Jack O'Brien

The Best Part of my Job
Creating ideas that move people to specify our clients' products

First Job
A hobby shop clerk

Favorites
Movie: Lawrence of Arabia
TV Show: Arrested Development
Band: Crowded House
Vacation Spot: Spain on the Mediterranean

If I had more free time, I would…
Paint and carve stone

Who would you cast to play you in a movie?
Charles Bronson

Jack O'Brien on the Web
The LOdown

Title: President
Hometown: Erie, PA

Prior to attending Syracuse University, Jack O'Brien began his professional communications career in radio. At the tender age of 15, he was hired as a DJ at a radio station in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania.

After college, in the early '70's, O'Brien was a talk show host and later, after convincing the owner that he could turn around his station's prospects, he became general manager for a foundering station making it profitable within 90 days and within 120 days, the leading station in the market. Jack's real career opportunity, however, would come from the world of advertising.

In 1978, after three years at the in-house ad agency for Zurn Industries, Inc., O'Brien was hired as Vice President, Account Service for Tal Advertising of Erie. During this time, he honed his creative abilities and helped to develop numerous award-winning campaigns for a diverse client base. He was also instrumental in expanding the agency into new geographical markets including Harrisburg, PA. He led the teams that acquired new agency clients, such as Hershey Foods, Inc., TRW Bearings Division, First National Bank of Pennsylvania and Welch's, among others, most of which joined him in his next venture - creating his own agency.

In April 1983, O'Brien left Tal to create JRO Advertising in Erie. His work was twice nominated for advertising's CLIO awards and once for a regional television EMMY. The agency regularly won the top national awards from industry organizations for every category of advertiser it represented; Banking (BMA), Education (CASE), Healthcare (ASHPR), Retail (APRO) and Manufacturing, for example.

In 1998, JRO Advertising merged with Hawbaker & Partners of Pittsburgh to create LarsonO'Brien Marketing Group. Since this time, Jack has served as both the agency's president and creative director. Under O'Brien's leadership, the agency retooled to provide marketing communications services exclusively to clients in the architectural and building products industries. In 2005, and following two years of development efforts, O'Brien oversaw the opening of LarsonO'Brien Dashi in Shanghai, China.

O'Brien's strategic planning advice, provided to agency clients from the US to Asia, frequently leads to companies making wholesale changes in marketing direction and even in product. O'Brien has spearheaded the creative strategic planning process at the agency, known as Creative ESP™, producing recommendations - including tactical recommendations - known for their clarity, logic and ease of implementation. In practice, those recommendations have been credited with producing marked positive improvements in sales and profitability, raising corporate and product line profiles in the market place, and positioning brands pre-emptively in such a way as to stymie competitors.

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