AGENCIES:

BrannWorldwide has beefed up its Toronto office with a series of recent hires and promotions.

Newcomers include Debra Sharp, Josephine Camilleri, Lauren Reimer, Eric Shapiro, and Matt Fabian, while moving up the ladder are Jennifer Trant, Paul Walmark and Deirdre Swatman.

Sharp, formerly group creative director at Impiric, takes the post of creative director, while Fabian is now senior strategist of database marketing. He had been director of database engineering for Polk Canada before the move.

Camilleri comes to Brann from a position as senior account manager for Rapp Collins Worldwide. She will be on the CIBC account team as an account supervisor. Joining her on the account are Reimer and Shapiro. Reimer, formerly marketing manager at Household Finance, is a strategist on the team, while Shapiro is an account executive. He comes over from Impiric, where he was account co-ordinator.

Meanwhile, Trant is now director of client services and will be overseeing the CIBC, Enbridge Consumers Gas and ADP Canada accounts. Walmark has been promoted to senior copywriter and Swatman moves up to account executive from co-ordinator.

SUPPLIERS:

Ina Balys recently joined Toronto-based Compusearch Micromarketing Data and Systems as a client services representative. Balys, a geographical information systems specialist, comes from the government side, having worked for both the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and with the Canadian Embassy in Lithuania.

Ralph Bain has been appointed vice-president and general manager of Wood & Associates Direct Marketing Services, a Toronto-based direct marketing service bureau. Prior to joining Wood & Associates in January 1999, Bain, whose experience spans more than 30 years in the financial services sector, was senior vice-president and director of Midland Walwyn.

Toronto indie shop Zulu Alpha Kilo had made several new hires and promotions on the heels of new business and also organic growth from existing clients.

Zulu could not officially announce the account wins at this time.

However, it can report that Ece Inan, most recently at Toronto design and tech shop Array of Stars, has been named the agency’s new director of interactive production for Zulubot, the agency’s production arm. In the new role, Inan will lead AR, VR, voice and other digital innovation projects.

Also on the production side, James Graham, who has spent the last 17 years with Grip, has joined the agency as its studio director.

Zulu has also made numerous additions on the client services side, led by Michael Brathwaite, also from Grip, as account director.

It’s also announced a spate of new account supervisors, including Hayley Blackmore (from G Adventures), Risa Kastelic (from BT/A), Kara Oddi (also from BT/A), Emily Anzarouth (also from Grip), Chris Rosario (from FCB/Six) and Sarah Shiff (from Rethink).

In addition to the new hires (pictured above), the agency has also announced several promotions: Alyssa Guttman moves from account director to group account director, while Nina Bhayana, Michelle Fournier, Jenn Gaidola-Sobral and Erin McManus have all been promoted to account director, and Haley Holm to account supervisor. On the strategy team, strategists Carly Miller and Spencer MacEachern have both been promoted to strategy director, while Shaunagh Farrelly, who has been with Zulu for two years in a client service role, moves into a new role as a digital strategist.

In December, the shop also announced that Stephanie Yung would be returning to the agency after a stint in New York as its head of design. Recent wins the agency has been able to announce including work as AOR for the Ottawa Senators, as well as a new arrangement with existing client Consonant Skincare, setting up an in-house team to support growth after taking an equity stake in the company.

Zulu president Mike Sutton says it’s wonderful, in a new year, to welcome new faces and energy to the team and says the agency is fortunate to have had so many people across the agency step up to support its clients.

“Simply put, they were rock stars, and the promotions are very well deserved,” Sutton says.