Back row (from left): Citizen Relations ACD Abeer Verma, VP Carrie Makrigiannis and ACD Mike Lo Nam. Front row: Alexandra Green (left) and May Zeibak. 

Citizen Relations has deepened its creative and strategy bench in response to client needs and the addition of new accounts in recent months.

In the creative department, the PR agency has brought on Mike Lo Nam and Abeer Verma as associate creative directors. The pair have worked together at a number of Toronto agencies, contributing most recently to work for Volvo and HSBC while at Grey Canada, having first been hired there in 2016.

On the strategic planning side, Citizen has hired May Zeibak as director of strategy. She arrives from Nestlé, where she led insights and strategy across various categories for the last ten years.

In addition, it has added Carrie Makrigiannis as VP on the leadership team and Alexandra Green as a senior account director. Makrigiannis arrives from Proof, where she focused on retail, alcohol and CPG clients while serving in the same role. Green was previously at 1Milk2Sugars, where she worked with CPG and beauty brands as an account director.

The new hires come as clients are asking for teams with a “diverse skill set” to lead their PR activities, said Nick Cowling, Canadian president of head of global innovation at Citizen, in a press release. “This growth represents our approach – creative solutions that are rooted in real strategic insights, to get people talking – to change their behaviour and perception or create an action or transaction.”

Citizen has picked up new wins this year, including Yokohama Tires and Lyft Canada. In recent months, some of its PR work for existing clients included President’s Choice’s “Eat Together” program and Mars Wrigley’s M&M brand.