Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

This is a podcast for the curious. Strap yourself in for genuine dialogues with people who think deeply and are ready to tackle the big questions, such as broadcaster Terry O'Reilly, fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay, and journalist Sally Armstrong.

Join Ben Charland to peel back the headlines and ask, what are the forces, people and ideas that shape the human story today? From the Mafia to the Beavertonwomen in politics to women in leadershiphistory to artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship in the digital age to the art of wheelchair fencing, just what on Earth is going on?

Subscribe to the podcast now.


        
        
 

Mar 8, 2019

Terry O'Reilly is the host of CBC's Under the Influence (formerly The Age of Persuasion), and he joins Ben this week on the podcast. They discuss Terry's advertising career, his book This I Know: Marketing Lessons from Under the Influence, his ceaseless curiosity, the counterintuitive insight of chickens painted purple, and the unrelenting power of an idea. Terry also gives Ben the scoop on an exciting new project!

The full archive of Terry's Under the Influence is now available for free, wherever you get your podcasts.

About the Guest

Terry O'Reilly began his career as Copy Chief for FM108 Radio in Burlington, Ontario, where he discovered that with meticulous planning and attention to detail, you can still fall flat on your face. With that learning, he went on to become an award-winning copywriter for Toronto advertising agencies Campbell-Ewald, Doyle Dane Bernbach and Chiat/Day. He created campaigns for many of the top brands in the country, including Labatt, Molson, Pepsi USA, Goodyear Tires, Tim Hortons, Volkswagen, Nissan and the Hudson’s Bay Company.

In 1990, Terry co-founded Pirate Radio & Television. A creative audio production company producing scripts, sound and music for radio and television commercials, Pirate grew to a staff of 50 with 8 recording studios in Toronto and New York City.

Terry has won a few hundred national and international awards for his writing and directing, and has worked with such notable actors as Alec Baldwin, Ellen DeGeneres, Kiefer Sutherland, Bob Newhart, Martin Short and Drew Carey. He even managed to create an advertising campaign for a group of nuns. (Good story there).

In demand as a keynote speaker, Terry talks about key marketing issues all companies and organizations face – from the critical need to embed emotion in marketing, to why customer service = profit, to how to change a negative perception, to why smart marketers don’t outspend their competitors – they outsmart them.

He served on the inaugural Radio Jury at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2005, and was named chairman of the following award show juries:

The Marketing Awards (Co-Chair) Canada
The International Clio Awards in Miami
The London International Advertising Awards

When he’s not creating advertising, he’s talking about it as the host of the award-winning CBC Radio One/Sirius Satellite/WBEZ Chicago radio show, Under The Influence, which is the follow-up to the hit series, The Age of Persuasion. The New York Radio Festivals awarded his show the Grand Prize as Best Radio Program in 2011 and again in 2012, and iTunes chose it as “Best New Podcast of 2011” and one of the Best Podcasts of 2015.

Terry has been given the following career awards:

Lifetime Achievement Award – American Marketing Association
Lifetime Achievement Award – Advertising & Design Club of Canada
Lifetime Achievement Award – Television Advertising Bureau

Honorary Degrees have been bestowed on Terry from these great institutions:

McMaster University – Honorary Doctorate of Laws
Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning – Bachelor Degree in Applied Studies
St. Mary’s University – Honorary Doctor of Civil Law

He has also been honoured by Ryerson University with the following:

Inaugural inductee to RTA School of Media Hall of Fame
Alumni Achievement Awards 2015

He has co-written a best-selling book called The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture, published in Canada by Knopf, and in the U.S. by Counterpoint Press in Berkeley.

He has written a new book titled This I Know: Marketing Lessons From Under The Influence, published in Canada, the U.S. and China.

He has a wonderful wife and three lovely daughters.

Who like some of his work.

Learn more about Terry or follow him on Twitter (@terryoinfluence).