Lothar Boensch
Blast Radius has brought back a former colleague to run the Vancouver office where the now-global agency was founded nearly 20 years ago.
Lothar Boensch has been appointed managing director of Blast Radius Vancouver, to oversee operations and help drive new business across Canada.
“We are really looking to reboot the office here and reboot the agency,” Boensch said in an interview with Marketing. “Vancouver has performed extremely well, but it has been operating as Vancouver and I think it needs to operate as a much closer partner into the [Blast Radius] network.”
Blast Radius is a digital agency with global headquarters in Vancouver and offices in Toronto and across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. It’s part of the Wunderman Network and has a client roster that includes brands such as Starbucks, Nike, Lenovo and BMW.
Boensch said part of his job is to not only grow the business from Vancouver, but also to boost innovation across the company and help develop more thought leadership.
“Blast Radius always had a really strong point of view, but I just feel that our voice isn’t being heard,” said Boensch. “We still have a really interesting perspective on content, on social, on platform and technology, but we don’t have this platform anymore where we are giving our folks here the opportunity to bring that voice to market and provide that thought leadership that helps our clients.”
Boensch said the company is looking to partner within the local tech start-up community to “pilot some of our ideas around marketing and experience strategy.”
The agency is also working with its technology leaders to establish a lab where they test, evaluate and prototype new technologies as they emerge in the market, Boensch said.
Boensch has returned to Blast Radius after four years away, including two years working at a smaller agency and a couple more on the client side with two different software companies, Aequilibrium Software and Monexa.
When he was last at Blast Radius, Boensch was senior director of business development from 2006 to early 2011. Before that, he helped the company open its European operations starting in 2000.
Boensch said he returned to Blast Radius because he wanted to head back to the agency side of the digital marketing business.
“I really missed the whole mix of strategy, technology, user experience and creative,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to breaking new ground with our incredibly talented teams, growing and diversifying our clientele throughout Canada, and continuing to produce cutting-edge work.”
Some clients serviced through Blast Radius Vancouver office include; Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, The Northface, SaskTel, AAA Northern California and the Government of Saskatchewan.
Boensch reports to Blast Radius chief executive Sam Landers.
“Lothar was pivotal to Blast Radius’s progress and growth. With his new role as managing director, I anticipate even stronger work to come out of Vancouver under his leadership,” Landers said in a statement announcing the appointment.
