Author Justin Kingsley had some important words for attendees of the joint meeting of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association and Canadian Seed Trade Association in Whistler, B.C., today.
“Your associations coming together — you are many steps ahead of other organizations that haven’t been able to come together,” he said, referring to the Seed Synergy Collaboration Project’s effort to bring Canada’s seed association under one umbrella.
Marketing Magazine has named Kingsley one of Canada’s most creative people. He has turned Star Wars and Indiana Jones into global museum exhibitions, put a McDonald’s Restaurant into the side of a mountain at a snowboarding competition and branded the 2010 Vancouver Olympics with the very first bilingual Games slogan: With Glowing Hearts / Des plus brillants exploits.
He also developed the award-winning branding and communications strategies for UFC World Champion Georges St. Pierre, world champion sommelier François Chartier and comedian Sugar Sammy, two-time recipient of the Olivier of the Year (2013, 2014). The strategy and campaign idea he developed for Adidas at the 2012 London Olympics, titled Take the Stage, won international acclaim and was named best global campaign of the Games. Adidas was voted 2012 UK Brand of the Year.
A former Press Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, he was spokesperson for Paul Martin and was responsible for economic portfolios in the communications directorate of the PMO in 2003-4.
He has written two national bestselling books: The Way of the Fight, a New York Times Bestselling look at Georges St-Pierre’s life philosophy, and Weology: How Everybody Wins When We Comes Before Me, a book of ideas on leadership in the new millennium.
Kingsley said change is difficult, but being creative and forging a better future for an organization is key to its survival. He referenced brands like Blockbuster Video who fail to change and end up becoming obsolete as a result.
“There is risk in coming together. Maybe board members for one team aren’t happy with board members from another. Maybe, maybe, maybe. You don’t know, because you’re starting something new. When you marry risk with opportunity, you have to focus on the opportunity.”
Kingsley’s comments come as the Seed Synergy project — meant to design a next-generation seed system for the country — is moving into a new phase which will see it firm up details for how to move ahead in building a single seed organization.
