caption children birth_place birth_date spouse yearsactive image article_title name occupation
syd kessler jacob kessler , isaac kessler hamilton , ontario , canada 02 april 1946 ellen kessler 1970-present file : syd_kessler . jpg syd kessler
 syd kessler businessman , thought leader , mentor , advertising producer , creative director
syd kessler

syd kessler began as a writer for chuck blore creative services .
during the 60 's and 70 's , this company was considered to be the number one creative radio commercial production company in the u.s. .
in 1970-71 , hatus/hall -- the producers of the legendary game show `` let 's make a deal '' -- hired him to develop a game show -lrb- `` the crosswits '' -rrb- styled after a crossword puzzle .
this show ran on abc for 6 seasons .
syd then started his own business and was president of kessler productions between 1974 -- 78 , producing and writing creative radio commercials exclusively for the canadian marketplace .
the company continued to grow and syd took in other partners .
the company changed its name to kessler music inc. and syd served as president until 1981 , when he merged with the two top audio production companies in canada and became the dominant player in the marketplace .
this new company was called the air company , and syd was its president from 1981 to 1988 .
in this period , the company won canadian and international awards such as the i.b.a.s , the bessies , the one show , etc. .
in 1988 , john labatt ltd. , a multinational canadian corporation , with over $ 3 billion cad in revenue , joint ventured with kessler music to create a new entity called supercorp .
starting revenues of this company was $ 10 million .
in four years the revenues rose to $ 150 million .
supercorp dominated the commercial production business , this time in all aspects of advertising production .
supercorp owned the following premiere enterprises : hyp&n , the partners film company and all its subsidiaries , the animation house , sounds interchange recording studios , and the air company .
supercorp controlled 68 percent of all advertising production in canada and 2 % of the television commercial production business in the u.s. aside from his senior management responsibilities as president and ceo , syd also consulted in the retail sector of advertising .
he became known as a respected specialist/problem solver , working with such clients as saffer advertising , black 's photography , esso , carson pirie , towers , etc. .
during this time , syd was the creative marketing force behind the new positioning of the canadian broadcasting corporation .
their `` go public '' campaign was conceived and produced by him .
following a change in corporate direction at labatt 's in 1994 , syd sold his shares in supercorp and started a new company called the kessler group .
the kessler group was created to address a growing need in the advertising community to move away from the broadcast advertising model , with its inherent inability to deliver measurable results , to a new advertising model called narrowcasting ; narrowcasting takes advantage of new digital technologies ' ability to cost-effectively tailor advertising messages to individuals , producing improved and fully measurable results .
syd 's ability to integrate his normative -lrb- non-digital -rrb- marketing expertise with his advanced digital skills put him at the leading edge of this marketing shift .
the kessler group secured contracts with such notable american firms as dow jones , wal-mart and us west .
as digital technologies further penetrated traditional markets , the need to understand and take advantage of them created opportunities at the strategic level of major corporations .
to meet this need , syd became co-director of kpmg e-commerce practice in 1997 .
this toronto based business unit assisted corporations and their senior leadership teams in gaining a better understanding -lrb- strategically and tactically -rrb- of their company 's place in the new digital economy .
its core focus was on issues such as branding , online marketing , customer experience and digital business extension .
having recently been inducted into the marketing hall of legends , syd now spends his time identifying , investing and then mentoring new businesses and organizations .
he is an investor in brand voice inc. , rocket boys inc. , radio free canada inc. , mystery box media , wunderkind inc. , scientific intelligence inc. , l'institut idée , and niche -lrb- niche -rrb- .
he is a founding member of nabs , the national advertising benevolent society , which looks after the well-being of advertising professionals , and founding member of kids help phone .
syd is also a published author , having written four books , including the perfect system -lrb- stoddart publishing -rrb- , which describes his unique personal story and business philosophy , his follow-up , the perfect system of parenting -lrb- bastian books -rrb- , `` the master builder '' , co-written with michael berg , and `` vibes '' , co-written with david morrison , on the topic of consciousness and behaviour .
