Correction: A previous version of this story stated that Frank Palmer is moving into retirement. Palmer stepped down from his role as chairman of PS&Co to start a new consultancy, Brand Frank.

As Frank Palmer moves into the next phase of his career, he says the feeling is akin to Bill Murray’s portrayal of drifting disorientation in Lost in Translation as he navigated the Land of the Rising Sun.

“This doesn’t feel like just closing a chapter, it feels like crossing into a new country and learning the language and the customs,” Palmer said last week in an email announcing he was stepping down from his role as chairman at PS&Co. “I’ve always lived in motion, but this time the destination isn’t just another agency or another role.”

In an update to strategy on Wednesday morning, Palmer outlined his plans for his consultancy, Brand Frank, as he moves into a senior advisor position at PS&Co, where his roots stretch back for decades.

Palmer said last week that while taking a step back at PS&CO is both exciting and scary, such feelings often give rise to the best stories and opportunities.

Palmer’s story started in Vancouver, where he says he began working at the age of six or seven, planting the seeds of a career of “building, creating and leading.”

After graduating from Kitsilano High, he discovered his aptitude for creative endeavours at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design).

Palmer went on to establish Palmer Jarvis with partner George Jarvis in 1974, an agency which was renamed Palmer Jarvis DDB after its sale to Omnicom in 1998 and became DDB Canada in 2004. The agency produced award-winning and recognized work for the likes of McDonald’s, SunRype, Playland, Hockey Canada and more.

Palmer’s agencies also proved to be talent incubators, with numerous staff members going on to start agencies of their own, including Rethink, One23West and Broken Heart Love Affair.

As Rethink founding partner and early Palmer hire Chris Staples put it in 2023, “[he] has been responsible for a creative renaissance in Canadian advertising.”

“These companies are successful because of values [Palmer] imprinted in us along the way.”

Palmer eventually took on chairman and CEO titles at DDB Canada before leaving the agency in 2019. He returned to the industry to launch PS&Co with Bob Stamnes in 2020.

“After I left, one year later they asked me to return. When I walked away, I thought maybe I was finished, but just a year later, I found myself back, acquiring the Vancouver office and reimagining it as PS&Co,” Palmer said.

Palmer was inducted into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends in 2005 by the American Marketing Association and received the Association of Canadian Advertisers’ Gold Medal Award in 2003. In 2020 Palmer was named to Canada’s Marketing, Advertising, PR and Communication Hall of Fame and in 2023 was inducted into the Canadian Hall of Marketing Gold.

Palmer has funded a scholarship for digital design students at the Vancouver Film School, released the biography Let’s Get Frank and is a painter. He is also a founder of NABS, which supports employees in the media, marketing and communications industry.

Finally, he offers this advice to creatives that are new to the industry:

“Learn AI as fast as you can. Understand that AI still requires creative thoughts and ideas.”