MARKETERS

Sharon MacLeod is Dove’s new marketing manager, replacing Erin Iles who is now director of marketing, foods, responsible for brands such as Hellmann’s and Becel. MacLeod, previously brand manager on Sunlight, was behind the detergent’s recent ‘Tomatina’ spot, which has scored 50% higher in consumer recognition than expected. Prior to that she was brand manager on Dove personal wash.

Ricardo Gaitan, a U.S, import, is Nike Canada’s new director of marketing. He replaces Caroline Whaley, who has moved to the brand’s head office in Oregon to head marketing in the Americas. The brand has fared well globally in recent years, racking up strong double-digit growth. ‘If you’re a big global brand like Nike and you want to be locally relevant, you’ve got to communicate against those sport categories that are relevant to your consumer,’ says Gaitan who has been with the company for eight years, two of them in Canada. ‘Hockey is the most culturally relevant sport here.’ Gaitan says the brand will continue to push its hockey and running properties in the immediate future.

AGENCIES

Taxi Calgary is the latest in the Toronto-based agency’s growing roster of locations. President Rob Guenette says the idea to open a Western locale first occurred when the agency won the coveted WestJet account in 2004. ‘It was a great trigger to expand the agency nationally.’ For now the office will have a team of two: Christina Hill, group account director, will transfer from Toronto, and local Karen Pearce, previously with TBWACalgary, has been hired as an account director.

First ‘we make sure WestJet gets looked after,’ says Guenette, then ‘we’ll look to the west for some business and staff up [as we bring it in].’ Taxi will be looking to staff up even more with its recent win of the Canadian Tire account. The Montreal location has also nabbed Yves Blain as VP relationship marketing.

It’s been fast times at Fuel Industries. The Ottawa interactive agency has hired over 20 people in the past six months (bringing the staff up to about 50) and recently opened a Toronto location. Increased work for the likes of Fox is the cause of all the activity, says Sean MacPhedran who joined the company as creative strategist and previously worked in marketing for

X PRIZE, the private spacecraft project in L.A. ‘We’re an interactive agency that can build video games,’ he adds.

Other senior hires include Jayson Flick as director of client services and Ryan Ginsberg, of Mosaic and Showbiz Marketing, who is now business development manager. Both will help build business in Toronto. Bryon J. Bertrim, co-founder of Ottawa’s Everywhere Networks, an online retail network, joins as VP business development and marketing.