The Butler Bros partnership began on 8/10/74 in Austin, Texas – Marty’s birthday.
Shortly thereafter we began sharing a room – for 17 years. This set into motion the development of a complimentary partnership of collaboration. We teamed up to earn extra money sanding cabinets for our dad’s business‚ The Butler Painting Co. Our dad modeled independence and accountability, shaping our idea of how business should be conducted. At home, our mom relentlessly supported her five kid’s personal interests. Her knack for community building led to a household brimming with all the neighborhood kids — a massive social networking site.
Adam studied communications and leadership at UT Austin. Marty studied journalism and design at Texas State and became president of his ATO chapter. Next came our internships at GSD&M Advertising — which we rapidly transformed into paid gigs as creative staffers. We had early success and won shiny metal awards that people in advertising are interested in — for Southwest Airlines, AT&T, Kinkos, The Steel Alliance, 7-11, Pennzoil, The U.S. Airforce, Macaroni Grill and Chili’s. Seven years. One hell of a finishing school.
It was never lost on us that we could do things our own way. Examining the industry standard lifestyle up close we determined it was a ladder we wouldn’t climb to the top. Marty left for the Pacific Northwest — to reboot and work on his beard. Adam left to travel the globe and recharge his depleted creative fuel cell. One year later we came together back in Austin, this time under our own shingle.
Our first client was Rudy’s Bar-B-Q. The innovation began immediately. We bought a video camera and took a road trip to learn the brand and gather content—which yielded a multimedia campaign and new way of approaching work. No more LA. No more New York. Everything could be made in our own backyard with a few road trips and flights thrown in for good measure.
A flat, hands on, and raw approach to branding truth was born. We’ve never turned our back on this method of creating. Our style and success in delivering high quality creative in an enormously efficient manner has allowed us to grow a client roster that includes LIVESTRONG, The Legacy Foundation, Jason’s Deli, NetSpend, Sweet Leaf Tea and many more. We work with those who relentlessly challenge the status quo and seek to transform the world through entrepreneurship.
“Adam and Marty are incredibly grounded in their work. They understand the creative process, and more importantly, they understand how to tell stories. The combination of their individual talents is very powerful. They value their family, their quality of life and their clients. This mission-driven approach allows them to focus on clients and issues that are of personal interest to them, which creates an unparalleled level of commitment.”
—Doug Ulman President & CEO, LIVESTRONG
“In my opinion, the way they think about brands and brand communication is on the bleeding edge of where it is all going. They have identified earlier than most the transition from brand as a ‘story’ that is often fictional to a real-time, nonfictional autobiography.”
—Alex Bogusky Co-founder, COMMON
Our work should speak for itself. Please take some time and explore.