A different kind of agency built to help brands win.


Our story starts with retail…

In the mid-70’s, while working for Black+Decker Tools and speaking with consumers in their homes, George King discovered a need for a smaller, handheld vacuum cleaner. This led to the innovation of the dustbuster® and rewrote the story of the Black+Decker brand.

The revelation allowed George to see a new way to overcome marketing challenges and grow a retail brand. By using qualitative research and insights-driven design, marketers could uncover solutions to the problems consumers face and grow brands beyond their potential.

In 1984, he brought this consumer-first approach to life by founding Sales Factory, an agency that combined research, strategy, and creativity to solve brands’ problems and anticipate future needs.

We will be a different kind of marketing company that rewrites the old ad agency rules and finds better ways to help brands win.


George King

Founder

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Fast forward a few decades and Sales Factory has helped major brands win in an array of retail categories, including home improvement, essential goods, and apparel.


A Different Kind of Agency.

Sales Factory is not like other agencies. In some ways, the best we think, we’re kind of like the anti-agency.

Here’s what that means:

Partner Pricing

We only win when you win

Our Partner Pricing structure ties our compensation to your success. You tell us what you consider a win, and we design a bonus based on your goal. Then we reduce our upfront fee. If we reach your goal, we receive the bonus. If we don’t meet your goal, you only pay the reduced fee.

Not many agencies are willing to put skin in the game. Why are we? Because we win only when you win.

Core Team Structure

Integrated teams for reliable and personable service

Instead of operating in departments like most agencies, Sales Factory consists of integrated Core Teams that operate like agencies within the agency. Our Core Teams’ compensation is tied to your business performance. This organizational structure encourages accountability, and each member of our Core Teams becomes immersed in your business.

When we say our business is your business, that’s what it looks like.

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Our 4-Part
Process

Our company has used the 4-Part Process to grow brands since the beginning. It’s part of our DNA and the single-most-important tool for how we’ll help you grow your brand. Let’s put it to work for you.

Schedule a consultation
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A true
data-driven integrated approach.

We go where the consumers are, where the pros work, and where the retailers sell.


1,164

That’s how many miles we store walked last year. We aren’t afraid to put our research up against anyone else. After all, we have to live with the results. Our approach combines empirical data with firsthand experience – we travel to job sites, stores, trade shows, and any place someone might experience your brand.

Schedule a Consultation

Meet our
leadership team.

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Ged King

CEO

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Ged King

CEO

Since taking over the reins of the agency his father founded in 1984, Ged King, chief executive officer of Sales Factory, has transformed the small company into what is now the largest privately-owned marketing agency in the region. Bringing more than 20 years of experience in advertising, marketing communications and branding insights to the table, King employs a scientific process to ensure his clients win in the marketplace. His belief in questioning standards (Why are we doing it this way? Is there a different, better way? Why can’t we…?) continually evokes new ideas and positive change for his clients.

Ged graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in industrial engineering and began his career at Swing-N-Slide, growing the business from a $5 million company to a $50 million company. Today, Ged leads the Sales Factory executive team and is also an adjunct professor of marketing, teaching second-year MBA students at Wake Forest University School of Business. Both Ged and Sales Factory are the recipients of many awards across various categories.

An active community leader, Ged has served on numerous boards and established Sales Factory as the largest nationwide participant in the annual 24-hour CreateAthon event that provides pro bono marketing services to nonprofits.

A devoted road cyclist, Ged spearheads healthy living initiatives both within his company and the community. He and his wife and two children live in Greensboro, N.C.

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Matt King

CMO

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Matt King

CMO

Matt King, chief marketing officer of Sales Factory, joined his family’s business in 1996 after graduating from North Carolina State University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. He worked his way through accounting, account management, and sales positions within the company, but his ultimate goal was to be on the creative side of the business. After learning the ins and outs of the agency, Matt moved into management and spent five years as creative director before being named vice president of customer strategy in 2007. Now, as the agency’s CMO, Matt directs major creative projects, develops teams, and oversees new business development.

Matt embodies the philosophies and principles learned from his father, namely that relationships are at the core of every successful working partnership. He has played an integral role in developing Sales Factory into the successful agency it is today.

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Dave Geren

President

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Dave Geren

President

Formerly the vice president of marketing for Lowe’s Home Improvement, Dave Geren began consulting with Sales Factory in early 2015 before becoming a full-time team member. Dave is currently president of Sales Factory, where he oversees the Marketing Strategy, Creative, and Communications & Content teams.

With more than 20 years of experience in strategy, branding, CRM, and multi-channel communications, Dave has worked in large and small retail, manufacturing, and ad agency environments. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications in advertising from the University of Tennessee and lives in Clemmons with his wife and son.

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Rob Cates

CFO

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Rob Cates

CFO

As chief financial officer of Sales Factory, Rob Cates is responsible for cost accounting, purchasing, budgeting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, human resources, and financial reporting. Rob received his bachelor’s degree from Guilford College and his master’s degree from UNC-G. Rob is both a certified public accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. A long-time friend of the King family, Rob started working with Sales Factory in 2007 and came on full-time in 2011. Known for his attention to detail, Rob was honored as a Triad Financial Executive of the Year in 2014.

Rob lives in Greensboro where he enjoys spending time with friends over good food and drinks. A voracious reader, Rob is the person you want on your Trivial Pursuit team.

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Jenni Becker

SVP, Business Development

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Jenni Becker

SVP, Business Development

Jenni Becker’s connection to Sales Factory goes back to 2002 when she, as the then co-owner and president of Empire Level, hired the company as the marketing arm for Empire. Even though she sold the thriving hand tool business in 2014, the significant strategic brand work and market share growth at retail that Sales Factory and Empire accomplished together inspired Becker to reunite with the Sales Factory team a few years later as VP, Business Development. Jenni’s ability to lead a business into growth mode through a mixture of strategic planning, work ethic, and positive team leadership are the skills she brings to Sales Factory.

Jenni graduated with a master’s degree in Education and a B.A. in Literary Studies and Creative Writing from Beloit College in Wisconsin before earning her MBA in 2002.

Jenni lives with her partner, Shawn, her 15-year-old daughter and their cat, Star. Jenni stays active by teaching boot camp classes, attending boxing classes, and kayaking in the lake that she’s lucky enough to call her backyard.

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Vickie Canada

VP, Creative Director

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Vickie Canada

VP, Creative Director

As VP, creative director at Sales Factory, Vickie oversees a team of designers and producers responsible for the development and execution of high-level concepts that best represent a company or brand’s identity. A designer by trade, Vickie’s path began immediately after college. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from East Carolina University, she accrued more than 20 years of experience at several regional agencies, working on national accounts like The North Face, Wrangler, JanSport, Lee, and Nokia. At Sales Factory, Vickie takes her wealth of experience and translates that into strategic, creative solutions for our clients.

We often compare Vickie’s role to that of an orchestra conductor. They know how it feels to direct not only people, but the tools and instruments those people use to create something beautiful. For the vast majority of us who’ve never conducted an orchestra, well… Vickie’s work speaks for itself.

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Emily Bratton

VP, Digital & Ecommerce

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Emily Bratton

VP, Digital & Ecommerce

Emily, VP, Digital at Sales Factory, is a problem-solver who’s always willing to figure out solutions to the toughest challenges faced by clients. Emily oversees a team of developers, strategists, and content producers responsible for all of the agency’s digital activation projects.

Once receiving her bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications and her master’s degree in interactive media from Elon University, Emily hit the ground running. Emily’s education helped immerse her in the ever-changing trade, but it also gave her the experience she needed to stay competitive in the workforce. After working as a web developer and associate director of creative communications at Wake Forest for more than three years, Emily finally found her home at Sales Factory, starting as a front-end developer.

Emily is constantly active in her local community, particularly in ultimate frisbee. Emily’s been an organizer and player for 12 years, and she’s the Triad Area Ultimate captain in her league. Emily’s other hobbies include cycling, hiking, and playing with Parry, her energetic German Shorthaired Pointer. No matter what, Emily is definitely someone you want on your team.

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Chuck Mattina

SVP, Insights & Analytics

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Chuck Mattina

SVP, Insights & Analytics

Chuck Mattina, SVP, Insights & Analytics for Sales Factory, has more than 35 years of client-and agency-side experience. After earning a management & marketing degree from Philadelphia University, Chuck began his career in NYC with Burlington Industries. That job eventually brought Chuck to Greensboro, where he gained marketing and brand management experience with the No nonsense® division of Kayser-Roth hosiery and the Wrangler Jeans division of Kontoor Brands, where he helped launch the brand’s first non-denim apparel line. Chuck was a co-founder of Quixote Group Research, Marketing & PR, where he served as president for 20 years before Quixote Group became part of Sales Factory in 2019.

Chuck’s client work has taken him around the world for projects in Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, and throughout Europe. But as an avid cyclist, he likes to head to Tucson, Arizona, whenever he can to spend a few days riding The Loop through the desert. When he’s not traveling, Chuck also serves on the board for the Greensboro Children’s Museum and tries to visit his two children as frequently as they’ll let him.

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Mike Fowler

VP, Retail Sales Management

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Mike Fowler

VP, Retail Sales Management

Bio coming soon. 

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Matt Goldfarb

VP, Growth & Innovation

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Matt Goldfarb

VP, Growth & Innovation

Bio coming soon.

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