CLIENTS:

Richard Blickstead has been appointed president and COO of the retail division of Boucherville, Que.-based home improvement chain Rona. Blickstead, formerly senior vice-president of marketing at Holt Renfrew, has also hung his hat at BiWay, Wal-Mart and Peoples Jewellers.

Virtual banking operation ING Direct has promoted Stacey Grant-Thompson to senior VP, marketing from VP, direct marketing. Grant-Thompson is replacing Jim Kelly, who recently moved to the U.S. to launch the company’s new division there.

Bell Canada has boosted its focus on the Internet with the appointments of John Sheridan as vice-chair, market groups, and Terence Jarman vice-chair, corporate. Sheridan takes responsibility for all customer units, including its ActiMedia, Mobility, Nexxia, Ontario, Quebec and World divisions, as well as the Network Operations Group. Jarman, meanwhile, has responsibility for the company’s overall corporate strategy as well as its marketing, advertising and communications.

Cybersurf has chosen Stephen Monk to be its new executive VP of corporate development. He comes to the Internet software developer from Sprint’s parent company, Call-Net Enterprises.

Trimark Investment Management has named Nick Mancini executive VP, sales and marketing. Mancini was previously executive VP at Canada Trust.

The Toronto-Dominion Bank has shuffled its marketing department following its merger with Canada Trust. Chris Armstrong, Canada Trust executive VP of marketing and customer strategy, remains as executive VP marketing while Barbara Cromb, formerly TD’s VP enterprise info warehouse, has been named senior VP, marketing planning. Dominick Mercuri has moved from Canada Trust VP, target marketing to senior VP, advertising and marketing services, and Janet Hawkins has moved from VP of customer strategy and information at Canada Trust to the new organization’s senior VP, strategy and information.

AGENCIES:

Laurie Sloan has joined Grey Canada as managing director. She comes to the Toronto agency from J. Walter Thompson, where she held the same position.

John Gallagher has been named VP, managing director of Profusion Marketing Solutions, the promotional and event marketing division of PNMD. He comes to the Montreal-based shop from Cossette Communication-Marketing.

Guy Thouin has been promoted to senior VP, general manager of Montreal-based Saint-Jacques Vallée Young & Rubicam. Previously, he managed the Quebec portion of the Ford of Canada account.

Larry Bleau joins Marketing & Promotion Group as VP, Labatt Team. Previously, Bleau was VP, advertising at St. John’s, Nfld.-based Bristol Group, where he handled the Aliant and Atlantic Lottery Corporation accounts.

Sherry O’Neil has been promoted to VP, director of broadcast buying at OMD Canada, where she will head television negotiations. Chantale Vien was also named VP, after five years with the company. Most recently, she was media director of OMD Montreal.

Martin Fecko departs Tangerine 

After roughly two years of serving as Tangerine’s chief marketing officer, Martin Fecko has a new gig. And this time, the financial services vet will apply his marketing leadership to a new sector, having been named CMO of Dentalcorp.

Fecko will lead the dental network’s end-to-end patient journey, support its overall growth, and work to maximize patient experiences across every touchpoint, the company said in a release.

“Martin’s in-depth expertise in engaging and retaining customers through a digitally enabled experience will be valuable in realizing our vision to be Canada’s most trusted healthcare network,” said Dentalcorp president Guy Amini.

Prior to joining Scotiabank’s digital-only banking brand in late-2019, Fecko was country manager for Intuit Canada and spent 10 years at American Express in consumer and digital marketing.

PointsBet Canada nabs former Bell marketer as it pursues expansion

Dave Rivers has joined PointsBet, an online gaming and sports betting operator, as Canadian VP of marketing.

Rivers joins from Bell, where he was most recently director of brand marketing and sponsorship, responsible for driving the company’s national sponsorship strategy and portfolio. He will report to PointsBet Canada chief commercial officer Nic Sulsky.

According to Sulsky, Rivers will “play a key role as we prepare to launch a business that is unique to our roots here in Canada.”

PointsBet has a significant presence in Australia, where it was founded, and in the U.S. In July, it named Scott Vanderwel, a former SVP at Rogers, as CEO of its Canadian subsidiary, one of several hires aimed at establishing the company’s presence locally.

Thinkific names first CMO among other executive appointments

Vancouver’s Thinkific, a platform for creating, marketing and selling online courses, has appointed Henk Campher as its first chief marketing officer as it invests in marketing to support its growth plans. It has also upped Chris McGuire to the role of chief technology officer and moved former CTO and co-founder Matt Payne into the new role of SVP of innovation.

Co-founder and CEO Greg Smith said Campher and McGuire “will play key roles building high-functioning teams around them and optimizing investment as we continue to carve out an increasingly prominent and differentiated position in the global market.”

Campher joins from Hootsuite, where he was VP of corporate marketing. Before that, he was VP of brand and communications at CRM giant Salesforce.

Lolë names new VP of digital omni-commerce as parent company exits bankruptcy protection

The Montreal-based athletic apparel and accessories retailer has appointed Rob French as VP of digital omni-commerce.

French will lead Lolë’s efforts in consumer insights, supply chain-to-consumer models and online customer journeys. In what is a new role for the company, he will also work to grow the company’s retail brand. He arrives with sixteen years experience in ecommerce, having spent the last few years as chief digital commerce officer at sporting goods retailer Decathlon.

In May 2020, Lolë parent Coalision Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection, citing several years of losses as a result of a downturn in the retail clothing market, increased competition and excess inventory – problems exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of the filing, Coalision was seeking an investor or purchaser of its assets.

It successfully exited bankruptcy protection last year and is currently rebuilding its executive team, according to a spokesperson.