Riley Hayes' new creative director champions 'irrational and emotional' in data-driven marketing world

New creative director Steve Tenebrini is championing human insight — leaving room for "the irrational and emotional" — to drive creative solutions for clients of Riley Hayes, an independent brand consultancy in Minneapolis.

That's largely in response to regimented, data-driven marketing that targets "users" instead of people, said Tenebrini, who has created campaigns, experiences and content for brands including Harley-Davidson, Polaris Industries and U.S. Bank.

"We want to make sure that we leave a little room for the irrational and emotional to be able to use that to do the systems-oriented things more creatively and more successfully," Tenebrini said.

That roughly puts into words the new positioning and brand that Tenebrini led development of for Riley Hayes, which also has a new website.

New clients have come on board since Tenebrini's arrival, including significant work from Smiths Medical and Uponor, according to Dan Hoedeman, vice president of engagement. The agency, founded in 1992, specializes in brand definition, brand experiences, integrated advertising and performance marketing.

Tenebrini is leading Riley Hayes' continued work for Delta Air Lines' revamped SkyMiles credit card portfolio. The effort, in partnership with the airline's agency of record, includes combining Delta's offer with "bucket-list imagery" of travel destinations in an "omnichannel rollout." It's resulted in more than a million new card members in each of the last two years.

"[Steve's] experience combines design and digital thinking within a systems mind-set to give our present and future clients ambitious approaches that make an impact in the modern multi-touchpoint environment, Hoedeman said in a release. "Steve's enthusiasm about human nature and motivation matches Riley Hayes' philosophy and has been immediately contagious within our office and with our clients."

Tenebrini, who has a degree in painting and illustration from the University of Minnesota, most recently worked in user experiences roles at U.S. Bank and Polaris. His experience includes five years as an associate creative director at Carmichael Lynch.

He founded and leads Squad19 Creative Union, a personal creative outlet and professional agency.

Q: What are your priorities as creative director?

A: We're pretty growth oriented this year so it's a lot of initiatives around developing our story and the tools to present ourselves and then finding projects that we can make positive impacts on.

I'm here to help the creative team grow and do better work and be better for everybody but then also use this energy to help in the community, the humanity. We're people; we're all connected.

Q: How does an independent agency like Riley Hayes stay competitive?

A: We take a collaborative approach not only internally but externally with the client.

It's helpful to make them feel like they're part of the process instead of just being presented to all the time.

We want them to feel the same ownership we feel. We want them to feel like we're all in this together. We want to work with you to solve your problem.

Q: Why is that approach important to you?

A: I really believe in collaboration and being able to trust the people around you to a level where you feel comfortable talking to them in a relaxed manner because that's where all the best ideas come from.

The best stuff comes from people who are feeling comfortable working with each other and taking ownership in what we're all trying to do.

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Lake Elmo. His e-mail is todd_nelson@mac.com.