At 25 million and growing, small businesses represent a market that's been valued at $5.3 trillion. Despite its size, the reality is that the small business market is made up of millions of individuals, more than 80% running businesses with less than 10 people.

"We've spent almost 15 years marketing to and talking with small business owners. We know what works and what doesn't," says T3 President & CEO Gay Gaddis.

"Based on what we're hearing from both small business owners and marketing directors at large companies, there are huge gaps. Both sides want to work with each other, but information, sales and long-term relationships are getting lost. With Big, we're creating a bridge," adds Gaddis.

Big will operate as an agency-within-an-agency at T3, following the company's collaborative think tank approach. Staff will be pulled from T3 account management, account planning, creative, media and production teams.

Why the Big name?
"When we became T3, we defined ourselves as a think tank, not an ad agency. That put the emphasis on creating ideas, not just ads," explains Gaddis. "As Big, the emphasis is on the big opportunities Fortune 500 companies have in helping these emerging businesses thrive."

Venus, Mars and missed opportunities.
The idea for Big hit from three angles over the past few years.

First, T3 lives the small business market every day in working with Dell and other clients. "We have the intuition and metrics to know what resonates with small business," says Gaddis.

Second, T3 executives have been actively involved in mentoring and providing counsel to small business owners. (T3 itself has grown from a three-person start-up to one of the largest independent agencies in the country.) T3 gets intimate, one-on-one insights that never come out of a focus group.

Third, T3 started to look at the small business market at a macro level and immersed itself in how the Fortune 500 marketed to small business. The more agency staff researched, the more gaps they found. Even as big businesses poured more dollars into small business marketing, T3 saw programs that lacked true insight and real benefits.

"'Small business is from Venus and big business is from Mars' is how we framed it up for one client," says Jay Suhr, T3's executive creative director and head of account planning.

"Small business wants big business resources, but feels lost. Big business sees the value in serving this market, but struggles to find programs that are effective and efficient," adds Suhr.

Small business seen from Main Street, not Madison Avenue.
The fact that T3 is a small business provides a unique perspective. The company has grown from three people in 1989 to a creative think tank with 160+ people, $152 million in billings and offices in Austin, New York and now San Francisco. T3 has lived through the realities of running a small business.

"Madison Avenue falls in love with the dream of entrepreneurship, but that's old news to small business owners. They've made that leap," says Gaddis. "What small business needs is relevant and timely information on solutions that solve real problems. Substance, not fluff."

T3's 14 years on Dell has proven invaluable in understanding what works for small business. T3 programs for Dell touch virtually every small business in America once a month, through catalogs, direct mail, online marketing and Web resources.

"No company has done more for small business than Dell," says Lee Gaddis, T3 strategist. Gaddis has conducted countless interviews with Dell small business customers. "It is the gold standard for small business best practices."

As a result, other Fortune 500 companies have sought T3's expertise in engaging the small business market.

Spreading brainpower to the Bay Area.
To expand its relationships with Fortune 500 clients, T3 is also opening a new office in San Francisco