Words: Alexander DeMaria

With over a decade in the entertainment business, Kevin Pennant, founder of Pennant Media Group (PMG), is a veteran at shining the spotlight in all the right places. With a colourful palette that includes fashion, charity events, magazines and restaurants, Pennant sees himself as an advertiser showing off his clients to an audience.

He started off as an intern at Warner Brothers Canada and quickly moved his way up the ranks, staying with the company for 7 years. Pennant was also Co-Founder of The Publicity Group, a Toronto-based public relations company, where he worked for another 7 years. After his experiences, it was time to finally branch out and make the move to do things his own way, which is what led Pennant to open his own communications firm, PMG, in 2003.  "I wanted to shake things up a little bit and start doing public relations the way I saw it and work with the type of clients I wanted to work with….to do it my personal way," said Pennant. And so far, he is having a great time following his visions. 

Having a diverse clientele is the key element to the success of PMG, stretching from one side of the spectrum to the other. They represent people from the world of entertainment to business to government. Building such a varied roster is one of Pennant's biggest achievements over the years, and also the most exciting part of his career. "The fun begins when I wake up. You meet so many new people. Every client I have here, we almost become that client, whether it is a restaurant, or a designer or a plastic surgeon. We are in the operating room with them, seeing the surgery."

PMG represents brands from across the city, from restaurants like Sassafraz, Centro and the newly opened Modo to establishments like The Learning Annex and promotions for the Toronto International Film Festival. The team working at PMG provides a range of services tailored to each unique client.  

In this multi-layered and complicated industry, Pennant tackles his work with clarity and simplicity. "I am telling people's stories and then sharing them with the media." He is a storyteller, and the stories he tells reach much further than Toronto, breaking into the New York markets, where he is opening a new office and spends a lot of his working hours. Seeing this as a step in the right direction, Pennant says, "I'm sticking with this for a while; I see it growing into so many other things. I want to do more stuff in New York and Los Angeles, open the doors for my clients and for myself as well." When it comes to communications, Pennant's ability to guide the spotlight on stories that need to be told is what captivates his audiences and makes him so successful at what he does.