After a three-year break spent with his family and indulging his guitar and kite-boarding hobbies (the latter of which he says is on an “upward trajectory” – we don’t get it either… oh wait!), veteran ad executive Steve Harmer has returned to Blast Radius as general manager of its Toronto office.
Videography by Pam Lau
Harmer (pictured right) worked with Blast Radius from 1999 to 2009, alternating between its Vancouver and Toronto offices with a brief stint in New York. During that time, he oversaw a $40 million client portfolio that included Nike, Starbucks, Citibank and BMW, while directly managing a team of client partners and VPs.
“I had done pretty intensive work for 10 years, so I just decided it was time to have a little downtime to spend with the family and pursue some hobbies I hadn’t had as much time to take on as I would have liked,” said Harmer of the self-imposed sabbatical.
Ultimately, however, Harmer began feeling an urge to return. “I missed the excitement, the enthusiasm and the people,” he said. “I needed to re-stimulate my brain cells a little.”
Harmer assumes leadership of the Toronto office’s international business, working closely with Blast Radius’s Vancouver and global offices. The agency has evolved in his absence, he said.
“It’s the digital marketing world, so things move at a pretty quick pace,” he said. “There’s a lot of innovative new service offerings, there’s certainly more focus on social and as an organization we are definitely more integrated with our network partners, be it Wunderman or Y&R.”
Harmer said it is a good time to be rejoining the Toronto office, which has installed a new creative team, will welcome a new senior strategy leader from its Vancouver office next month and intends to add another senior executive. There are also some “exciting new client opportunities” in development, said Harmer.
“Part of the leadership role is to continue to grow the organization,” he said. “We’ve got quite a bit of momentum in Toronto.”
