In Conversation with Frank Palmer

Frank is a firm believer in the power of giving back and paying it forward. If he had his way, there would be no famine, no homelessness, no disease and no wars. His world would be one of harmony and equality, where dreams come true and all would thrive. He is a natural born storyteller and creative designer by trade, so in his fabled world, daily actions would be narrated and illustrated. From his humble beginnings in Vancouver, B.C. over 50 years ago, Frank created Canada’s most creatively acclaimed marketing communications agency and in that process, changed the face of Canadian advertising. The chief engineer of the merger between his own agency and DDB Worldwide, Frank successfully formed DDB Canada and built a thriving network recognized for producing the country’s most talked about and award-winning campaigns. An exceptional business leader and philanthropist, Frank has provided his expertise and influence to a wide variety of causes. Throughout his career, he has donated professional services and has developed ground breaking public service campaigns for organizations including the Vancouver Police Foundation, First United Mission, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, Crime Stoppers, Ronald McDonald House, B.C. SPCA and Pacific Wild. He is also the founder of the National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS) in Canada and was the Chairman of the BC Special Olympics. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the industry, Frank has received numerous accolades including being inducted into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends by the American Marketing Association and is a recipient of the Association of Canadian Advertisers’ prestigious Gold Medal Award. And in 2020 Frank was given the honour of being in included into Canada’s Marketing, Advertising, PR and Communication Hall of Fame. Now in the next chapter of his creative career, Frank along with his partner Bob Stamnes has launched PS DDB, a unique integrated agency that utilizes the resources and scalability of the DDB Worldwide Network combined with local entrepreneurial firepower. His lifelong commitment to creative excellence and strong belief of having fun in the workplace has resulted in Frank acquiring the moniker of Canada’s Mad Man of Advertising and has earned him the reputation of being a notorious prankster. Many of these capers can be found in his book, “Let’s Get Frank” published by Douglas and McIntyre. Frank is now in the process of writing his second book hopefully to be out early 2022. A graduate of the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design), Frank’s eye for creative advertising stems from his passion for art. As such, he is a sought-after painter and sketch artist. In 2019, The Vancouver Film School launched the Frank Palmer VFS $250,000 full-tuition scholarship and mentorship to be awarded to creative design students. It’s paying it forward. Just like it would be in Frank’s vision of a perfect world.