Publicis Toronto has added to the leadership team for its creative department, hiring Michael Murray as VP, creative director.

Bryan Kane, president of Publicis Toronto, says Murray has been hired to lead the creative on the agency’s Rogers account, and will be working closely with Christine McNab, VP and client partner on the Rogers business. The pair last worked together while Murray was at Blammo Worldwide.

“Michael has been brought in to augment our creative horsepower on the business,” Kane says. “Rogers is going through a time of evolution, and there’s an opportunity to do some really transformational work. Michael is a business thinker first, and that was a valuable component for us in terms of the work we want to be doing for Rogers.”

Murray joined Publicis several weeks ago and has since been on-boarding and getting familiar with the agency and client.

“What really impressed us was how he dives into the customer experience and how the brand comes to life across all touchpoints, and he has a track record of ideas that influence a brand across everything,” Kane says. “Rogers influences virtually every part of our lives, so having that was critical. Michael’s leadership really augments the skills of the team we already have in place.”

Murray comes over to Publicis after four months at fellow Publicis Groupe-owned agency SapientNitro. Murray joined SapientNitro at the beginning of the year as CD after two years leading the creative department at Blammo as CCO and partner. He also led the creative department at the Canadian offices of CP+B as VP and ECD.

In January, Scott Pinkney joined Publicis as VP and ECD focused on CRM from Proximity. In February, Publicis Groupe received approval to acquire Sapient, the parents company of Murray’s previous agency.