Here are some of my career highpoints
Creative Strategy
Digicel
In 2003, Irish Mobile Company Digicel was duking it out with Cable & Wireless in the Saint Lucian Market. Under the direction of Kevin White, the company sought the marketing support of Accela Marketing, founded and spearheaded by Agnes Francis (formerly the first ever female Director of Tourism).
I was new to both Saint Lucia and Accela which thrust me headlong into creative marketing strategy at the boardroom level, something I never got to experience before at my former position as Copywriter at Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi.
It was at a boardroom meeting that Kevin expressed his determination to dominate the market especially the corporate mobile clients. There was one big problem though. Digicel was still being seen as an upstart, foreign company just trying to make quick money by running promotion after promotion. Public Relations Commander and Chief, Agnes Francis impressed upon the Digicel team the need to show a deep seated commitment and solidarity with the market beyond the bottom line. It was not that Digicel had not been generously giving back, they were in fact outpacing the incumbent mobile company. The problem was it was not forging "a connection" at a grassroots level. Agnes suggested a platform, fully branded and I was given the task to come up with both it and the mechanics of a grassroots-connecting corporate social responsibility program.
The result: Digicel Caring Connections
Instead of the company giving money at a corporate level they do it at a community level with the community taking the initiative to submit a proposal to Digicel on behalf of a program or person doing something that benefits their community.
I came up with the name, mechanics, proposal form questions and the creative campaign which included print, radio and television.
Digicel would go on to take Caring Connections to St. Vincent and Grenada. And under the direction of Kevin White and marketing and PR support from Accela, they were the market leaders a year and a half later.
RBC/RBTT
In 2008, RBTT was at an institutional and operational crux. They were going to be acquired by RBC. They were currently being serviced by agency Mc CANN Erickson and used the impending change as an opportunity to put their marketing account out to bid.
I had just joined Advantage Advertising, the agency that quietly and effectively commands a lot of respect among clients in the retail sector in Trinidad and Tobago. Under the direction of Steve Mathura and Keith Nexar it is a hot-house of talented and extremely humble and just magnificently decent people (a rare thing in advertising) and known for having the happiest staff (and you know essential happiness is for creativity) among them, Anika Aleong (now Marketing Mastermind at VAGUS) who was assigned this agency and career-changing opportunity. The strategy was given to Carol Boon and I to thrash out. Carol is never one to boast of her sheer brilliance but I would soon discover I was working with the genius mind behind the seamless rebranding of Bank of Commerce into Republic Bank.
We went through the Terms Of Reference and Omibus Banking Report like some real document forensics experts. We did desk research on banking, led discussions about people's expectations of a bank and what the impending change to RBC would mean, should mean. How should RBC introduce itself both internally and externally. Carol had a brain wave about a bank being your neighbor and I had a brain wave about how to say "A change is coming" without rocking the boat and getting people to look forward to it. The result was a creative theme built around, "Hello Neighbor" under the new brand message, "Imagine More For Yourself," (See Radio for the corporate Jingle) Oh and we won the account.
The People's Canvas, Queen's Park Oval
The ten foot, concrete perimeter wall around historic Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain was painted stark white for ICC Cricket World Cup in compliance with branding guidelines. It had formally been covered in clash of unsightly advertisements, old election flyers and graffiti. I was still at Advantage Advertising when David Lewis of Label House, won the bid to manage the walls after the international series was over. David had the brilliant seed of an idea planted during his visits to South and Latin America and seeing the wonderful displays of urban art. He was determined to bring it to Trinidad but needed someone to coalesce his ideas into a solid pitch.
It was the perfect storm for David because of Keith Nexar, perhaps Trinidad and Tobago's most passionate cricket fan, active and beloved Oval member and yours truly, hot on the heels of our RBTT win (and I had the pleasure of presenting to the board) and was rearing to go.
Despite the skeptics, "The People's Canvas" was conceptualized and launched with the invaluable help of Gregory Scott and Randal Waddel. I created the Power Point Presentation and helped present to the both the Cricket Board and to corporate clients. Some of the first to jump on board were Digicel, Scotiabank and bp.
(N.P.- When I conceptualized the People's Canvas with David, I always saw it as something that would feature the works of young, unknown, upcoming artists, not a showcase only for the existing darlings of the art scene. It was also supposed to feature more than just paintings but also photography and entire exhibitions on one theme, including cutting edge, avant-garde and controversial work. I underestimated the conservatism of the Oval and the Trinidad and Tobago Art Society.)
Radio
This has always been my little sweet spot. I love imagining characters and scenarios that always get a smile, chuckle, grunt or at the very best a good belly laugh. My FDL Pest Control Solutions Radio (listen below) won a Gold ADDY in 2012 as well as BEST IN SHOW. My Jingle-writing aims for hook, hook and more hook.
Here, take a little taste:
Television
When you work in the Eastern Caribbean, budgets for television production are what ad agencies in markets like Trinidad or the UK pay for just one principal actor or two extras. And believe it or not, even that has gotten smaller. This is not the market of directors like Walt Lovelace and Robert Braithwaite with professional make-up artists, good catering and even a separate monitor for the Director. This is the market of Copywriter/Director/Make-up Artist with young Videographer/Sound Guy, going for the gold! No guts, no glory!
I have scripted and directed an 11 episode television series made on a stroestring...wait, the lint from a shoestring budget, an unforgettable learning curve!
Voicing
This one I discovered late. It was at Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi I first had confirmation from someone far more professional and experienced that, "Hmmm, you're not bad on the microphone,"
Listen Here
(More television, brain noodles and doodles) COMING SOON!
