Taxi Canada has added yet another member to its growing digital team with the appointment of Stephen Bennett as digital creative director on the Telus account.
Bennett, whose CV includes prior stints with Grip Limited and Henderson Bas, arrives at Taxi from Juniper Park, where he worked as creative director, digital from March 2010 until earlier this month.
Taxi’s chief creative officer, Steve Mykolyn, told Marketing on Monday that he has followed Bennett’s career for the better part of a decade, and that his extensive experience in the digital realm was a key factor in the hire.
“In the digital space, if you’ve been doing it for as long as he has, you’re pretty well a veteran,” said Mykolyn. “This space just keeps growing and morphing; it’s hard to start at any point, but if you started at the beginning, you’re more likely to have developed along the way into a digital thinker.”
Bennett is the creative force behind digital campaigns for clients including Nike, Honda, Virgin Mobile, Pepsi and Molson. He is the latest in a string of additions to Taxi’s digital team that also includes Brian Clarey as general manager, digital; Ben Feist, group technology director, North America and numerous senior designers, developers and producers.
Telus is highly active on the digital front, said Mykolyn, requiring the addition of a dedicated digital creative. “In some cases the volume of work on an account dictates that someone has to be responsible for it on a day-to-day basis,” he explained.
Asked to characterize the current digital landscape, Mykolyn said there is a gradual move towards initiatives that add “long-term value” for consumers – such as the Nike+ initiative and the Domino’s Pizza Tracker that enables patrons to track their order online.
“It’s not just a campaign that lasts for a short period of time – it’s value-added utility that lasts forever,” said Mykolyn. “If you can add value through utility, and not just through advertising, you’re doing both a great service to the client and their customers.
