Heat Hires Mike Barrett

Heat, the award winning full-service creative agency based here, announced today that they have hired Mike Barrett, former EVP North America Head of Strategy at IPG’s media buying and planning powerhouse Universal McCann as Managing Director of Communications Strategy and Media.  Barrett joins the senior leadership at the agency reporting directly to Steve Stone, Chairman and Executive Creative Director, and John Elder, President.

 

“Mike is a true leader in his field,” said Stone. “He will help us connect brand strategy narratives, which we do a good job developing for clients like EA and Bank of the West, to in-market results.  I'm really looking forward to adding more science to show clients why surprising creative is effective creative. Mike's been working on advertising effectiveness for a while now and we're looking forward to working closely with him.”

 

Barrett comes to Heat with a unique perspective on the relationship between data and creativity.  “Most people don’t put measurement and creativity into the same bucket, but I do. I’ve spent a lot of time over the years working on the big question in advertising – what works?” said Barrett. “With the explosion of data today, creative agencies are in a better position to answer that question than ever. Everything I’ve seen over the last few years of working on advertising effectiveness tells me that the answer to that question is surprise – that the more surprising a piece of communication is, the more people remember it, and that consequently, the better it works.”

 

With experience in creative agencies (Leo Burnett and Hal Riney), on the client side and most recently at one of the worlds leading media agencies, Barrett has hands on experience with turning company objectives into marketing goals, marketing goals into advertising campaigns, and then optimizing those campaigns in market.

 

“Mike is going to help us measure the impact of the advertising we create for our clients,” said Elder. “Clients are looking for greater accountability and agencies that can back up their recommendations with proof will have a competitive advantage. That is what Mike is bringing to Heat.”