Peter Samerjan
BIO
One’s bio should probably gloss over one’s childhood, but in Peter’s case, it was truly the beginning of a journey of creativity.
His father was a successful and renown photographer specializing in national and international accounts. And based in Hollywood, photographed an amazing amount of celebrities used in advertising. Peter grew up not at home, but at the Studio where both parents worked. For his first 18 years, this was his school of advertising and marketing being around some of the best and brightest from both agencies and their clients.
With a strong writing background from high school, he entered Pepperdine University. A year spent studying in Europe added a well-rounded style to his writing and he graduated with a B.A. in English.
One would expect him to embark on some career in marketing, but an opportunity to open a retail business specializing in musical instruments for professional musicians opened up. With his partner, they literally changed how musical instruments were sold and marketed. They began with an incredible loss-leader program that brought in hordes of new customers, then kept them as long-term customers and evangelists for the store with loyalty programs that provided everything from lifetime equipment repair to complete showcase set-ups for new and emerging bands.
After a few years, Peter was offered a position back at the family business of not only production and sales, but as a photographer working on national accounts. For 8 years, he excelled and gained national recognition working on consumer accounts such as Coors Beer, General Mills, Budweiser, etc.
Then one day, a photography client asked if he could not only do the photography but assemble the entire ad. With a friend who was an art director, they produced a concept and series of ads that turned a small company, into a bigger one. Soon, other companies in the professional beauty business who saw the ads, were begging to hire this team. Samerjan 743, the advertising agency that was launched quickly became a 24/7 proposition. Peter became the creative director and managed multiple teams to complete projects, but also became heavily immersed into producing copy and executing design. But what ended up setting this agency apart was Peter’s grounding and business experience. His time in retail and music built a foundation of understanding how to produce marketing results. He found as with his own business, it was essential to not only understand the clients and corporate cultures he worked for, but their customers and what were their hopes, expectations and triggers for buying. This attention to detail led to consistent success and well-defined marketing plans that gained acceptance not only to customers, but all levels of the companies the agency worked for.
After almost 20 years, a new challenge presented itself. His wife Michelle was a successful artist, but to get to the next level in her career required extensive marketing and promotions. Peter created Samerjan Fine Arts Studio as a vehicle for publishing and promoting Michelle’s unique and internationally collected art. The marketing has followed both the traditional path of printed brochures, national consumer magazines and materials, but also extensive work in interactive and website creation. They were one of the first artists to construct a stand-alone module within a gallery website that promotes and markets a single artist. They also pioneered “e-ads” where the Studio designs and concepts ads and promotions for e-mail “blasts.” Three years later, goal accomplished.
Today, with Samerjan Fine Arts Studio set in place, it’s time to return to creativity and marketing, the two passions that fuel Peter Samerjan.
His father was a successful and renown photographer specializing in national and international accounts. And based in Hollywood, photographed an amazing amount of celebrities used in advertising. Peter grew up not at home, but at the Studio where both parents worked. For his first 18 years, this was his school of advertising and marketing being around some of the best and brightest from both agencies and their clients.
With a strong writing background from high school, he entered Pepperdine University. A year spent studying in Europe added a well-rounded style to his writing and he graduated with a B.A. in English.
One would expect him to embark on some career in marketing, but an opportunity to open a retail business specializing in musical instruments for professional musicians opened up. With his partner, they literally changed how musical instruments were sold and marketed. They began with an incredible loss-leader program that brought in hordes of new customers, then kept them as long-term customers and evangelists for the store with loyalty programs that provided everything from lifetime equipment repair to complete showcase set-ups for new and emerging bands.
After a few years, Peter was offered a position back at the family business of not only production and sales, but as a photographer working on national accounts. For 8 years, he excelled and gained national recognition working on consumer accounts such as Coors Beer, General Mills, Budweiser, etc.
Then one day, a photography client asked if he could not only do the photography but assemble the entire ad. With a friend who was an art director, they produced a concept and series of ads that turned a small company, into a bigger one. Soon, other companies in the professional beauty business who saw the ads, were begging to hire this team. Samerjan 743, the advertising agency that was launched quickly became a 24/7 proposition. Peter became the creative director and managed multiple teams to complete projects, but also became heavily immersed into producing copy and executing design. But what ended up setting this agency apart was Peter’s grounding and business experience. His time in retail and music built a foundation of understanding how to produce marketing results. He found as with his own business, it was essential to not only understand the clients and corporate cultures he worked for, but their customers and what were their hopes, expectations and triggers for buying. This attention to detail led to consistent success and well-defined marketing plans that gained acceptance not only to customers, but all levels of the companies the agency worked for.
After almost 20 years, a new challenge presented itself. His wife Michelle was a successful artist, but to get to the next level in her career required extensive marketing and promotions. Peter created Samerjan Fine Arts Studio as a vehicle for publishing and promoting Michelle’s unique and internationally collected art. The marketing has followed both the traditional path of printed brochures, national consumer magazines and materials, but also extensive work in interactive and website creation. They were one of the first artists to construct a stand-alone module within a gallery website that promotes and markets a single artist. They also pioneered “e-ads” where the Studio designs and concepts ads and promotions for e-mail “blasts.” Three years later, goal accomplished.
Today, with Samerjan Fine Arts Studio set in place, it’s time to return to creativity and marketing, the two passions that fuel Peter Samerjan.