Welcome to Quenneville

Q: Introduce us to yourself and your company.
Hi there, I’m Trisha Quenneville, Director of Digital Production at Lowe Roche in Toronto, Canada. For over 10 years now I have produced online and offline content at a variety of places, both freelance and full time, but coming to Lowe Roche has only been a good move. Living by the philosophy of “innovate or die”, everyday is an opportunity to push boundaries and produce really exceptional work here. Being one of the few agencies in Canada not to silo web, mobile, social media, and offline experiences from the rest of the core creative services, we offer a unique 360 degree approach to every project and are proud to be different.

Q: Interactive Producers come from all walks of life, they are a hybrid of talents, tell us about your background and how you got interested in digital production?
In 1997 I was creating targeted maps in a geographical information system for the media division of a giant ad agency. Simply put, I was targeting flyers to peoples homes (yuck!). I got into the digital field after receiving my very first interactive greeting card from the tiny interactive arm of the agency. Sad as it sounds, it was then that I fell in love with the idea of online creativity. I soon managed to switch departments and was officially their new Production Assistant. Since then, I have worked on projects for a variety of ad agencies, animation/production houses and television stations across North America, delving into all aspects of digital production. Looking back, it was definitely a great decision.

Q: How do you stay on top of emerging technologies and keep your team informed and motivated?
Keeping on top of emerging technologies is a full time job in itself! I mostly use my Netvibes, social bookmarking and Twitter, but my secret weapon is really my digital team. We’re constantly looking at, brainstorming and developing ideas for real life or virtual applications. It’s definitely an exciting place to be right now.

Q: What does your ideal client/project look like?
Having worked with animation, audio, music, and motion graphics for all kinds of brands, I’m comfortable with pretty much anything. Honestly, nothing phases me in this realm! My ideal scenario is a cross-platform project with high value content. Something that involves planning and executing a shoot, audio record and fully functional website, all with a strong communication strategy to back it up. For those reasons, one of my favourite clients is Purina Petcare Canada, and I assure you it has absolutely nothing to do with the adorably cute puppies and kittens I get to work with.

Q: How do you educate your clients and set realistic expectations for a project?
When working with clients the best way to educate is to collaborate. An informed client is one that’s fully involved and understands what to expect. Of course, that’s the best-case scenario! For a client that cannot be quite as involved, or not fluent in ‘digital’, I usually start by going through our statement of work. I do my best to explain each process in our timeline and what they should expect along the way. It’s a basic thing, but it works. I'm also constantly advising clients to get online and use the internet for more than checking mail, and often showcase a tid-bit or relevant site to them when sitting with my laptop or iPhone.

Q: What was the best project you have ever worked on?
Ever? This is a tough one to answer, I have so many! I think it might be the one I’m currently on for Purina but, I can’t talk about it just yet. Another fave was last Christmas working on stellaartois.com. In collaboration with Psyop we created a new theme and global content in lots of languages. It’s a high profile site, so working on this was a challenge, but at the same time, totally exhilarating.

Q: How many projects are you comfortable producing at one given time?
It depends on the scale of the project, I typically oversee 5-10 short term jobs and 1-2 larger initiatives are on the go at any given time.

Q: What does your dream production team look like?
My dream core team is an art director and copywriter working tight with a strong tech lead that has expertise in modern web 2.0 experiences, rich interactive media and back-end integration (either client-side or custom). This way, when it comes to establishing the production or build team, we’ve identified all the creative and technical requirements and can apply the right resources to the job.

Q: How do you ensure that your client's best interests are met?
The one and only way I ensure that that the client’s best interests are met is by being a project’s best advocate. It all comes down to formalizing the project at the beginning so that keeping best interests is forefont to the deliverables.

Q: What is your vision of what the next phase of our industry is going to look like?
My ‘vision’ (gosh, it makes me sound psychic) for the next phase of our industry is (as always) a mix of being afraid and excited about new possibilities. Technology will continue to seep its way into the lives of the consumer and grow exponentially. Future generations will be harder to reach, and yet at the same time, be more accessible and connected than ever. It all comes down to targeting. The consumer will effectively be in control of how companies talk to them and brands that decide not to have a 2-way conversation will suffer. Don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom, we just have to be smart.

Q: Please share a snippet of wisdom that you would like to impart on our readers.
Always understand the risks, but do it anyway.