Hoping to inject some life into bcp’s Toronto arm, President Geoff Arnoldi has tapped Vaughn Whelan as BCP Toronto’s new executive vice-president, national creative director.

‘This was the (agency) I wanted to go with because Geoff and I are quite identical,’ says Whelan of his new appointment, adding he had been approached by a half-dozen agencies since hanging up his shingle four years ago with Vaughn Whelan & Partners Advertising in Toronto.

Before that, Whelan worked for a number of multi-nationals, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam and Scali McCabe Sloves.

Whelan says joining bcp made sense because he found there were limitations in operating his own agency.

‘My appetite for growth was going somewhat unfulfilled,’ he says, adding it was a major drain on both money and energy seeking out new clients.

Whelan’s client list includes Labatt Breweries of Canada and the Dylex clothing chain Thrifty’s.

His agency lost the Radio Shack account in June when the electronics retailer picked Young & Rubicam as its first agency-of-record.

Whelan says his clients have not yet determined whether they will move over to bcp. He is quick to point out that nothing is happening with his client roster at this time because most of the work for the year is finished. ‘Things will remain status quo,’ he says, adding he doesn’t expect clients to make any decisions, one way or another, until the new year.

Labatt, for example, is probably going to have to find another agency in the new year because Molson is a bcp client, says Whelan.

bcp, the second biggest agency in Quebec, has been trying to forge an identity for itself in the rest of Canada – and particularly Toronto – for several years.

Arnoldi, who stepped into the position of president at BCP Toronto less than six months ago, was the parent company’s pick to build the agency’s identity and capture some clients in the lucrative Toronto market.

Arnoldi has made several changes since joining bcp, including the appointment of media professional Tom Batho as vice-president, media director in April, and the hiring of consultant Bill Booth to set up a new agency program called The Turbulence Guarantee, which is supposed to encourage a non-mainstream approach to advertising and marketing.

So far, bcp has had a ‘neutral effect on Toronto,’ according to Whelan, but that’s all going to change, he says. ‘There’s nothing but youth and energy (at bcp).