Mike Tennant

A veteran of print and radio writing, Mike Tennant is known to thousands of CBC Radio listeners for his work as Ad Columnist on Definitely Not the Opera, the creator/voice of syndicated "explainer" pieces on topical events, and more recently as producer, co-writer, and co-creator (with Terry O'Reilly) of The Age of Persuasion.

Until 2010, Mike was the producer/co-writer of the CBC Radio hit series The Age of Persuasion, a lively, entertaining, and packed with stories and practical examples. Mike is also co-author of The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture which offers insights into effective, creative, cut-through communication.

He has created hundreds of campaigns for clients in Canada and the U.S., and won dozens of awards for his work. In between, he loves to give talks and workshops on advertising, marketing and creative communication.

Disconnect: How The Technology That's Supposed to Bring Us Together is Pulling Us Apart (and what to do about it)

When a massive blackout affected 55 million people in August 2003, stories spread of neighbours interacting with neighbours; of block parties staged to share freezers full of thawing food, and of volunteers directing traffic at busy intersections. What lingers most is the power of human interaction on a scale not experienced in many years. With this as a backdrop, Mike examines the power of the human touch in communication, and the hidden costs, and occasional perils, of high-tech shortcuts such as email and automated phone systems.

Communications in the Online you-Universe

At a time when young consumers have amassed unprecedented spending power and consumer clout, they're vanishing from the radar of traditional media, and disappearing into a new online YOU-niverse. Here, the 'user is God', and marketers are no longer in control of their messages. Mike explores how we got here, and explains how savvy marketers are rewriting their playbooks to adapt.

The Great Unwritten Contract

There's a great, unwritten contract between marketers and consumers: in exchange for exposure to a sale's message, marketers have to give something back. In exchange for TV ads, marketers underwrite production costs. In exchange for ads in bus shelters, marketers provide shelter from the elements. Mike traces this contract to the early days of radio, and with anecdotes and examples, shows how today's communicators break the contract at their peril.