Syd Kessler (1949–2021) was a Canadian businessperson and writer.

Career

In 1970-71, Hatus/Hall–the producers of the legendary game show ''

Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is a television game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created and produced by Stefan Hatos and Mo ...

'' – hired him to develop a game show ('' The Crosswits'') styled after a crossword puzzle. This show ran on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

for six seasons. Kessler then started his own business and was president of Kessler Productions between 1974–78, producing and writing creative radio commercials exclusively for the Canadian marketplace. The company continued to grow and Kessler took in other partners. The company changed its name to Kessler Music Inc. and Kessler served as president until 1981, when he merged with the two top audio production companies in Canada and became the dominant player in the marketplace. This new company was called The Air Company, and Kessler was its president from 1981 to 1988. In this period, the company won Canadian and International awards such as the I.B.A.s, The Bessies, The One Show, etc. In 1988, John Labatt Ltd., a multinational Canadian corporation, with over $3 billion

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

in revenue, joint ventured with Kessler Music to create a new entity called Supercorp. Starting revenues of this company was $10 million. In four years the revenues rose to $150 million. Supercorp dominated the commercial production business, this time in all aspects of

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

production. Supercorp owned the following premiere enterprises: HYP&N, The Partners Film Company and all its subsidiaries, The Animation House, Sounds Interchange Recording Studios, and The Air Company. Supercorp controlled 68 percent of all advertising production in Canada and 2% of the

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

production business in the U.S. Aside from his senior management responsibilities as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, Syd also consulted in the retail sector of advertising. He became known as a respected specialist/problem solver, working with such clients as Saffer Advertising, Black's Photography,

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

, Carson Pirie, Towers, etc. During this time, Kessler was the creative marketing force behind the new positioning of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

. Their “GO PUBLIC” campaign was conceived and produced by him. Following a change in corporate direction at

Labatt's Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...

in 1994, Kessler sold his shares in Supercorp and started a new company called The Kessler Group. The Kessler Group was created to address a growing need in the

community to move away from the broadcast advertising model, with its inherent inability to deliver measurable results, to a new advertising model called narrowcasting; narrowcasting takes advantage of new digital technologies’ ability to cost-effectively tailor advertising messages to individuals, producing improved and fully measurable results. Kessler became co-director of

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

practice in 1997.

Books

* ''The Perfect System'' (Stoddart Publishing) * ''The Perfect System of Parenting'' (Bastian Books) * ''The Master Builder'', co-written with Michael Berg * ''Vibes'', co-written with David Morrison

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Syd 1946 births Living people Canadian businesspeople