Dunc Ronald Urquhart
They/Them
I could make a joke about how my love of language and communication began when I was told that being dyslexic would make reading and writing difficult and I took that personally, but it isn't true.
I first became fascinated by language and communication when I first noticed my mother code-switching. The moment she heard a Guyanese accent, her tone and dialect shifted to meet it.
A year later, I noticed it more subtly with my dad on his cousin's farm in Manitoba.
I am a person of many cultures, I am queer, Indigenous, Scottish, and Caribbean. I was raised both Christian and Muslim in a Jewish neighbourhood. My voice is a chameleon as I walk between cultures, and I am thankful for that every day.
Language is far more than just words, it is tone, accent, grammar, and delivery. Language shapes the way we think, and the way we tell stories. Language shapes culture, it is both a tool of inclusion and exclusion, and it is vital to understand this for today's world of targeted advertising.
I love words. I love stories. I love speaking to different people because it diversifies my thinking and understanding.
Graduate of Trent University English Literature and Cultural Studies.
Student of Advertising at Seneca Polytechnic
Member of Seneca's Winning Team for OCMC 2023
Producer and Co-Host of Cast Without Trace
Strategy First Copywriter, because creative copy without strategic direction is just noise
Manifesto
New Media needs New Ideas. In traditional media, advertisers and media producers set the tone for the message. In today's meta-driven world, users and consumers set the tone for how best to communicate messages. I pride myself on my ability to analyse the cultural touchstones that shape our communication in order to best approach consumers in the language that is most natural to them; it's about reaching people where they're at, not where you want them to be. If this approach speaks to you, reach out, we'll make something worth talking about.