We design revolutionary brands – empowered by the understanding that your customers are not targets, but your comrades. We are sympathizers: listening, learning and understanding in order to create innately meaningful, responsive and adaptable brands.
Before now, it was not possible for your customers to write a song that caused your share price to plummet. It wasn’t possible for your disgruntled employees to upload a video of them spitting in the “fresh made” pizza. Nor was it possible to build a worldwide community where people could geek out over the robots you make, while actually helping you make your products better. And it was nearly impossible for your frontline workers to share their amazing ideas on how to improve customer service with the rest of your global corporation.
This is nothing short of a revolution that has given your customers a voice that’s stronger than the mightiest PR spin or largest media buy. It’s provided the platforms to create communities in an instant; bringing like-minded individuals together to share their knowledge and opinions. But it has also given them the information and means to shout your dirty secrets, along with pictures, video and celebrity testimonials. It’s brought down governments and it has also built some of the fastest growing brands on the planet.
Your customers are getting smarter and more powerful every day. And at Pinko Red, we think that’s a good thing, a great thing even. We believe the day has arrived when brands who wish to survive and have a competitive edge must join the revolution. Not only embrace the digital tools that allow this to happen, but redefine how they’re organized, how they work and how they communicate, in order to seize the opportunity that this brings. And we are not alone. The economic status quo is being tested by brands that are defining themselves with digital and social thinking embedded in their very DNA.
These brands are built on a culture of countless voices, open collaboration and the free use of new tools and technologies. This is happening inside and outside of corporate walls. These brands are not just the “up-and-comers”, they are some of the strongest brands on the planet. And they’re not just digital brands like Google and Amazon either, the list also includes powerful consumer titans like Nike and Walmart, and trusted media brands like News Corp. and Time Warner.
We formed Pinko Red to help organizations develop socialized brands that can compete in a world where customers and employees have powerful voices and expect to be listened to.
We believe that your customers are not targets, they are your comrades. We know that the very best employees aren’t just punching the clock, they’re working because they believe in what they’re doing. We know that traditional ways of organizing companies actually stifles good ideas, rather than encourage them.
We work collaboratively with you and your stakeholders to help shape your culture, your organization and brand experience. This leads to faster time-to-market, better product innovation, increased loyalty and improved service, which in turn drives profits and increases market value.
We’ve developed proprietary knowledge, tools and processes to work with well-established brands that need to “future-proof” themselves against emerging threats as well as helping companies building new socialized brands from the ground up.
brought together by shared passion: to help create the most engaging and desirable social brands possible. This purpose is driven forward by the collective values that form our ideology:
We are driven to build the world’s most socialized and captivating brands.
We choose to work with brands we believe in and with amazing, inspiring people. We work for the common good, always delivering in ways that benefit our clients, our communities and ourselves.
We believe that the single most powerful brand investment is cultural. So we invest in a culture that promotes authenticity, open collaboration and the free sharing of amazing ideas, never constrained by traditional business expectations.
We understand that customers are not targets. They are our comrades.
We always aim for extraordinary.
Sean Howard is a senior digital communications strategist with more than 15 years’ experience in digital strategy development, user experience design and communications planning. Regarded as a thought leader in Canada on social media and digital marketing, he delivers insight and innovation to his clients in the digital marketing space, builds passionate teams and helps brands connect with their most passionate advocates. Weaving together planning, research, measurement, social media and digital programs, Sean achieves significant results for his clients.
As a strategist, Sean has worked on a wide range of projects, from some of the largest e-commerce launches in Canada like Canadian Tire and Signature Vacations, to developing social media strategies for TD and Aeroplan.
He has experience with global brands such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and Dove, as well as Canadian icons Rogers, Allstate, Aeroplan, Air Canada, and Aviva to name just a few.
In previous lives, Sean was a Vice President at a Public Relations firm and he built the strategy offering for a “hot” digital agency selected as one of the top 10 digital agencies in Canada two years running. Sean is on the Board of Directors of Soundstreams Canada. He consults with and often speaks for numerous arts organizations in Toronto, and was responsible for one of the top Canadian marketing blogs (craphammer.ca). Sean is a keen photographer and videographer and makes sporadic attempts at baking. Reviews pending.
Lori is a senior strategist specializing in business strategy, brand development and communications planning for over 19 years. Lori works with companies to establish a strategic foundation that enables them to build better businesses, brands and products.
Originally from New York, Lori has worked in all facets of marketing both client and agency side enabling her to understand both the needs of our clients and how to build a strong relationship with an agency. Upon moving to Toronto in 1999, Lori was the Director of Strategic Services at ICE Integrated Communications and Entertainment Company in Toronto where she managed the staffing, budgeting and the development and implementation of new products, services and strategic processes, including Brand Strategy, Digital Marketing and Integrated Marketing Communications Planning. She has worked with large global brands as Deloitte Consulting, Lucent Technologies, and Solomon Smith Barney.
Since 2002, Lori has been working independently with clients in both the corporate and public sectors as Zip Local, Green City, Goodyear Tire and CCH Tax Prep. She sat on the Resource Development Board for Assaulted Women’s Helpline and is currently the Chairperson of the Allenby Parents’ Association. Lori is also a frequent writer and Managing Editor of BloomingBetty.com, a website dedicated to helping women find their personal definition of success.
Lori has an MBA in Marketing and Management from Fordham Business School in New York and a BA in Economics from SUNY-Binghamton.
For over 13 years Laurence has helped build and grow brands by connecting them with audiences across digital and traditional media. He is always looking for the right idea for the problem, the audience and for the brand.
He began as a graphic designer, working though the roles of senior designer, art director, and creative director. His history in small agencies has allowed him to wear many hats and has led to projects into brand strategy, communications consulting and other marketing activities.
Recently transplanted to Toronto, he spent most of his career in Calgary, working with clients like General Motors, Ubisoft, Harrah’s Entertainment, Bank of the West, Mobil, Shell, Big Rock Brewery, Intact Insurance, Mac’s Convenience Stores, SAIT Polytechnic and the University of Calgary.
Laurence is an adept designer, illustrator, writer and musician and brings his unique experience and broad skills to bear on his work. His artistic background helps him develop creative that works across channels and engages audiences in novel and compelling ways. His work has been recognized by Applied Arts Magazine, the Anvil Awards and others.
He studied Visual Communications and Printmaking at the Alberta College of Art and Design and also holds a professional designation (CGD) from the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC). Laurence has participated in and moderated panels for the GDC and Digital Alberta. He’s also presented to design, advertising and marketing students at SAIT Polytechnic and Mount Royal University.
Joel is the principal and founder of design firm Sovereign State. As lead creative and design director, Joel’s focus is bridging sound strategic thinking with emotionally moving design. With 15 years of award-winning experience, Joel’s accumulated experience as a brand architect and builder allows him to elevate and weave business ROI with emotional brand loyalty.
Previously, Joel was the design director and a founding partner at Lift, where he developed both visual stories for brands and viable design systems for Lift’s varied and diverse clients. Joel’s work has brought both art funding organizations and multinational financial brands to life. Previous to LIFT, Joel was the Senior Art Director for ICE Communications one of the largest integrated marketing companies in North America.
Joel has worked on marketing and brand projects with a wide variety of clients as: CIBC, Lockheed Martin, GMAC, the Ontario Lottery Corporation, Virgin Mobile and CanWest MediaWorks. His work in developing the Stewardship Ontario brand helped the companies leadership positioning refocusing their brand on their sustainability initiatives.
Always keenly interested in community and community building exercises, Joel has put his efforts in the last two years to building brand and brand communities online for the Toronto Public Library, TVO, Artscape and the internationally renowned performance series Soundstreams. His work with the OCSA and Orthomolecular Health has helped to raise the profile of both organizations, helping them to develop instant visual recognition and brand association. Joel was the lead creative for brand development for the government of Qatar as well as for the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform initiative and dozens of other key launches and accounts.
A graduate of the Ontario College of Art, Joel co-chaired on the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club of Toronto, contributing to the club’s communications strategy and community outreach programs in many ways, including teaching arts programs to underprivileged children in Toronto. Joel is proud to be the founder of their music outreach programs in Toronto and to have spearheaded their performance series bringing attention to the talents of inner-city youth.
Douglas Reid teaches and conducts research in business strategy and in executive education at Queen’s School of Business. He has taught strategy, strategy implementation, and global strategy in the undergraduate programs, and in the full time MBA, Executive MBA, and Cornell-Queen’s Executive MBA programs. Dr. Reid also designed and presently delivers the Business School’s first teaching and learning course in the business PhD program.
He is also one of the leading instructors for the Queen’s Executive Development Centre in strategy, planning, and strategy implementation, and has delivered courses, sessions and webinars across Canada, the US, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Dr. Reid’s current research interests include studying how busy executives learn, how to accelerate the formation of professional judgment, and the effects of measurement on people. He is researching a book on the latter topic.
In 2005, he was appointed as Distinguished Faculty Teaching Fellow in Strategy as recognition of his accomplishments as an instructor and his deep interest in improving the teaching of business. As such, he investigated the application of new pedagogies such as problem-based learning, team-based learning, and inquiry-based learning to business education in Canada. As part of that investigation, he was a visiting professor at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. Dr. Reid’s Fellowship was renewed in 2008 and again in 2011.
Prior to entering the academic world, Dr. Reid was vice president of an international consulting firm, handling corporate issues management in their Toronto and Ottawa offices. He has worked for a former Premier of Ontario; as a Chief of Staff to a provincial Cabinet Minister; and in 1990 founded a consulting company serving leading private and public sector organizations in Canada, the US and Europe.
As an advisor to companies, Dr. Reid has consulted on strategy development and implementation, strategic planning with Boards and senior management teams, corporate education design, building organizational resilience, environmental foresight and scenario planning.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto (Victoria College), an MBA from the University of Toronto (Rotman School), an MPA from Queen’s University (School of Policy Studies), and a PhD from the University of Western Ontario (Richard Ivey School of Business). He has also completed the Directors’ Education Program, sponsored by the Institute for Corporate Directors, and earned the ICD.D designation.
Douglas Reid has served on two corporate boards active in Western Canada energy trading, one Crown agency board and currently is a member of the board of Symtext.com, a Canadian start-up company active in the creation of educational materials for social learning contexts.
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