MEET TOM
As a freshly-minted Art Center grad, what Tom cared about most was packing his portfolio with killer ads. Now, with over 25 years experience as Art Director, Creative Director, and senior agency management, Tom delights in stocking his roster with killer client relationships. He has stayed hungry for creating work that earns kudos from One Show, Clios or Communication Arts, and he’s realized through experience that it’s strong client relationships that really feed a career. And an agency.
Genuine marketing genius happens at the sweet spot where product benefit meets smart targeting meets intriguing creative. That’s the intersection where Tom is at his professional best. Online or offline, traditional or non-traditional, local or global: building brands always starts by sitting down with human clients and talking through their business in a human way. For Tom, this business is personal. And it shows through his work’s winning humanity, insightful strategic thinking, and memorable creativity.
Tom grew up in Southern California and graduated from UCLA with a BA in Economics (that’s the business part.) He then earned a BFA in Advertising Design from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (that’s the creative part.) Tom made a beeline for New York to launch his career at Doyle, Dane, Bernbach, where he got his first taste of the car business on the famed Volkswagen account. For three years Tom cut his teeth as a junior art director with advertising legends like Helmut Krone, Roy Grace and Gary Goldsmith.
Quickly establishing himself as an up-and-coming talent, Tom was hired away in rapid succession by two of his long-time advertising heroes. Tom Messner of Messner, Vetere brought him on as one of his original ten employees. And then Donny Deutsch called on him to work at Deutsch/NY. They were two of the toughest years Tom ever loved.
Then a truly unique opportunity came his way: launching an entirely new global brand. Tom moved back to the Left Coast, joined Team One Advertising in Los Angeles and began creating a campaign for the then-unknown Lexus car company. Tom spent the next five years convincing American buyers that the Japanese not only made good economy cars but exceptional luxury cars as well. Lexus became one of the most successful launches in automotive history. At Team One, Tom also got the chance to proselytize for a brand he’s been loyal to his entire life - Adidas.
Looking for new challenges, Tom and his family traded smog for fog and moved north to San Francisco. He did a little shop-hopping, working on-staff and freelance for many of the Bay Area’s best agencies including Mandelbaum Mooney Ashley, Citron Haligman Bedecarré, and Goodby Silverstein, on accounts including HP, Macy’s and The North Face. He then spent the next 10 years as SVP, Creative Director at Foote, Cone & Belding/SF, where he managed a dozen teams, over $50 million in billings and guided his clients’ campaigns in TV, print, online, direct mail, event marketing and everything in between. In his role as CD, Tom helped increase brand value for clients like Amazon.com, Levis Strauss & Co., Hilton, Blue Shield, Avaya and Janus Funds.
Tom left FCB in 2007 to form a boutique branding firm called Tomorrow Partners in Berkeley with a couple of longtime colleagues. Thanks to a strong client relationship developed at FCB, Tom brought the Janus account with him and spent the next 4 years helping that client evolve its brand voice for a new audience, a new economic era, and new media. His time at Tomorrow also includes work for Peet’s Coffee, Intuit and Bluetooth.
Tom spends many an evening as a guest instructor in the photography department at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. And in his spare time, when he’s not answering his friends’ & families’ requests for restaurant recommendations, you can usually find him taking in the latest documentary or wrestling with the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Tom currently lives in Mill Valley with his family and a self-absorbed calico named Audrey.
Genuine marketing genius happens at the sweet spot where product benefit meets smart targeting meets intriguing creative. That’s the intersection where Tom is at his professional best. Online or offline, traditional or non-traditional, local or global: building brands always starts by sitting down with human clients and talking through their business in a human way. For Tom, this business is personal. And it shows through his work’s winning humanity, insightful strategic thinking, and memorable creativity.
Tom grew up in Southern California and graduated from UCLA with a BA in Economics (that’s the business part.) He then earned a BFA in Advertising Design from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (that’s the creative part.) Tom made a beeline for New York to launch his career at Doyle, Dane, Bernbach, where he got his first taste of the car business on the famed Volkswagen account. For three years Tom cut his teeth as a junior art director with advertising legends like Helmut Krone, Roy Grace and Gary Goldsmith.
Quickly establishing himself as an up-and-coming talent, Tom was hired away in rapid succession by two of his long-time advertising heroes. Tom Messner of Messner, Vetere brought him on as one of his original ten employees. And then Donny Deutsch called on him to work at Deutsch/NY. They were two of the toughest years Tom ever loved.
Then a truly unique opportunity came his way: launching an entirely new global brand. Tom moved back to the Left Coast, joined Team One Advertising in Los Angeles and began creating a campaign for the then-unknown Lexus car company. Tom spent the next five years convincing American buyers that the Japanese not only made good economy cars but exceptional luxury cars as well. Lexus became one of the most successful launches in automotive history. At Team One, Tom also got the chance to proselytize for a brand he’s been loyal to his entire life - Adidas.
Looking for new challenges, Tom and his family traded smog for fog and moved north to San Francisco. He did a little shop-hopping, working on-staff and freelance for many of the Bay Area’s best agencies including Mandelbaum Mooney Ashley, Citron Haligman Bedecarré, and Goodby Silverstein, on accounts including HP, Macy’s and The North Face. He then spent the next 10 years as SVP, Creative Director at Foote, Cone & Belding/SF, where he managed a dozen teams, over $50 million in billings and guided his clients’ campaigns in TV, print, online, direct mail, event marketing and everything in between. In his role as CD, Tom helped increase brand value for clients like Amazon.com, Levis Strauss & Co., Hilton, Blue Shield, Avaya and Janus Funds.
Tom left FCB in 2007 to form a boutique branding firm called Tomorrow Partners in Berkeley with a couple of longtime colleagues. Thanks to a strong client relationship developed at FCB, Tom brought the Janus account with him and spent the next 4 years helping that client evolve its brand voice for a new audience, a new economic era, and new media. His time at Tomorrow also includes work for Peet’s Coffee, Intuit and Bluetooth.
Tom spends many an evening as a guest instructor in the photography department at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. And in his spare time, when he’s not answering his friends’ & families’ requests for restaurant recommendations, you can usually find him taking in the latest documentary or wrestling with the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Tom currently lives in Mill Valley with his family and a self-absorbed calico named Audrey.
