Mike creates and integrates brand, marketing and engagement programs to achieve the business goals of B2B and health-related companies. He is known to be very data-friendly, blended with a “go the other way” creative orientation. Since “the status quo is rarely our clients’ friend”, he will tilt artificial barriers and an occasional sacred windmill when completing a marketing or branding mission.
His clients range from Fortune 500 and mid-sized companies to early-stage start-ups. His experience is in the technology, real estate, financial, consulting, accounting, legal, engineering, HR services and health industries. He has a particular and potentially masochistic interest in organizations dealing with painfully complex marketing and sales challenges. His work has won three ITSMA Awards, and deecipher’s work has helped its clients win multiple MarCom and Galaxy Awards in the United States.
Prior to creating deecipher in 2007, Mike worked in client-side marketing for 13 years, starting as a front-line marketing manager. He moved up through the marketing and branding ranks in international and European roles as Global Director, VP and CMO with Deloitte Consulting, MDS Inc. and McCarthy Tétrault respectively, while based in New York, Brussels and Toronto.
Mike’s formative and tender years were spent in the military, starting as an army Private, and then as a naval officer where, for 12 years, he focused on “doing good things and not colliding with anything big or expensive.”
Mike and his family live north of Toronto, where he restores old cars (quite well) and tries to win “Best Front Garden” awards (with mixed results). He is on the Board of the Reena Foundation and is a mentor with the Marketing Hall of Legends Mentor Exchange.
As deecipher’s market and brand research lead, Asaph draws on advanced research and analysis skills gained from both the academic and business worlds. Asaph provides clients with the facts and insights that enable practical business, marketing and branding solutions.
Asaph has extensive experience in the healthcare and services industries, on the business side as well as in brand research planning & implementation, branding and sales promotion. He held progressive positions of responsibility with Sanofi-aventis, Johnson & Johnson as well as market research and business intelligence with Desjardins Securities and McCarthy Tétrault. This experience provided Asaph with an enviable insider’s perspective and the ability to navigate complex internal processes while working with B2B organizations such as Deloitte, Quest Diagnostics and Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg.
Asaph also brings strong communication and project-management skills to deecipher, as well as adherence to an on-time, on-budget model.
Asaph does not like school and he holds a Bachelor of Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a Master of Science from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Business Administration from McGill University (Finance and Strategy). Our favorite quote from a client about him is: “Give him an hour and computer access and this guy would find out not only the meaning of life but where Elvis is hiding.”
Jason is deecipher’s VP of Digital Strategy and brings nine years of online international experience with in-depth knowledge of interactive marketing and large web application development across consumer and business segments. He also has extensive experience in vendor management and IT related project management, having led both agency and in-house teams on a wide variety of B2B and B2C IT engagements.
Jason has worked in a number of project management, business development, and interactive marketing roles, both in Canada and across emerging markets spanning Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He was a senior project manager at Tejari, the leading B2B online marketplace for emerging markets launched by the Government of Dubai. In that role, he worked with government and corporate partners in the US, UK, Egypt, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and China to develop and launch next-generation online B2B trading portals. Jason was also involved in developing strategic marketing initiatives with a key focus on brand management, public relations, advertising and online marketing for Tejari’s regional and global operations.
Prior to joining Tejari, Jason was a partner and co-founder of Radiant Core, an award-winning, Toronto-based interactive agency that delivered custom web applications for its clients including the Mozilla Foundation, Symantec and Brookfield Homes.
Jason holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computing and Information Sciences from the University of Toronto as well as a post-graduate diploma in Interactive Software Development.
Sarah is deecipher’s communications specialist, helping our clients clearly and effectively communicate ideas and messages to a myriad of stakeholders. Being fluent in French, she also delivers English communications strategies to Quebec-based clients such as Bronswerk and LEM Technologies, through our partner eau3.
A former journalist, Sarah specialized in high-technology reporting with Plesman Publications early in her career. She then gained significant experience on the agency side as an Account Director at Argyle Rowland Worldwide, creating marketing and communications strategies and leading implementation activities for a wide variety of clients.
Sarah’s past client work includes Investor’s Group, Moen Inc., Aetna, Soya World (maker of So Good ®), Traditional Medicinals, Government of Norway, Canadian Association of Financial Planners, and a number of high-profile personalities.
Sarah earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree at Carleton University and lives in Toronto. She has been known to chase with a large stick anyone who uses bad grammar.
Jessica began her career on the creative side of the advertising business and takes a creative approach to navigating her clients’ challenges. She has a well-honed ability to manage complex internal processes and consistently deliver results for her clients. Since joining deecipher, she has led the creation and launch of three new sub-brands for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, worked with Deloitte Canada on their National advertising campaign, and is actively involved in other account work on a project by project basis.
Prior to joining deecipher, Jessica worked with a varied range of clients on branding, marking and communications consulting projects (in real estate, beauty, education, music, events). She has strong ties to the real estate development sector, having spent a number of years specializing in marketing for the new home and condo market, working with developers like Tribute Communities, Brookfield Homes, Fernbrook Homes and UrbanCorp. She also spent a few years in the music industry as an artist manager.
Jessica holds a Bachelor of Arts (Commerce) from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Journalism from Ryerson University and an MBA (Marketing) from Ryerson University. She is currently obsessed with knitting, crocheting, finding mid-century teak furniture on Craigslist, and Elvis.
James has more than 20 years experience creating work across print, digital, social and broadcast media. Committed to the notion that the idea drives everything, James believes you have to earn your client’s business.
An original partner in a boutique design and branding agency that garnered international awards and clients, James sold his interest in the firm and worked at various national ad agencies as a copywriter. His award-winning work on the re-launch of the Jeep Grand Cherokee earned him a promotion to the youngest national creative director in the Campbell Mithun Esty Worldwide network. James has also worked on campaigns for B2B clients Spar Aerospace, Rolls Royce Engines, Texaco Fuel, Mitel and 3M, as well as for leading consumer brands such as Canadian Club, Thrifty Car Rental, Borden Catelli, Longines and Hitachi.
James has written or directed more than 200 television commercials for clients such as Honda, Wal-Mart, Sony, Nabisco and Nickelodeon. His documentary films have found him, among other places, riding with the Hell’s Angels, hunting Somali pirates, living with the Inuit, mining in the Andes, touring with Black Sabbath and tagging polar bears.
Tyler is the lead designer at deecipher.
Prior to deecipher, he worked at Universal Music where he created micro-sites and online advertising for international artists like Bon Jovi, Hedley, Kayne West and Lady GAGA. As a designer at Vistek, he was responsible for the design and execution of in-store marketing projects nationwide.
He has created a number of corporate website for businesses large and small, as well as numerous other online tools including web newsletters, HTML e-blasts, and complex online ads. He has done a fair amount of work for charitable organizations (both online and off), including Israeli Children’s Centres, SmartCentres Annual Charity Gold Classic and Camp Maple Leaf Charity Gala
Tyler holds a Bachelor of Design specializing in illustration from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD).