Sean’s Spin

You’ve all seen the typical agency announcements. New team members. New clients. New awards. New studio dog with the title of Director of Client Cuddles.

Heads up, there might be some of that in here too – but thankfully minus the dog promotion. If you know me well enough to be connected, you probably know that I’ve got a decent story behind it.

So clip-in and have a read.

I’ve been in the design industry and have owned my own agencies for more than 30 years. I know what you’re thinking, how is it possible that I look so fabulously young after 30 years of agency ownership? Must be good genes? The last 5 years have been particularly interesting. The COVID years saw me shutter my office space as the Carter Hales Design Lab (CHDL) team moved to remote work and we refocused on the design of differentiated and highly expressive brands, especially in consumer goods. We were helping beer flow and butts get wiped while also helping normalize anxiety. It was work that literally touched everyone. But it felt like there were more opportunities beyond beer and butts to boldly go where no one else was going. Instead of staying remote, I found a great new space in Strathcona for the new Headquarters of CHDL – as well as SMoMA gallery (more on that in the coming months). With the new space also came the idea to revisit how we can best serve our clients in their pursuits.

While cycling many thousands of kilometers of Stanley Park, my own block (I live atop a rather steep hill and wanted that Strava Local Legend status back) and Europe, I got to thinking that I could expand my agency again with the help of some fellow cyclists and colleagues I knew from collaborating on various projects through the years.

Carter Hales has long had a strong creative and client management team, and we’ve all worked together for many decades (not an exaggeration), rooted in digital and design. But this was a chance to bring strategy to drive all our business and data to provide insights in-house.

First to say yes to me (and also first up most mountains) was Tavis Yeung. Tavis is a data and digital self-proclaimed nerd whose knowledge and use of AI – for good, only – is only potentially succeeded by his knowledge and skills on a bike, or any multi-sport extreme athletic pursuit. It’s not that CHDL hasn’t used data before for our clients. But Tavis is bringing a depth of sophistication to mining client insights and optimizing marketing that is far beyond what I’ve seen. I knew we had to scoop him up when Tavis was on the market (for like 5 seconds) after spending over 25 years in technology and leading innovation at a global commercial real estate firm.

With the new addition of deep data and insights, the only thing missing was the in-house strategic work to ensure that this data helped our clients meet their business goals. And that’s where Jenny comes in. Jenny’s a long-term client of CHDL and while she professes Stuart is her favourite – his singing voicemails left a lasting impression – otherwise, she fits in pretty well with CHDL. From YVR, to SkilledTradesBC, to her recent stint as Head of Marketing and Communications at the global Invictus Games, we’ve worked together with Jenny along the way and have been impressed not only with her business acumen but also her ability to multi-task. Seriously impressive. Two examples: she did an executive MBA while working full-time, and we’d occasionally get messages from her via email or text while she was meeting with us on Zoom. Very stealthy. Now that’s a skill that I wanted to employ for the good of the world.

The additions of Tavis and Jenny to our already stellar team of senior-level talent means we are more integrated and can help you continue to solve complex business problems with strong creative but better. More importantly, at CHDL we pride ourselves on the fact our clients always say that we do great work but they stick around because of the people. Tavis and Jenny are CHDL type of people and not just because they too enjoy wearing lycra like me.

So what’s next for CHDL?

Join us at our inaugural event Wednesday May 28th (details here), RSVP by sending an email to Jenny Duncan (jenny@carterhales.com).

We’re not quite sure what the summer series is going to become but we promise some creative conversations, fierce debate between Art and AI and some beverages amongst new and old acquaintances. Or, ping one of us and come down for an early sneak peek and get acquainted with the new team over a coffee, beer or even a bike ride if you like bib shorts.

—Sean

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