Mike Tennant is a freelance writer/broadcaster based in South-western Ontario. Since 1996 he’s produced and co-written the CBC Radio hit series The Age of Persuasion, and co-wrote the best-selling book The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture, published in Canada and the U.S.
He was a newspaper reporter at 14. At 17 he was a regular columnist with Toronto’s Sunday Star. At 22 he was creating award-winning radio ads. And now, at an undisclosed age, Mike will become a PABster, delivering the keynote Beyond Words: What Makes Great Media Resonate at 1pm on Saturday, June 19. His session will examine the role of creative in the modern age of media and how content creators can use creative to build audiences.
Prior to The Age of Persuasion, Tennant was known to thousands of CBC Radio listeners as Ad Columnist on Definitely Not the Opera, and the voice of syndicated “explainer” pieces on topical events.
He gives talks and workshops throughout Canada on creative communication, media and branding.
Sadly, Mike recently announced he’s leaving The Age of Persuasion when its fourth season concludes in June.
We asked Mike to answer five questions for the PAB community.
What is your best memory of creating media for other people to enjoy?
The whole Age of Persuasion experience has been a delight and surprise. We have a broadcast listenership of more than 600,000 in Canada alone, and many more online; our book is in its fourth printing, and we have thousands of Facebook fans in 20 countries. It’s humbling- and hilarious. We designed our first show (O’Reilly on Advertising) as a 10-part summer series, and never dreamed it would extend beyond that. Resonance like this is the greatest prize in media creation.
Which media creator has been most inspiring to you and why?
I am a huge admirer of the late Donald Brittain, of the NFB. His gift for storytelling and narrative rival that of Rod Serling and Ed Murrow. On TV, Ernie Kovacs was forty years ahead of his time. Both are long gone, and their work still gets my heart racing.
What do you think is the most important consideration to media relevance?
A simple, powerful idea. It is the fertile soil from which all great communication grows.
If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
I’d put much greater faith in my instincts. And take many more (calculated) risks. I’ve been making mistakes for 30 years; only now am I coming to appreciate what a gift they are.
How do you hope your PAB2010 session will change the way people think and/or act?
I’d like to instill a sense of servitude- to make everyone ask “how am I serving my audience?”
