Creative Director/Copywriter
I’m a proven builder of trust, teams, respect — and revenue. Someone who loves to get in there and mix it up with creatives, strategists, suits, and most importantly, clients. With tons of experience in all disciplines, I bring with me an unyielding belief in integrated, strategy-driven solutions that deliver measurable results.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR/
COPYWRITER AT-LARGE
2020 - Present
Freelance again.
And loving it.
Multiple clients including Mastercard, BMO Bank of Montreal, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, Merck Animal Health, and Royal Lepage Signature Realty; both directly, and via a number of partner agencies who contract me regularly to pinch hit on their behalf.
SENECA COLLEGE
Part-time Professor
CRM & Copywriting
2020 - 2021
Mentoring still.
And loving it.
Once I finally earned the skills, wisdom, and experience to credibly do so, mentoring young talent quickly became one of my favourite things about my profession. And it still is. I’m honoured to be able to continue this process right at the starting line now – and am continually inspired, and reinvigorated, by the serious potential I regularly see in the upcoming generation.
ARMSTRONG PARTNERSHIP
Creative Director
2015 - 2020
Taking my FI sector knowledge
to a global level, while learning
a few new tricks, too. All very
left brain/right brain.
The further pursuit of client-, product-, and sector-knowledge — with deep, deep dives into a professional area of expertise (financial sector), and a personal passion (pet sector.) As Creative Director on the Mastercard Global account, as well as Boehringer-Ingelheim Animal Health, I brought my extensive conceptual skills, and substantial FI knowledge, and CRM experience, to countless B2C, B2B, B2E and B2B2C campaigns. Essentially all the B2’s.
CLIENTS Mastercard Global/US/Canada, Boehringer-Ingelheim Animal Health, BMO Bank of Montreal, Mount Sinai Children’s Health, Gerber Life Insurance, Post (Cereals) Consumer Brands
MACLAREN McCANN
VP/Group Creative Director
2009 - 2015
A return engagement that
directly helped drive revenue
+350% on the agency’s 2nd
largest account.
Invited back to Maclaren (see 2002-06; now McCann Canada) to lead the RBC Royal Bank creative. Working in close partnership with its account lead, I co-engineered a series of business building victories by bonding with clients to gain an innate understanding of RBC, their customers, and everything they stand for and wanted to achieve. I led multiple creative teams through countless integrated CRM campaigns involving digital, print, broadcast and DM, each designed to deliver measurable ROI. Which they more than did.
CLIENTS RBC Royal Bank, Deloitte, Mastercard, and creative-mind-on-call for any number of Maclaren accounts
CARLSON MARKETING
Executive Creative Director
2006 - 2009
Elevating creative in a company
with a spreadsheet focus.
Built and managed a robust creative team (7 art directors, and 3 writers, in three locations: Toronto, Mississauga and Montreal) virtually from scratch. I worked hand-in-glove with account management, strategy, interactive SMEs, events, and IT to create consumer and internal-facing communications, and to identify and pursue new, and organic, growth opportunities.
CLIENTS RBC Royal Bank (Visa, RBC Rewards), Scotiabank, Royal Sun Alliance (RSA), TD Banknorth, Van City, Whirlpool (Whirlpool, Maytag, Jenn-Air, Kitchen-Aid), Toyota/Lexus, GM, Ford, WestJet, Blackberry
MACLAREN MCCANN
VP/Group Creative Director
2002 - 2006
Kicking down silos to drive
360o creative solutions.
As GCD, I led and mentored a team of 8 art directors and writers, and strategically partnered with account management from the get-go. I contributed to developing both client and agency growth strategies, while further partnering with other Maclaren (now McCann Canada) divisions to produce fully integrated campaigns involving digital, TV, print and branding — the total 360o .
CLIENTS Rogers Communications, Air Miles, Nestlé, McNeil Consumer Health Care, Royal Canadian Mint, The Sony Store, The Canadian Marketing Association Awards
GREY WORLDWIDE TORONTO
Associate Creative Director
Senior Copywriter
1998 – 2001
Joining a traditional agency
when integration was becoming a “thing”.
While my specific role was at Grey Direct (the CRM arm), integration was expected, and holistic ideas were demanded; so TV, print, digital and radio were often in the mix. Sprint Canada was my chief client — initially. But I hungrily took on more and more accounts, learning more and more with each new challenge. Eventually, I was brought in to help “steal away” Canadian Tire Acceptance Limited from a competing agency (creating ‘Canadian Tire Money on the Card’); after which I spearheaded the win for Enbridge Gas’ TV, print, DM, and online communications — with top-notch creative strategy and execution being credited as key factors in both wins.
CLIENTS Sprint Canada, Sun Life Financial, Canadian Tire Financial, Spectrum Investments, E-Trade Canada, Enbridge Home Services. Canon Canada, Dairy Queen, Procter & Gamble, Effem Foods (Pedigree), Canadian Scholarship Trust Fund
THE FREELANCE YEARS
Copywriter
1990 – 1998
During which, versatility becomes my middle name.
Following considerable stints in radio (CJBK London), retail (Woolco, The Bay) and travel (Wardair), a further near-decade of learning — then proving! — there’s nothing I can’t do. Print, TV, corporate video/audio, direct response, radio, multimedia, newsletters, annual reports; anything & everything.
CLIENTS (short list, in no particular order) The Second City, AT&T Canada, Microsoft, Purolator, The Co-operators, Royal Bank, First Alert, YTV, Choice Hotels, National Trust, Ontario Hydro, ICEX, Hudson's Bay Centre, Air Miles, American Express, Cadillac Fairview Malls, Travel & Leisure Show, Regent Holidays, British Airways, Fairweather, Colgate Palmolive, Cultures, Medic Alert, Tribute Magazine, Mark's Club, Royal LePage, Apple Computers, EverFresh Juice, Häagen-Dazs, Oscar Mayer, Pinestone Inn, Seaman's Beverages, Murphy's Oil Soap, Quaker State, Sprint Canada, Wal-Mart Canada
And finally…
Lots of tremendous references available. Don’t hesitate to ask!