Hires and promotions

Senior writers Jonah Flynn, Vinay Parmar and senior art director Kevin Sato have each been promoted to associate creative director at Zulu Alpha Kilo. This comes on the heels of the recent promotions of Catherine Allen, Ian Simpson, Gerald Kugler and Rodger Eyre to the newly created level of group creative director. Flynn worked with art director Michael Siegers on the Tim Hortons’ The Away Game campaign, while Parmar and Sato (who joined Zulu from DentsuBos in 2018) have worked on Consonant’s re-skinning of Toronto’s Queen Street, as well as campaigns for Betadine and SingleCut, a craft brewer in New York. The Toronto agency also took home the most Canadian wins at Ad Age’s Small Agency of the year gala yesterday, with a Gold and a Silver. Bensimon Byrne and No Fixed Address were also recognized at the awards.

Art & Science, a Toronto digital innovation and experiential agency, has made a series of hires across departments following recent business wins. Joining the performance marketing group and reporting into Stephen Mah, associate director of the practice, are Phil Kuang as digital marketing manager, Aurora Van Kerckhove as SEO strategist, and Erin Oh as digital marketing specialist. Oendrila Majumder has been hired as a senior project manager, focusing on experience design, and will report into director of operations Margaret Kwan. In the creative department, Hanieh Khosroshahi arrives as a UX strategist under CCO Kirk Clyne. Dave Nourse and Lucia Davenport has been brought onto to the account team and Connor Smyth as junior developer under CTO Tom Auger. Art & Science has grown by 29% since the start of the year and continues to recruit in account management and creative. The wave of hires follows expanded client mandates with Weber, Nitro Circus, Precision Nutrition, Samsonite, as well as new assignments from Hoffman-La Roche, Chapman’s Ice Cream, Burgundy Asset Management and Shaftesbury Films, among others.

Bounteous Canada has named Jayna Grassel as director of marketing services. Grassel has relocated to join the agency’s growing team in Toronto and will expand her role leading work for Dominos Canada, for which Bounteous serves as AOR.

Pomp & Circumstance has expanded its leadership team, naming Andrea Anders to the role of SVP of the PR agency. She will join the firm on August 8 having previously served in VP and director roles at Faulhaber Communications and Citizen Relations. The appointment follows six new account wins this year with Mercedes Benz, Luminato, Earls, Toronto Public Library Foundation, Dresden and MindFull, Inc.

New business

Outdoor sports-focused agency Origin recently led a campaign for outdoor retailer L.L. Bean after winning an RFP for the business in November last year. The work, which is only being pushed in the U.S. market, was handled primarily by the Whistler and Montreal offices of Origin, which also has a presence in the U.S. In an email to strategy, a spokesperson for L.L. Bean said it chose Origin for the assignment because it “best understood the stories we are trying to tell and share with our customers.” The purpose of the campaign, which included several pieces of content and was dubbed “Welcome to the Catch,” was to reassert the brand’s fishing and hunting heritage. L.L. Bean will be opening its first Canadian location in Oakville, Ont. later this month.

Toronto brand consultancy LP/AD has been awarded the rebranding and communications assignment for San Mateo, California-based platform Vindicia, following a global search. The company, which was acquired by Amdocs in 2016, offers payment, retention and monetization services that have been used by a number of brands, including Conde Nast, Dollar Shave Club, Equifax, the NBA, The New York Times, the NFL, Vimeo and others.

Zenergy Communications, an integrated marketing and communications agency, has been named AOR for Colorado-based clothing retailer Fresh Produce. The shop with offices in Toronto, Montreal and New York (as well as strategic partnerships in Canada and the U.S.), will offer support on PR, social media strategy and creative design. Zenergy first worked with the company earlier this summer on the launch of its first-ever pop-up shop in East Hampton, N.Y. In a release, the agency said the new AOR appointment will help it “expand its influence and offerings deeper into the Western United States.”

Communications agency Bookmark will provide PR and experiential support to Canadian luxury outerwear brand Nobis, after having been named its AOR. The assignment includes Canadian public relations, influencer relations, thought leadership and consumer-facing events.

Toronto PR and digital marketing firm ROI Relations has been named Canadian AOR for Bath and Body Works Canada, makeup and skincare brand IT Cosmetics and American footwear company Merrell. For all three new clients, the agency will handle all national PR work, including strategy, PR, event and influencer programs. This year, the ship has also been working with fashion brand Rudsack on a project-basis.

Media

Former Sportsnet president Scott Moore, who stepped from his post in October after eight years in the top job, is returning to work as CEO of Uninterrupted Canada. The so-called “athlete empowerment brand” was founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter – and features Drake as a Canadian partner – and focuses on production, content creation and distribution.

Rogers Media has named Jordan Banks, a former Facebook and eBay exec, as the replacement for outgoing president Rick Brace, who has announced his retirement. Starting Sept. 9, he will oversee the company’s TV and radio brands, as well as the Toronto Blue Jays and TSC.