PRINTERS:

Transcontinental Printing’s direct marketing group has promoted Marc Fortier to general manager of its Toronto-based Yorkville Printing operations, a major provider of direct marketing-related products and services. Fortier had been director of sales and marketing at Yorkville since 1998.

AGENCIES:

Wolf Group has named Mike Rutherford as director of customer specific marketing. Most recently vice-president of relationship marketing with Thomas, Crncich & Partners (TC&P), Rutherford now takes on responsibility for all direct marketing initiatives at the agency, including the development of one-to-one relationships between Wolf Group clients and customers. Rutherford, who had been at Canada Post prior to joining TC&P, will work on several accounts, including Altamira, Air Ontario and Scotia Capital.

The Cornerstone Group of Companies has announced a series of promotions at its Toronto-based offices. Justin Webb, formerly senior vice-president of its list management division, moves into the newly created post of senior vice-president of corporate sales. Jim Grant has been appointed vice-president of Cornerstone List Management after his tenure as vice-president of the agency’s list brokerage business. Meanwhile, Karen Lamont replaces Grant after a stint as general manager of Cornerstone List Brokerage, and Jennifer Grant moves up to vice-president of Cornerstone Response Management. She was formerly in charge of that division’s client services department.

ICOM Information & Communications of Toronto has brought Nancy Sprague on board in a bid to enhance the company’s data management services. Sprague has spent 16 years in direct marketing, 10 as president of Prospects Unlimited. Before that, she was president of Cover-All Direct Response, vice-president of Datamark Response, and also held executive positions with Texcom and Southam Direct Marketing Services.

The Garden promotes two creative directors

ACDs Lindsay Eady and Francheska Galloway-Davis have taken over responsibility for day-to-day creative leadership at The Garden after being promoted to creative director roles.

The pair will also help develop the agency’s creative talent, formalizing mentorship and leadership activities they have been doing since joining the agency four and three years ago, respectively. In addition to creating the agency’s internship program, the pair have worked on campaigns for Coinsquare, FitTrack and “The Coke Challenge” campaign for DanceSafe.

Eady and Galloway-Davis will continue to report to The Garden’s co-founder and chief creative officer Shane Ogilvie, who is stepping back from daily creative duties to a more high-level strategic role, allowing him to focus on client relationships and business growth.

Naked Creative Consultancy names new creative and strategy leadership

Toronto’s Naked Creative Consultancy has hired Yasmin Sahni as its new creative director. She is taking over creative leadership from David Kenyon, who has been in the role for 10 years and is moving into a new role as director of strategy, leading the discipline at the agency.

Sahni is coming off of three years as VP and ECD at GTB’s Toronto office, where she managed all the retail, social and service creative for Ford Canada. She previously managed both Vice Media and Vice’s in-house ad agency Virtue.

Peter Shier, president of Naked, says Sahni’s hiring adds to its creative bench and capabilities, as well as a track record of mentorship, a priority for the company. Meanwhile, Kenyon’s move to the strategy side, he says, makes sense because of his deep knowledge of its clients, which have included Ancestry and The Globe and Mail.

Digital Ethos opens a Toronto office

U.K. digital agency Digital Ethos is pursuing new growth opportunities in North America by opening a new office in Toronto.

Though it didn’t disclose them, the agency has begun serving a number of North American clients, and CEO/founder Luke Tobin says the “time was right to invest in a more formal and actual presence in the area.” whose services include design, SEO, pay-per-click, social media, influencer and PR,

This year, the agency’s growth has also allowed it to open an office in Hamburg, Germany, though it also has remote staff working in countries around the world.

Moray Hickes was the company’s first North American hire as VP of sales, tasked with business development in the region.