The marketing world never sleeps, which means there are bound to be things that fly under your radar. To make sure you’re up to speed, here’s some news you might have missed over the last two weeks:
Moves, hires and other changes
Match Marketing Group has named Bradford Bryen (pictured right) as its new EVP of marketing. Bryen joins after three years as head of growth for George P. Johnson Experience Marketing in New York and has held leadership positions at G2 (now Geometry Global), Iris Worldwide and US Concepts.
Australian agency Cummins & Partners has opened an office in Toronto with ten staff members and four clients. Sean Cummins, the agency’s founder and CEO, who was born in Toronto before moving to Australia as a child, will split his time between the Toronto and New York office, which opened last year. Dave Carey, the agency’s president, will be joined as partner by ECD Andrew Shortt. Carey was previously SVP of client services at Stone Canoe and has held senior client service positions at Union and Lowe Roche. Shortt has been at HQvB since he helped found it in 2008 and was previously a creative director at what was then Dentsu Canada. Joining the two at the executive level will be Arwa Mahdawi as chief innovation and strategy officer, coming over from the New York office.
Robyn Adelson has been hired as EVP of strategic and creative at PR firm Weber Shandwick. Adelson had been with Edelman since 2003, joining as a senior account manager before a series of promotions led to her becoming the agency’s SVP and national director of creative strategy.
Quebec agency Side-Car has announced it has hired Mario Dagle as a partner. Dagle, who the agency’s website says will assist with business development, strategic planning and project management, comes off an eight-month stint as EVP and general manager at Nurun Montreal and two years as president of KBS Canada.
The Institute of Communications Agencies (ICA) has announced three Toronto agencies as its newest members: Y&R, FCB and Bob’s Your Uncle.
New business
Flow, a Canadian company that provides more environmentally-friendly alternatives to plastic bottled water, has chosen NKPR as its agency of record. The PR agency will handle public relations, social media, events, strategic partnerships and influencer relations for the company in Canada and assist on a coming U.S. launch.
Media
It has been an eventful two weeks for Bell. Yesterday, it was announced Bell Media president Kevin Crull (pictured right) was no longer with the company following reports he had interfered with news coverage on CTV around the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV decisions (Mary-Ann Turcke, formerly Bell Media’s group president, media sales, local TV and radio, was named as Crull’s replacement). Earlier this week, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released a report urging the telco to offer on “opt-in” option for its “Relevant Advertising Program” following an “unprecedented” number of complaints about data collection. On the more positive side, Bell-owned Much announced Much Digital Studios, a multi-channel network featuring Canadian and international YouTube personalities producing music and lifestyle content.
Shaw Media announced a number of executive appointment as well as approximately 83 layoffs in a restructuring meant to help the company better position itself for the future. Dervla Kelly has become VP of marketing and communications, with Greg Treffry being appointed to VP of business development and media digital strategy. The company is also looking to fill a new role, SVP and chief revenue officer.
Touché! was the most-awarded Canadian media agency at this year’s Internationalist Awards, with both the Toronto and Montreal offices taking home a gold. OMD and Starcom MediaVest also took home a gold each.
Maxus Canada has picked up the media account for Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which has a portfolio of brands including Cold-FX, Swiss Herbal and Bausch + Lomb.
