Shahla Lalani has returned to Cossette to head up the Walmart Canada account as VP business lead out of the Toronto office.

Lalani first joined the agency in 2005 and worked as an account director for clients including Coca Cola, General Mills and P&G. In 2011, she left to help found Mr. President, an independent creative agency in London, U.K., where she worked on clients like Red Bull, Plan International and Facebook.

Now, Lalani has returned to sit on Cossette’s business leadership team alongside Tishan Canagasaby, Anabella Mandel, Michelle Perez, Geoff Wilton, Serene Gaspar and Tyler Robson.

In a press release, Cossette’s Janis Lindenbergs, SVP and client service director, cited Lalani’s “extensive omni-channel experience and her strong creative track record on truly global brands” as two of the reasons the agency has welcomed her back to lead the Walmart business.

Following a competitive review, Walmart Canada picked Cossette as its new agency of record late last year, ending its previous AOR relationship with J. Walter Thompson. As part of its new assignment, Cossette led the launch of the retailer’s 2018 holiday campaign, featuring an animated teddy bear.

Walmart is one of several new clients Cossette has picked up in 2018. In November, it was awarded an AOR mandate from Canada Jetlines, an ultra low-cost carrier. A few months earlier, it won the business of Curling Canada, a new AOR client for which it launched a first campaign in December. However, the shop lost the Home Depot account for the Quebec market to FCB Canada in September.

Having grown significantly over the last year, Cossette has responded with several new hires and promotions. In November, it named Paul Lawton and Laura Kim as new VPs of strategy in Toronto to lead strategy for clients Canopy Growth and McDonald’s Canada, respectively.