Chris Thornley has been in business for 25 years. His Surrey-based marketing and advertising firm, Thornley Creative Communications, has created campaigns for Bard on the Beach, the City of Surrey, Delta Sun Peaks Resort and the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel.
The slogan (“The future lives here”) and logo that the firm created for Surrey, now synonymous with the city, is a particular point of pride for Thornley. But initially, it looked as though the homegrown creative firm wouldn’t get the entire job.
“We got the contract for the … tagline, but we didn’t get the contract for developing the logo,” Thornley said.
“To be honest with you, particularly as one of the top design firms in Surrey, I won’t lie to you, my feelings were a little bit hurt. We were more than capable of doing that project.”
Thornley said that “on a lesser day,” he might have gotten angry and questioned why his firm hadn’t gotten the work. But he instead decided to treat the situation as a learning experience.
“We chose to just stick with the process and hold our heads high,” he said.
When his team came up with “the future lives here,” the slogan was well received. And at the last minute, Thornley Creative was invited to submit some designs for the logo.
“The one that was chosen was chosen unanimously and that was from our firm,” Thornley said.
He believes the strength of the city’s new brand partly comes from the fact that it was created by a Surrey company.
“A good brand will speak not just to [those] outside the city, it’ll speak to people inside the city.”
On the value of research | “There was a time in my life when I didn’t believe that research was all it was cracked up to be, doing your various focus groups or discovery sessions, I didn’t have as much faith in that as I do now. Now I believe the research leads to a more successful outcome.”
Next Life Lesson: Jake Fry, owner, Smallworks
Has a work or life challenge taught you a key career lesson? Contact Jen St. Denis at [email protected].
