On the Move
Clients:
Murray Souter has left shoe manufacturer Reebok Canada, where he was vice-president of marketing, to become vice-president of sales and marketing for Canstar Sports Group, maker of Bauer ice skates and Bauer Precision In-Line roller skates. The appointment was effective Sept. 21.
In making the move, Souter departs the Canadian satellite division of a u.s.-based multinational firm and joins the home office of the world’s leading ice skate manufacturer.
In addition to ice skates and roller skates, Canstar also makes a broad range of hockey products, including its Cooper equipment lines, Bauer hockey sticks and Tuuk skate blades.
Souter, 37, says he looks forward to becoming involved in decision-making in research and development and new product lines, adding one of his key concerns will be to shift Canstar’s focus from a product orientation to a marketing orientation.
Souter joined Reebok in 1988. Before that, he worked at Primo Foods, Saatchi & Saatchi and Nabisco.
Souter replaces Canstar’s former vice-president of sales and marketing, Bob Shelston, who recently joined I-Tech, a Montreal-based maker and distributor of hockey protection, as its vice-president of u.s. operations, working out of Toronto.
Canstar officials will not say why Shelston left the firm. Shelston was unavailable for comment.
è Reebok’s new vice-president of sales and marketing is Michael Giese, formerly vice-president of marketing and sales with rival Nike Canada. Nike has yet to name a full-time replacement for Giese. For the time being, national accounts manager Dave Mills will fill in as temporary head of sales and marketing.
è Ford of Canada has appointed James O’Conner, a New York native, as its new chief executive, effective Oct. 1.
O’Conner replaces Ken Harrigan, 64, who is retiring from the company after serving as chairman and chief executive.
O’Conner, 49, joined Ford in the u.s. in 1964 and has since held sales and marketing positions in the u.s. and Canada.
Since 1990, he has been president of Ford of Canada.
è ExperComp Services, the Markham, Ont.-based company formed June 4 by IBM Canada to sell computers to the home, home office and small business markets, has named Ross Sedgewick as product manager.
Sedgewick, who will be responsible for developing ExperComp’s new product lines, was previously ibm’s marketing programs representative, personal systems marketing.
Earlier this summer, ExperComp appointed Bobby Hsieh to the position of marketing manger.
Hsieh was previously ibm’s manager, public sector, of personal systems marketing.
Before joining ibm, she was a senior brand manager for General Mills.
Agencies:
Don Veinish has moved to Vancouver to be creative director of J. Walter Thompson, replacing Peter Barron, who is transferring to Germany.
Veinish comes from Cossette Communication-Marketing, Montreal, where he was group creative director for four years.
è Nick Drinkwater has been promoted to the position of account supervisor at McKim Baker Lovick/BBDO, Calgary, responsible for the agt account. agt is the Alberta phone company, formerly called Alberta Government Telephone. Drinkwater joined the agency as account manager in 1988.
è David Day has been moved up from account co-ordinator to account executive at Peckham McGirr Communications of Toronto. Day’s responsibilities include management of media relations and cross-promotions.
Media:
Scott McClellan has joined the Canadian Direct Marketing Association as communications manager.
McClellan, a freelance magazine writer and a regular columnist at The Toronto Star, is bilingual and has a degree in journalism from Ottawa’s Carleton University.
He has served as policy assistant and legislative assistant to federal minister Harvie Andre and before that as press secretary to the minister of Fisheries.
Christina Sears, the former communications manager has left to attend the University of British Columbia.
è The new director of sales at the Family Channel is Sonja Tessari.
Tessari will be responsible for maintaining and enhancing Family Channel’s sales relationships with cable affiliates across Canada.
Before joining Family Channel, Tessari was for one year executive vice-president and chief operating officer and general manager for four years at Side Effects, a computer animation firm.
