People
Peter Holmes, President & Creative Director
Peter’s strategic consumer and business insights have helped drive some of the most successful advertising campaigns in Canadian history. He appeared on Marketing Magazine’s Power List of the 100 most influential people in Canadian communications and has received some 500 national and international awards for creative excellence from among others, Communication Arts, The One Show, The Clios, Cannes, The Art Directors Club of New York, The Obies and The Advertising and Design Club of Canada. He has also judged a number of advertising awards shows including The One Show, The Clios, The Andy’s and The Marketing Awards, which he also chaired.
Peter began his career as a graphic designer, opening his own design studio in the ’80′s. In 1990 he became a founding partner in Franklin Dallas, an advertising agency and forerunner to Holmes and Lee and then Reason Partners. He has worked with clients across a wide range of categories, including tourism, packaged goods, automotive, communications, electronics, government, beverages, financial services, fashion, pharmaceuticals, electronics, retail and several charities.
Peter got involved in digital marketing in the early days when Holmes and Lee opened the digital shop, Competitive Reality, in 1997. Since then, he has remained very much involved in digital and online marketing
Peter’s work was Curator selected for the inaugural and permanent advertising collection of the Royal Ontario Museum and the Canadian Graphic Design History Project. He also writes and produces music professionally in the rock, jazz and R&B genres as well as music for advertising campaigns, including the Canadian launch of the Saturn ION and Credit Canada. His jazz album, The Jericho Notes, was ranked 6th best release (2004) in the U.S. publication Jazz Week Magazine. 2Scoops, an R&B/pop song he wrote, is distributed by Universal Music and played on top 40 radio across the country. It also won a Hollywood Music in Media award.
Brand experience: Akzo Nobel, Dulux, Glidden, CIL, Sears, Virgin Gaming, Canada Trust, Second Cup, The Weather Network, Land Rover, Credit Canada, Millenium Beverages, Parmalat, Sargento Cheese, Lactancia, Black Diamond, Cheese Strings, Parkay Margarine, MCI, PEI Tourism, Antiqua Tourism, Atlantic Tourism, Krinos Foods, Ontario Government (Ministry of the Environment), The Conservative Party of Canada, The Body Shop, Old Milwaukee, Sleeman Breweries, Upper Canada Beer, Masterfile, Citibank, JVC, Alpine Consumer Electronics, Luxman, LG, Zenith, Standard Interactive, Standard Broadcasting, Stanfields Underwear, Ogilvy Renault LLP, Valvoline Motor Oil, Tilden Car Rentals, Indian Motorcycle, ReMax, Staples, Neutrogena, Planters Peanuts, Fisons Consumer Health, Clearblue Easy, Delsym Cough Remedy, Cotton Ginny, Club Monaco, African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF), The Canadian Cancer Society, The Daily Bread Foodbank.
Jeff Plowman, Director of Strategic Planning
With over twenty years of experience, Jeff Plowman has helped more companies and brands develop business-building programs than most.
Having always been a strategic management professional, Jeff has helped clients launch new brands, optimize their existing brand positionings and developed strategically sound communications plans – all to succeed in the crowded and changing categories of today.
He’s worked across a number of categories and brands ranging from the packaged goods category where he not only raised the creative bar for Kraft but at the same time drove much needed innovative research that would benefit the whole company across all categories. He’s worked on Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Pepsi, P&G, J&J, Microsoft, MasterCard, and L’Oreal. He’s also responsible for the award winning, insightful Bud Light Institute campaign.
While working internationally, he’s developed unique creative “firsts” for MasterCard in their Priceless campaign and for Microsoft. He’s led unique urban brand experience and loyalty programs in Japan, and led the multinational rollout of new corporate campaigns for Hitachi and SMART Technologies.
Jeff has been an active proponent and champion of brand platforms, strategic concepts that better connect brands with their consumers by basing the relationship on real value and utility. He also believes in brand idea-centric channel planning, digital strategies and content that ensure client’s marketing budgets are optimized in the new digital age media environment.
He’s a very proud dad of a future hockey star/airplane pilot, step dad to two wonderful girls, proud owner of a four year old Golden Retriever and basically has never let his eighties music career go. He lives with his loving, way smarter other half and her two great daughters.
Brand experience: Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Pepsi, P&G, J&J, Microsoft, MasterCard, L’Oreal, Hitachi, Smart Technologies, Budweiser, Labatt, Kraft, Bud Light, 7up, Mountain Dew, Allsport, Reebok.
Ira Patil, Vice President, Media Director
Ira Patil is an award winning Senior Media Executive with extensive global experience working with multinational advertising agencies in Canada, Asia and the Middle East. Ira has developed an expert knowledge of marketing communications and strategic media planning working on a variety of diverse account categories including automotive, telecommunications, retail, alcohol beverage, government and packaged goods.
Most recently, Ira was Vice President, Media Director Due North Communications, where she provided strategic media counsel for many clients including Goodyear, H&R Block, 3M, LCBO Social Responsibility, Dairy Farmers of Canada, as well as numerous Ontario Government Ministries. During her tenure at Due North Communications, Ira won two Gold Media Cassies Awards and a Gold Cannes Media Lion. Prior to Due North, Ira was Media Director at GJP Advertising.
Earlier in her career, Ira worked for DDB Needham Worldwide in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as Media Manager. Ira successfully proposed and executed media plans in the Middle East for brands such as Clorox, Henkel, American Airlines, Riyadh Bank and Petromin Oil Products.
Ira’s diverse experience also includes being on the forefront of launching brands in an emerging Asian market. When at McCann Erickson in Mumbai, she successfully executed the first-time launch in India of GM and L’Oreal’s “Excellence” hair dye. During her tenure at McCann, Ira also worked on Coca Cola, Cathy Pacific, IBM and Reckett & Coleman.
In her spare time…what spare time! Ira is studying to become a Sommelier. Ira’s hobbies include wine tasting and painting. When the two hobbies converge it makes for some pretty funky artwork that she proudly hangs on her walls.
Brand Experience: The Weather Network, Goodyear, H&R Block, 3M, LCBO, DAiry Farmers, Ontario Government, Clorox, Henkel, American Airlines, Riyadh Bank, Petromin Oil, GM, L’Oreal, Coca Cola, Cathy Pacific, IBM, Recket & Coleman.
Mike Mulik, Director of Art & Technology
Mike had a well-rounded start in the digital and entertainment world. He first studied film at York University and then digital media at the International Academy of Design.
When he graduated, Blast Media was the first to hire him as an interface designer. Mike then moved on to OperEx as an interactive designer. Then on to Sutton Javelin as head of design of their interactive department. Mike then decided to try something different as a flash designer at Dashboard, before joining former colleagues at Prescient Media (a division of Holmes and Lee), as senior interactive designer. Then, again to try something new, Mike joined Holmes and Lee as an art director in both digital and traditional media. There he rose to become senior art director and somewhat of a digital teacher and preacher.
Along the way, he garnered more than a few awards for his work, including the Marketing Awards, Digital Marketing Awards, New Media Innovation Awards, Communication Arts and The Advertising and Design Club of Canada.
When he’s not working on the cutting edge side of digital media. Mike enjoys the much more safe and leisurely activity of motorcycling all over the world.
Brand experience: Virgin Gaming, Second Cup, Clover Leaf, Club Monaco, The Home Depot, Vancouver Canucks, CIBC, Manitoba Telecom, Investors Group, EDS, Pop Stars, Standard Interactive, Cogeco, MCI, Gateway Computers, Upper Canada Beer, African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF), The Body Shop, Akzo Nobel, Dulux, CIL, Glidden, Credit Canada, Sleep Country Canada, Ogilvy Renault LLP, Ontario Government (Ministry of the Environment).
Richard Freedhoff, EVP, Business Development
Richard has a passion for taking brands to the next level and a proven track record of success. His career has spanned 23 years and his background includes extensive, senior-level executive sales, marketing and operational experience in the video game, home video, electronics and digital technology industries.
As Director of Sales, Richard had the opportunity to launch Sega’s Canadian line up, growing the business to $140mm in the first year. Then, as Canadian Sales Manager for Sony, he helped launch Playstation, achieving over $150mm in sales in less than 2 years. He was COO, as well as VP Sales and Marketing at Hip Interactive and helped build Hip into the largest video game company in Canada, with over $400mm in revenue. As a consultant he has worked with Gentec International, Inoveris, Allegro Wireless, ES3 and Red Wolf Online. This experience has given Richard a unique insight into the digital interactive space.
Richard has had an enthusiasm for business that started with him teaching tennis as a student and investing his tennis earnings into second and third mortgages. Once Richard graduated university, at 22 years of age, he started his own mortgage brokerage firm, Creative Equity Funding, employing 8 people. This experience gave Richard the entrepreneurial lessons that helped him forge his career. He lives by the motto that “you have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” – Albert Einstein
When he’s not working you can still find Richard on the tennis court or spending time with his kids in Columbus, OH.
Richard holds a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, a mortgage broker’s license from the OMBA, a Diploma in Entrepreneurship from the Ohio Foundation of Entrepreneurial Education and a Private Pilot’s License.
