Jaye Peterson is creative vice president of strategy at Adventure Creative

Jaye Peterson, vice president of strategy, Adventure Creative

Jaye Peterson, newly hired vice president of strategy at Minneapolis-based Adventure Creative, said he is working with its leadership to "disrupt" clients' industries and the agency business.

That means getting deeper into clients' businesses and closer to their products, Peterson said.

"We may be working with them on the physical and the aesthetic design of products," Peterson said. "The product is a brand interaction and it should be treated with the same amount of care."

Adventure also can offer financial models that differ from traditional fee structures, Peterson said.

"This allows us to remove a lot of the potential cost barriers especially for high-potential startups," he said. "It also allows us to go into a legacy organization and innovate because their upfront investment has a longer-term view."

Peterson previously worked for 11 years at Little & Co., where he was a vice president, and before that, 11 years at Carmichael Lynch.

Finding shared values of integrity, passion and perseverance with Adventure's executive team — founder and CEO Scott Mitchell and President Gina Nacey — was critical to his joining the agency, Peterson said.

One goal, Peterson said, is connecting brands to the passions of a staff that includes avid triathletes and climbers.

Adventure's clients include Explore Minnesota, Minnesota Zoo, Old Town Canoe, Hatteras Yachts and Kinetic bike trainers, Peterson said. It also has offices in Brainerd and St. Cloud.

Q: What's the benefit of connecting brands to employees' interests?

A: It goes back to Carmichael Lynch when I was working on Harley-Davidson. I grew up a motorcyclist so working on an enthusiast brand was really dear to me. You end up working harder and pushing farther for your client because you love what you're doing.

Q: How does your experience influence your approach at Adventure?

A: Carmichael Lynch provided a strong foundation in advertising with a heavy emphasis on creativity. At Little & Co., I realized how vast the design world was and how different the problems they solved were. We started looking at the core of brands and building them from their vision and values, how that grows through employees and then manifests itself with customers. When I thought about the next move, I wanted to get deeper into the success of the business. I also wanted to get closer to the product.

Q: What does Adventure do differently?

A: We look at brands more holistically, solving for opportunities and pain points along the customer journey and using all the tools in our arsenal whether that be organizational branding or product design or digital experiences, a combination of things that's pretty rare.

Todd Nelson