Every agency claims they're different. Listen actually is.Listen is lean and modern; a company built to take advantage of all that technology has to offer.Because of our unique model, every dollar a client spends with us goes straight into the thinking that grows their bottom line.Simply put, we're an agency that does what an agency does without being what an agency is.And we like it that way.

A multi-disciplined marketing and advertising company that mucks around in ecommerce and creative consultancy, particularly new business.HIGHLIGHTS• Personally coded and launched dallasmodelworks.com in 2007• Today DMW has customers all over the globe• Conceived and coded a series of online apps, tools, and utilities for DMW Members• Designed and manufactured a number of products sold through dallasmodelworks.com• New business win: Scotiabank International for Grey Toronto (2009)• New business win: Target for MDC Partners (2011)• New business wins: several others that can’t be mentioned due to NDA• 100% success new business record

Dallas Model Works is an ecommerce web site that I coded from scratch beginning in 2007. Today it continues to serve model train geeks around the world whilst teaching me things about digital marketing that could never be learned from within an agency.

Cannes, British D&AD, Communication Arts, The One Show, The National Addys and how we got there:When I arrived at DDB Dallas, the agency had been without an effective creative director for quite some time. For this child of the Great White North, remembering to leave the u out of colour was going to be the least of my concerns.• Introduced a simple yet disciplined creative brief format (along with Head of Planning Chris Snook) that led to a surprisingly immediate improvement in the quality and clarity of creative briefs• Created and implemented (with Chris Snook and Nowell Upham) a highly effective and efficient approach to strategic/creative development with an emphasis on client involvement• De-departmentalised office space whilst keeping those that needed to be near each other, near each other• Knocked down a hidden silo by introducing regular Account Director meetings to keep account groups abreast of each other’s activities and pre-empt scheduling issues• Sent account as well as creative/production people to Cannes• Began to introduce a different approach to billing based on revisions instead of hoursRESULTS INDEED• Immediate improvements in the calibre of the work and the associated business results – particularly with newly-won accounts• Dramatically reduced amount of revisions to creative work• Agency went from virtually nil to significant award show recognition including Cannes, British D&AD, Communication Arts, The One Show, and National Addys including One Show Gold Pencil and National Addy Gold• Agency recognised by Communication Arts every year I was there• Agency went from least to most awarded in local market• Pioneered use of social media with Texas Lottery 'Comeback' campaign

What happens when the country's best-known client partners with one of the country's best-known creative teams to reinvent an agency?Rob Guenette – a client whose personal advertising reel was better than that of most agencies – was asked to leave his position as Global VP Marketing at Molson to turn the small, ailing agency Wolf Toronto into a creative hot shop.Rob said he’d do it – if he could find the right creative team.• Started at agency 2 January 2002 along with Rob and art director partner Briony Wilson• Relaunched and repositioned agency as Flavour in May 2002• Unlike most agencies which are seen as ‘strategic’ or ‘creative,’ our ethos was that strategy and creative are one• Practiced what we preached – our name arose from submitting ourselves to our own strategic development discipline• Never lost an account• Grew all existing accounts• Won new business• Increased revenue +59% year-on-year; from $2.9M to $4.6M producing a +$1.5M turnaround in profit• Generated significant buzz in the industry press• Achieved significant creative and design awards and recognition in Communication Arts, The One Show, British D&AD, Lürzer’s Archive, Advertising & Design Club of Canada, London International Advertising Awards, Marketing Awards, Applied Arts, Print magazine and Coupe magazine• Junior creative team won Canada Cannes Young Creatives Contest two years runningWe worked hard and got a dying agency out of the red with nothing but sunshine ahead.But – why does there always have to be a but? – Flavour was owned by a larger entity. And when Wolf Group failed and bankrupted itself on 30 January 2004, they took us down with them.As I said to the staff at the time, “We will forever be like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. We never lost an account. We won new business. We won lots of awards and we only ever had one staff member leave the agency. Like Dean and Monroe, we died young and beautiful.”

A perfect new business record, multiple national and international awards plus a pile of promotions.We had top-notch production people, account people we would take on stage with us when it was time to accept Gold (because if not for their efforts we wouldn’t be there) and a creative department so loaded with talent that there were no jealousies; only friendly competition, a kind of “Oh crap, look at how good what they did is – we’ve got to do something better!” vibe.• Hired as Associate Creative Director as agency ECDs Stephen Creet's and Michael McLaughlin's first creative hire• Promoted to Vice President, Group Creative Director• Promoted to Sr. Vice President, Executive Creative Director• Did the lead creative and won every new business pitch in which I was involved over 5 years• Recognised by Cannes, Clios, Communication Arts and a lot of other award shows that don’t start with a “C”• Won Cassies Grand Prix (think Effies with snow) for launch of Chrysler's two-sliding-doors minivan• Success (both business and awards) of our Campbell’s Soup campaign led Campbell’s to take out a full-page ad on the back cover of Marketing magazine• Cited by new client as a key reason for new business win• Agency granted six figure bonus because of our creative workKEY ACCOUNTS• Chrysler• Campbell’s Soup• Chapters Online• 7UP/PepsiOTHER ACCOUNTS I POKED AT• Guinness (Diageo)• Excite• BelAir Direct Auto Insurance• The Globe & Mail• Scotiabank• Pizza Hut• Beef Council of Canada• Ontario Lottery Corporation (OLGC)

Oooops.Three agencies pursuing us and my and partner and I pick this one.We were hired to be the lead creative team on Bank of Montreal, an account that had started to do some interesting work.Unhappily, BMO was the agency’s only major account – and pretty much went dormant shortly after we joined.Happily, the one campaign we did execute whilst at V&B got radio station 97.3 FM its “best ratings performance in the station's history.”Unhappily, agencies tend to not like paying for people with nothing to do.Happily, we now had two more agencies – BBDO and Ogilvy – pursuing us…

JWT was filled with nice people – including some very talented ones whom eventually went on to bigger things elsewhere – but was a bit sleepy and felt more like a corporate outpost than its own thing.• Made first appearance in Communication Arts• Launched Pepsi Stuff• Trident spot ‘DDS I Love You’ succeeded where years of previous efforts failedKEY ACCOUNTS• Pepsi• Warner-Lambert (Trident)• Lever• Kellogg’s (Rice Krispies Squares)• KraftMy partner and I weren’t looking to move agencies but suddenly we found ourselves pursued by Roche Macaulay & Partners, Y&R and Vickers & Benson…

One of the best agencies in the country when I joined (w/partner Elspeth Lynn) in 1993.• Agency of the Year 1994• Agency of the Year 1995• Coffee-mate campaign (w/partner Elspeth Lynn) a key part of ’94 AoY win• Pontiac Sunfire launch campaign (w/partner Briony Wilson) a key part of ’95 AoY win• Sunfire campaign was GM’s most successful new car launch ever• Sunfire launch was also catalyst for Pontiac’s long-running Built for Driver’s campaign• Part of new business team that retained coveted Molson Breweries flagship business• Participated in agency’s one-and-only TPP session, an approach to developing advertising that changed my view of same foreverKEY ACCOUNTS• General Motors (Pontiac Sunfire)• Molson Breweries (Canadian Ice, Canadian)• Nestlé (Coffee-mate, Carnation Good Start, Instant Breakfast)• Lever (Sunlight)• IBM• Lactaid• Coca-Cola (Fresca)

DDB was number one on my wish list of agencies to join.Happily, the months spent in my basement working on my book were not spent in vain...• Hired as a copywriter• Soon promoted to Associate Creative Director (Group Creative Director on Volkswagen)• Volkswagen 78 Point Inspection campaign – six spots made for just $50k – wins enough on its own to rank me among the top ten most awarded copywriters in the country• Originally intended to run just once, 78 Point Inspection does so well in market that VW runs it for three years. It is also picked up for use in the US.• Won Bill Bernbach Award for fully integrated Volkswagen Eurovan launch campaign – everything from television down to the napkins for the dealer launch show – years before integration was fashionable• Heinz Ketchup work also recognised at CannesKEY ACCOUNTS• Volkswagen Audi Porsche• TV Guide• TorStar (Harlequin)• Hershey (Oh Henry!)• Heinz (Ketchup)• Panasonic