Bryan Tenenhouse

With 20 years of integrated agency and marketing experience working on everything from Apple and American Express to Volkswagen, Bryan has established himself as one of Canada's top creative professionals. With extensive expertise in almost every conceivable business category, a deep understanding of customer loyalty and retention, and experience working in every channel including broadcast, print, radio, dm, online, outdoor and in-store, Bryan knows how to build and support brands while generating award-winning business results for his clients.

As Vice-President, Associate Creative Director at Wunderman from 1995 to 2000, Bryan lead creative on such diverse blue chip accounts as RBC Royal Bank, Apple Canada, AOL Canada, AT&T, Canadian Tire Financial, Diners Club International and many others. Then in the year 2000, Bryan moved to Arnold Brand Response (ABR, formerly Vickers & Benson Direct & Interactive) as SVP, Creative Director. During his tenure, the agency was voted one of the top three direct agencies in the country two years in a row by Strategy Magazine. While at ABR he provided creative leadership on such well-known integrated accounts as Canada Investment and Savings, Hbc Credit and Loyalty, Tourism Toronto, Canadian Tourism Commission, BMO Bank of Montreal, Volkswagen, Sprint Canada and many more.

Bryan joined Draft in April of 2006 as EVP, Chief Creative Officer where he lead creative on such blue chip accounts as Canada Post, HP, Ontario Lottery and Gaming, FedEx, Ministry of Health and Johnson & Johnson to name a few. The agency then merged with DRAFTFCB late in 2006. Bryan spent the year successfully transitioning accounts and staff then started his own strategic creative consultancy, The Tenenhouse Project, in November 2007.

Bryan is the recipient of multiple Canadian Marketing Association (CMA/RSVP) Awards for almost every year he's been in the business, plus several international awards including a Gold International ECHO Award for Apple Canada. He is also the recipient of several Mobius Awards and various other business category awards such as "Best in Show" at the Electronic Retailers Association Awards.

Bryan has established a leadership role within the country's largest industry association as a member of the Canadian Marketing Association's Board of Directors. He was founding Chair of the CMA's Direct Marketing Council and has served as a member of CMA's National Conference Committee. Bryan was also a founding Jurist for the National Advertising Awards 2006 (Direct) that sends its winners to the Cannes Festival, and was Chair of the Direct Jury for 2007. He is frequently asked to speak at industry conferences and accredited marketing programs across the country. His articles have appeared in both Marketing Magazine and Strategy.

Don't worry. Be optimistic.

A couple weeks ago, the cover story of the Sunday New York Times was about an executive who went from a $70,000 a year middle management job to a $12 an hour janitorial job for a friend's company.

Over the last year (and just this week), I've heard so many stories about friends and acquaintances, business associates and former colleagues and staff getting laid off. They range from intermediate to senior level. And certainly, it's happening more than any time in my lifetime. So, it got me wondering. Do people really know what to do when they get let go? Do they know how to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and carry on?

I've had to lay many people off in my career as a Creative Director and unfortunately, all too often, it wasn't for performance related issues. A client consolidated their business somewhere else or "New York" insisted we "hit a number" that probably wasn't realistic in the first place.

However, today good people are being let go everywhere because of the economy and it must feel like there's no end in sight. And yet, there is hope.

Here's some of what I've learned (from people wiser than me and from my own excellent adventure) over the last year since I left the agency world and started my own creative consultancy.

1. Clients want to work with people who project a positive attitude – even on the days you're not feeling particularly positive. This might seem basic, but it's easy to forget -- especially when the news is all bad. Someone gave me this advice before I had even one client, but it's proven to be the best advice I've gotten.

2. Decide early on what you're going to focus on, then focus on that one thing. I knew I wanted to start my own business. So that's what I focused on. If I had divided my attention between that goal, talking to recruiters for another agency job or changing careers completely, I wouldn't have accomplished anything.

3. Network in the way you feel most comfortable. Not everybody likes to cold call or go to industry events and shake a lot of hands. Email, Facebook and Linkedin are great ways to break the ice. It gives your contact an opportunity to be thoughtful about their response and lets you craft your words more carefully than you might over the phone -- or worse, in a voice mail that inevitably ends up being way too long-winded.

4. Journal your experiences, thoughts and feelings. Whatever you're thinking makes more sense when you get it down on paper. It also helps you shake yourself out of a funk when you see that you've been throwing yourself your own pity party for way too long.

5. Exercise. It's a great way to deal with stress and whatever anxiety you're dealing with. If you're like most people I've spoken to over the last year, you wake up in the morning thinking you'll never work again. By noon you're worried about how you're going to handle all the work on your plate. Exercise gives you the fortitude to deal with both kinds of stress.

If you're reading this and you've recently been "economized", take solace in the fact that you're not alone. In fact, there are far too many people going through exactly what you're going through right now and they're not hard to find. So find them and commiserate.

Then decide what you're going to do next and get on with it. You might just discover, as I did, that your decision was the best one you ever made.

The Kindle. Yawn?

I’m still catching up on my year-end reading. You know, all those magazines that come out with their Year In Review issues. They’re stacked on my nightstand like so many left over holiday cards, begging to be read or recycled.

The best of the bunch is the Newsweek with Obama on the cover. It had a brief mention of something that caught my eye -- Jeff Bezos’ brainchild, The Kindle. It’s described on Wikipedia as “… an e-book reader, an embedded system for reading electronic books (e-books), launched in the United States by prominent online bookseller Amazon.com in November 2007.”

Most reviews are glowing. You can carry a whole library around in your briefcase. Amazing. Apparently, it’s even been endorsed by the big “O” (Oprah, not Obama), making it to her Favourtie Things List of ’08.

You can’t get it in Canada yet. But when I asked several of my U.S. friends how the Kindle has captured the imagination of our neighbours to the south, the response was something close to a tree falling in a forest.

So here are the tough questions: With a nod to Malcolm Gladwell, why hasn’t it tipped? Why isn’t it, according to my U.S. friends, dotting subway cars and park benches and restaurants like ubiquitous iPhones, iPods, and dare I say it, real books? Where are the cool commercials with U2 or Feist singing its praises? Why aren’t there spoofs about it on YouTube? Why aren’t the “Millennials” snapping them up? And will Canadians be a better market for the Kindle when it does arrive on our shores?

Perhaps the secret is revealed in Newsweek’s backhanded compliment… “Amazon’s electronic reader is awesome, but the early adopters skew old, while kids opt for point-and-click.”

That excerpt is interesting for two reasons. Early adopters? The Kindle has been available since 2007. Would the iPhone be considered a success if it took this long to capture the imagination of its intended audience? I'm not talking about just dollars and cents here. There was the day before the iPhone launched in Canada. And there was the day after, when it seemed everyone on the TTC had one or was looking over the shoulder of the person next to them who had one. Can an e-book reader capture the imagination in the same way as an “e-music player”? There's a very specific difference today between capturing the collective imagination and selling units. Arguably, the former is much harder to do and predict than the latter.

And ‘skews old’? I guess Oprah viewers don’t influence the zeitgeist anymore the way some think they do.

The day will come when Canadians will be able to get their hands on a Kindle. The question is, will the “right” target audience (Millennials?) want one?

So from a business perspective, can Amazon continue making and selling them if they remain the technological equivalent of a television series like “NCIS”? It’s there, and by some measure successful, but does anyone care?

My New Year's Resolutions

Every year around this time, people look back on the year that was and make promises or resolutions to improve themselves and the world around them. Here are mine:

1. I resolve to continue hoping IKEA will come up with something new for 2009. The radio spot that conjured the image of the naked Spokes-Swede was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

2. I resolve to remind people every chance I get that you can learn a lot about marketing by observing the smart, strategic, targeted way a politician raised campaign contributions. I subscribed to Obama.com early last year and received (and still receive) emails a couple times a week. Several from "Obama himself", from "Michelle", his campaign manager, and his running mate. Obviously they were written by a terrific copywriter, but in 2008, ancient direct marketing techniques helped elect arguably the freshest face on the political landscape in years.

3. I resolve to be optimistic that businesses will remember the golden rule: You have to spend money to make money -- especially in tough times. Stay top of mind with your best customers and they'll remain loyal.

4. I resolve to give my hard-earned money to companies that consistently provide the best service. I recently purchased a new MacBook. There was a problem with it. Apple made it right, no questions asked. More than that, they made the whole process easy, convenient, fast and friendly. It's not that a problem arose. It's how they dealt with it. Great service (and the Word-of-Mouth that it generates) is going to go a long way in a tough economy.

5. I resolve to post to this blog more often. The last year has been a little crazy (crazy good) so I've been a little neglectful. I hope everyone has a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year.

What are your resolutions?

SEE YA LATer BEAVerS

Have you noticed the billboards and the station domination at Bloor Station with the ubiquitous "er". You can't really miss them. They're everywhere. I have to admit, I've been intrigued. But my first thought when I saw this teaser campaign was, I hope they don't let me down when they pay it off.

Well, you be the judge. Here's the pay-off:http://www.bell.ca/home/

From my perspective, it's actually not bad. But does it make me want to send the link to all my friends because it's so differentiating for a rather commoditized brand? Not so much. Is it clean and smart and more appropriate for the brand? I think it is. I do wonder however, whether Bell has gone from one extreme (cute beavERs, retail) to the other (clean, corporate, even a little cold) a little too quickly. Even the new logo removes any connection to humanity. (Remember the yellow swirl around the face in the old logo?)

In the end, it doesn't really matter. Bell is trying to do things differently and that's probably a good thing. But can the service and product offering fulfill on the promise of the new "BETTer" brand?

Someone actually told me a story recently that best represents how seriously Bell seems to be embracing change. The phone rang, my friend picked it up, said hello and heard: Mr. [Smith], I'm calling from Bell. How can I help you today?

In disbelief, my friend said, well, I'd like a FREE Blackberry Curve.

His account was credited $400.

Seriously.

Maybe, in keeping with the times, this is change we can believe in.

R.I.P. Beavers.

Up with UPS

Last week I posted an article about a commercial that, well, let me just say it’s not my favourite commercial (understatement). However, there is a commercial out there right now that I think is one of the most original on television. Better yet, when you go to the website, you are immersed in an environment that not only cleverly expands on the creative concept initiated by the television but makes you want to stay and explore for a long time. It’s that fun and that informative.

So now that I’ve given you that huge build up, do you agree?

It’s the UPS Whiteboard campaign.

(Interesting side note: The guy writing on the white board is actually the Creative Director on the campaign. His name is Andy Azula.)

Now that you’ve seen the commercial, all I can say is go to the website http://whiteboard.ups.com/ and spend some time there. You won’t be disappointed. And you won't want to leave. I didn't.

Too often, company websites are “brochure-wear”. Long copy all about the company. Very rarely is the site about what "YOU" can do. And rarer still is a site that you actually feel like diving into.