User:Gavan Howe

Gavan Howe, PhD student, is the creator of ebranding(TM) in Canada. In the early 90's he was asked by client Bayer to migrate the terrestrial brand Aspirin to the web. In those days there were just 25,000 sites on the www with virtually no literature on how to create ebrands or electronic brands specifically for the web. Gavan created a series of strategies designed to take brands to the web, and through his Toronto based firm Howe Brand Communications/ebranders, they have done so successfully for hundreds of brands over the past 16 years. In Jan 2003 Gavan was successful in securing the Canadian Trademark for ebranding(TM) and has successfully defended this trademark in the Federal Courts. Ebranding(TM) had its roots back in the 1980's when Gavan (employed by the Globe and Mail) suggested to the then publisher Mr. Roy McGarry, the need for a new type of media product aimed at Canada's decision makers in order to help them deal with technological change - the launch of 'computers' for business. He created a Globe sub-brand called the Report on High Technology and recommended that this be launched within the ROB. Within 30 days of presenting his concept the Globe launched The Report on Technology to a resounding commercial success in 1983, a recession year.

Gavan is currently taking a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems (Organizational Development) studying occupational risk taking and risk mitigation by men, specifically electricians a unique ethnographic group. Gavan's Masters research and thesis question was 'why men take risks and what is the role of emotional appeal aimed at modifying risk taking behavior?' His scholarly, research and practical work led to his creation of the 'Just Don't Ask Authorization Form' which is being used throughout Ontario and the USA to help keep electrical workers and other trade workers safe from demands to 'work live' on energized equipment, or systems. Gavan also studies smart grid (smart electrical gird) risks to security and privacy and sits on the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) Smart Grid Task Force.