Sean Williams Marketing Group
Sean Williams came to Halifax for love. Fast forward six years and that love story has blossomed into a story of personal, family and business prosperity. Williams is now president of Sean Williams Marketing Group Inc., offering innovative, distinct and creative marketing strategies to a wide-range of industries. With his network of partners, he’s rolled out marketing initiatives for a variety of companies and organizations in Atlantic Canada, across the country, and the United States.
“We love it here,” says the transplanted Torontonian. “We have a realistic lifestyle. It’s cleaner. It’s less expensive. And not having to spend two hours driving to work means I can use my working time more creatively.”
His Nova Scotian success story began in 2002 when he married a Newfoundlander. In 2004 he left Ontario behind to begin a new life in Halifax. “Sarah, my wife, like so many people who moved away from their home in Atlantic Canada, felt an irresistible call drawing her back,” he says. “I never saw myself living in Toronto all my life, so I tagged along.”
The couple came to Halifax without jobs. Sarah quickly landed at Bell Aliant; Sean, at a local full-service advertising agency. While there, he built a network of personal and professional contacts while working with government, crown corporations and private companies.
In 2007, he went out on his own. At that point in time, Williams had worked on several projects with Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) and its vice president of communications, Rick Perkins, says he was impressed with Williams and his work on re-branding and re-shaping NSLC’s communications and marketing strategies.
“NSLC is the largest retailer in the province,” Perkins says. “It was a demanding nine-month process requiring great attention to detail and measuring concepts against the question, ‘Is it practical and does it work?’
“I was his first client and I gave him a couple of projects - he took them with gusto,” says Perkins. “He is a pretty driven guy and has no problem putting in the hours. And so, other projects followed. We work well together, he knows what I need and he has a flair for concept and design.”
The fledgling consultancy blossomed. In the summer of 2007, Pinky’s Scoopmore Ice Cream came on board with a project. In September of the same year, Williams and a partner won a project to market the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association to the international cruise industry.
Today, his clients include Bell Aliant, SEM Works (a U.S.-based higher education consultancy) and of course, NSLC. He has completed several projects for St. Francis Xavier University, Henry’s Camera, World Cyber Games Canada, Norex.ca and Queen Street Studios (QSS).
The brainchild of Julia Rivard, QSS supports the growth of the creative professions in Nova Scotia. The studio provides a space for creative professionals and students to meet, work, and share ideas. It is partnered with the web design company, Norex.ca.
An early member of QSS, Williams has worked together with Norex.ca on an integrated campaign updating and re-branding the Propeller Brewing Company.
“Sean exudes professional competence,” Rivard says. “He is in tune with clients’ needs and very strategic in developing marketing plans. Besides designing Propeller’s website, the campaign integrated radio and magazine ads, social media and in-store identification campaigns.”
Williams says he’s now “enmeshed in the business fabric of the city.” He is actively involved with numerous area organizations including the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Fusion Halifax, and the Atlantic Canada Internet Marketing Association.
He was also one of the first members of The Hub. Situated in downtown Halifax, it is a kind of virtual office with meeting rooms, work spaces and access to information technology, and print, wireless and digital storage equipment.
Williams says The Hub enables individuals to exist as a company without having the physical trappings and overhead of a traditional company. To be successful in business you need to know people and to put them together for mutual advantage, says Williams.
“You can’t do that from home, sitting in front of your computer in your pyjamas. You need interaction with other people and you need to separate your work from your private life,” he says.
“That’s why I love it here. The Maritimes are ideal for my sort of business. My market niche is not having a niche. I can present myself in different forms and fly across the continent or to anywhere in the U.S. in a day.”
