Ad agency veteran Rob MacLean has gone to the other side of the tracks to become director of customer and integrated communications for Canadian Pacific (CP).

MacLean took the position after travelling for a year following his departure from his long-time post at DDB Canada as its VP public relations and corporate communications. The position is new to CP and was created to address the company’s renewed customer-centric focus by enhancing its corporate communications and public affairs department.

“It’s a natural progression for me,” says MacLean. “It’s building on my background heading up corporate communications and public relations for DDB. While I was there I was obviously exposed to a lot of things, was involved in a lot of integrated communications, so this is sort of a natural extension of that, and it’s quite interesting to be involved with such a historic, iconic brand like Canadian Pacific.”

Overseeing CP’s marketing, new media and internal and customer communications, MacLean’s first order of business is to develop the advertising and branding around the company’s upcoming sponsorship of the World Junior Hockey Championship in Calgary and Edmonton this winter.

“What I’m bringing into Canadian Pacific is a fresh, more creative approach to communications and some different ways of thinking, having been involved in the agency side of things,” says MacLean. “CP has traditionally been very conservative and very corporate, but things are changing here and I think they thought some fresh blood would be a good infusion into the corporate communications department.”