New BBDO ECDs Todd Mackie (left) and Denise Rossetto (centre) with president and CEO Dom Caruso.

Todd Mackie and Denise Rossetto will lead creative at BBDO Canada as its new ECDs.

The creative duo, who announced they had left DS+P last week, will start at BBDO on April 27, exactly two months after the last day of previous ECDs Peter Ignazi and Carlos Moreno.

President and CEO Dom Caruso, who recently rejoined BBDO himself, says having a strong creative track record was imperative to the role. Prior to DS+P, Mackie and Rossetto helped DDB win multiple Agency of the Year honours and other awards including Cannes Lions, but Caruso says he puts more stock in effectiveness awards like the CASSIES, of which the pair helped DDB win many, including a Grand Prix in 2013.

Besides creative skills, the other factor in the pair’s hiring was their leadership. Caruso says his own priorities in his new role will be fostering a positive workplace culture and boosting BBDO’s reputation within the advertising community, and he believes having Mackie and Rossetto leading on the creative side will create an inspiring environment in which the agency’s current team of creatives can work.

“Based on all the feedback I tried to garner quietly, there’s nothing but consistency in the kinds of leaders and people they are,” Caruso says of the pair. “In the end, we are a talent business, and it’s a mission of mine to create a great environment for people to work in.”

“We’re in an industry where we are defined by the quality of our reputation. Part of that is creative reputation, so we need to consistently be one of the top agencies, like BBDO has historically been. The other part is in terms of the general vibe coming out of the agency. Are people hearing good things, are they hearing that the momentum is going up? That is a priority for me and that starts with the right leadership team.”

During his time as president of Cossette ten years ago, Caruso worked with Mackie and Rossetto when they were ACDs at the agency. Through that experience, he says he knows they are capable of delivering the things that contribute to making a top agency, which also includes working well with Caruso and the agency’s other business leadership.

“BBDO is one of the top agencies in Canada as well as around the globe,” Mackie said in a written statement. “That, combined with the opportunity to work with Dom again, made this an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.”

“The agency has incredible brands and depth of talent,” Rossetto added. “We also know the key people at BBDO share our philosophy and vision of what makes a great agency.”

BBDO’s clients in Canada are varied in terms of category, and include RBC, Visa, Mercedes-Benz, Mars Canada (on brands including Skittles, Wrigley’s Gum and Snickers) and PepsiCo (on brands including Doritos, Lay’s and Mountain Dew).

“What I love about [Mackie and Rossetto’s] work is you see great diversity in there,” Caruso says. “Some of it is stuff that touches your heart, some stuff touches your funny bone. But we also have a diversity of businesses [as clients] here, so it was important to find creative leaders that were consistent in the work they do across categories and styles.”