We recently connected with Mike Arseneault and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Mike, thanks for joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?
From the beginning of my career in advertising, we often judged the success of our work by our passion that it generated from its core audience. As an account supervisor working on Levi’s 501, some of the best out of home campaigns were the ones that had to be replaced on subways or transit shelters as fans of the brand would steal the work. Certainly, we didn’t condone this behavior but the idea that the work was so connected and deeply personal that inspired lovers of the brand to want to own it to share on dorm walls or bedrooms was a badge of honor. I think that encouraged us to be brave and create work that was provocative and was deeply personal to the end user.
It was this same philosophy or risk-taking that attracted me to organizations like HMV (His Master’s Voice – the U.K. based global music retailer) and Nike.
I really can’t think of many notable “failures” in my career. I think it’s because this philosophy or culture that said it was ok to fail to grow, also trained me to be more thoughtful, more strategic, more deliberate, more intuitive and more prepared. Shoot for the moon, dream big, but always understand the consequences and have a backup plan or two ready. I guess it’s mostly a mindset. I firmly believe these types of organizations that challenge their employees and leaders to be fearless and reach higher continue to change the world.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I’m currently self-employed and run my own creative marketing studio (RecreateNow) focusing on brand identity, brand experience, heritage and cultural storytelling. I work selectively with clients in two countries who also believe that better marketing and storytelling can build better brands.
I’m also a graphic photographer and have shown my own exhibitions in several galleries, curated multi-artist exhibitions, and served as jury member for design art initiatives. I continue to be active in the theatre and have performed, produced, created, or directed over 100 productions, contributed on many theatre boards, and even started my own theatre arts initiative.
I consider myself a heritage advocate and believe every community is stronger with a deeper understanding of where they came from and recently self-published my first photography and design book called “Storytelling”.
In Scottsdale, I created two Facebook groups which help to elevate food culture and cultural happenings in Scottsdale and surrounding area and attracts new members daily.
ScottsdaleAZFoodies
https://www.facebook.com/
ScottsdaleAZHappenings
https://www.facebook.com/
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
I like to believe that everything I do in my career and in my life is contributing to building a stronger, more connected and inspired community. There have always been people along that way that have said “you can’t do that” or “here’s the way it should be done”. The naysayers, the critics, the vocal minority. Generally those opinions are very narrow and come from a place of insecurity or ignorance. There is always a way around those obstacles to find ways to make things better, not just different. To me, better means “more inclusive, more passionately connected, superior quality, and more thoughtful around the complete journey, not just the desired outcome”. The satisfaction that I get is not so much in doing the work, but the people who I lift up and inspire along the way. We should all strive to make this world a bit better using the skills and experience we’ve learned and earned in our own personal journeys.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
“Be a sponge”, listen, research, and have an educated and informed point-of-view. Be open to influence. The best idea or best way of doing something doesn’t usually come from you. It starts with your vision and then only gets stronger as you share, cultivate collaboration, and remain open to new ideas, new thinking, opposing points-of-view, and invite ways to improve and grow. At some point, put the pencil down. Ideas and creative can always be improved but at some point you need to say stop, put it out, let the consumer decide, and then move on. Over time your can continue to refine, refine, refine. Don’t be static and don’t be afraid to fail.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.recreatenow.com
- Instagram: #recreatenowmarketing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/recreatenow
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikearseneault/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MIKEINTHEHOUSE
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/groups/scottsdaleazhappenings https://www.facebook.com/groups/scottsdaleazfoodies