Hires, promotions and other news
Real estate marketing and brokerage company Rennie Group has brought on Hubert Wat as its VP of marketing. Wat is a veteran marketer in Western Canada, having spent six years as VP of global marketing for Rocky Mountaineer and eight years as VP of marketing for FGL Sports. At Rennie, Wat has been tasked with “transforming” the company’s brand and strengthening its market position within the industry.
Brandfire has hired Kathryn Easter as VP of digital. Easter spent the last year as a VP at Ehm & Co and was previously senior director of digital at Mosaic. At Brandfire, Easter will be responsible for leading all digital client projects, as well as managing and growing the internal digital team.
BICOM has made seven new hires across its offices. In Montreal, the PR agency has hired Bhava Thamo as VP of strategy and operations, joining from Citoyen Optimum and also having more than 10 years of client-side experience with L’Oreal Canada. The agency has also brought on account director Laetitia Jallais as an account director to lead its beauty division, while Laurence Morote joins as a communications coordinator. In Toronto, the agency has hired account director Christina Peck to lead several national accounts, brought on Blair McGregor as events manager and hired Sarah Gallagher as a communications coordinator.
Eighty-Eight has hired Erica Salvalaggio as PR account coordinator. A recent Ryerson grad with experience working as an events coordinator with the school’s DMZ and a communications coordinator at the G. Raymond Chang School, Salvalaggio will work with the agency’s tech and start-up clients, which include OneEleven and Next Canada. The hiring also brings the agency’s headcount to 13.
New business
NKPR has been selected by Estée Lauder brand Origins as the AOR for the upcoming launch of its GinZing SPF40 Energy-Boosting Tinted Moisturizer in the Canadian market. NKPR will manage digital content creator partnerships, plan a strategic launch event and execute media relations for the collection.
Media
Twitter Canada has launched its first live-streaming project in this market, partnering with the CFL on a weekly, 30-minute show.
A new report suggests that while there are significant growth opportunities for VR in Canada, distribution and financing remain major hurdles.
After missing reader and advertiser goals, Torstar will shutter the Star Touch tablet app at the end of July, replacing it with a “universal app” for both smartphones and tablets.
