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King of Advertising meets Queen of Cake

When people talk about Sudbury-born Terry O'Reilly. they use terms like the "king of advertising" or "most trusted man in advertising.

When people talk about Sudbury-born Terry O'Reilly. they use terms like the "king of advertising" or "most trusted man in advertising."

The CBC Radio host and ad executive was at Algoma's Water Tower Inn today, serving as a mentor/judge at Algoma University's ninth annual Northern Ontario Business Case Competition.

Through his popular CBC programs (O'Reilly on Advertising, The Age of Persuasion, and Under the Influence) and experience with his own radio and television ad production company (Pirate Radio and Television), O'Reilly has heard just about every pitch imaginable and written about almost every customer service innovation.

So what does it take to impress him, personally?

"It was the smallest thing, but it was so memorable to me," O'Reilly told SooToday this afternoon, when asked about his most unforgettable buying experience in recent years.

He described shopping for winter footwear at the Australian Boot Company at 698 Queen Street West in Toronto.

"I picked up the boots," he said. "I brought them up to the counter and I was paying for them."

"I said: 'do these boots need any kind of spray on them, for the salt? For winter?' They said: 'yeah, we'll happily do that.'"

"I said: 'how long will that take?' They said about 25 minutes."

So O'Reilly thought to himself: "I have to stand here for 25 minutes?"

"And they did the most remarkable thing. They said: 'here's a coupon for a muffin and coffee. See that beautiful little cafe across the street from us? Go over there. Put your feet up for half an hour and come back.'"

The beautiful little cafe was Dufflet Pastries, famous along the Queen Street strip as the "Queen of Cake" for its all-natural baked delights.

"I loved that," O'Reilly said. It was the first time that someone had actually acknowledged something was going to take a little time but something would be done to make sure he enjoyed that time.

"I love that from companies," O'Reilly said.

As for epic business pitches, he talked about one of his early ad accounts.

"We had a client come in the door who sold Fiberglass Pink insulation. His pitch to us to take on the account was this. He said: 'People buy my product only once in their life. They put it between the walls. Then they never see me again. Make me famous.'"

"That was the funniest and most provocative pitch to take on a piece of business that we had ever had. Because it's such a boring, low-interest product, but he understood that. He didn't pretend it was anything more than that. Because his pitch was so intriguing, we came up with some award-winning television commercials for that brand."

"It was bold advertising, inspired by his pitch to us, and we kind of made him famous. After about five or six years, Fiberglass Pink had over 70 percent of the insulation market."

Top prize in today's Northern Ontario Business Case Competition went to an Algoma University team comprised of Muhammed Murad Syed, Michael McNeice, Olivia Potvin and Corey James.

(PHOTO: CBC personality and advertising producer Terry O'Reilly speaks during the Algoma University Case Competition on March 27, 2015 at the Water Tower Inn. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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