partner for the resort since 2010, creating marketing assets for local, regional, and national markets. Partnership involves creating materials that position Steamboat as part of the Alterra portfolio of resorts.
• National Hockey League (NHL)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerOngoing collaboration with the NHL through work with Columbus Blue Jackets. The agency has worked with players, league officials, and team management to create content that builds the brand, sells tickets, engages fans, and activates sponsorships.
• Major League Soccer (MLS)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership through Columbus Crew work, including creation of the 2024 MLS All-Star Game announcement video. Collaboration with MLS Commissioner Don Garber and league officials.
• UCHealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership since 2014 with Denver-based healthcare network. SDA creates materials and messaging to connect UCHealth with local communities, including photography, print, digital campaigns, service brochures, and landing pages.
• JobsOhiocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing creative partnership with private economic development organization. SDA creates content, develops brand creative, and tells Ohio's success stories across healthcare, technology, small business, and financial services sectors.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Falls Communications: Cleveland-based integrated marketing and creative agency serving consumer, healthcare, and B2B clients. Comparable as a mid-size independent operating in Ohio with similar full-service integrated offering.
• Barkley: Kansas City-based independent creative agency known for integrated brand, digital, and content work across consumer verticals. Comparable in independent ownership, integrated service model, and mid-market enterprise focus.
• Doe-Anderson: Louisville-based independent advertising and creative agency with deep roots in tourism, healthcare, and consumer verticals. Comparable as a regional independent with similar vertical depth and integrated creative model.
• MMGY Global: Kansas City-based integrated marketing agency specializing in the travel, tourism, and hospitality sector. Highly relevant due to overlapping tourism/resort client base and destination marketing expertise.
• Tombras Group: Independent, full-service creative agency of similar mid-size scale based in Knoxville, TN, offering integrated brand, digital, video, and media services across multiple verticals. Comparable in operating model and independent positioning to SDA.
• HLK: St. Louis-based independent full-service agency offering brand, creative, digital, media, and content services to enterprise clients. Similar independent ownership, integrated capability stack, and mid-market enterprise client mix as SDA.

Broad incumbents

• McCann: Global full-service advertising network (Interpublic Group) offering creative, digital, PR, and media at scale. Comparable in service breadth but operates at significantly larger scale with holding-company resources SDA cannot match.
• Publicis Worldwide: Global creative network (Publicis Groupe) offering brand, digital, content, and media services to enterprise clients worldwide. Comparable service stack but vastly larger scale and holding-company infrastructure.
• R/GA: Global digital and experience design agency (IPG) with strong sports, brand, and creative technology capabilities. Comparable in creative ambition and digital/video integration but at enterprise scale.
• Ogilvy: Global creative network (WPP) offering brand strategy, advertising, PR, and digital services across all major verticals. Comparable in integrated full-service model but competes for enterprise RFPs SDA cannot credibly staff.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/steamboat-design-associates.-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Strategic Design & Advertising