Since relaunching earlier this year, PS DDB has been positioning itself as an expert in helping lead clients through industry shifts and help them find new perspective on how to move their business forward.

One part that was recently added to that puzzle is Katie Ainsworth, the agency’s VP and creative director.

After more than two years as an ECD at Cossette Vancouver, Ainsworth joined the newly rebranded DDB Vancouver office in August to help it grow, working alongside James Bateman, creative director for the agency’s branding division. In addition, she has been working across key accounts, including ICBC, Crispy Minis, Prospera, BCLC and Telus.

PS DDB was created earlier this year when former DDB Canada chairman and CEO Frank Palmer came out of retirement with business partner Bob Stamnes to take over the agency’s Vancouver office. According to Patty Jones, president of PS DDB, part of the vision for the agency going forward is helping its clients recognize the shifts that are happening in their business and industries, as well as how the agency can shift the way clients go to market and communicate to consumers.

“That’s what we’re looking to bring to our clients – that opportunity to say, ‘can we help you identify those places where you can shift?’” Jones says. “Either shift how you communicate with consumers, shift how your brand is next to your competition, shift within the category of what you do, and just finding new ways for them to move forward and grow their business.”

Jones says there’s a “common interest” with what PS DDB is trying to build and what Ainsworth wanted to do next with her career. Ainsworth relayed to Jones how she wanted to “be a part of creating different types of solutions to clients” that don’t just involve creative, Jones describes. This is also because PS DDB has access to the DDB network and can draw on its various offices in Canada and globally for expertise.

PS DDB has worked on number of “shifts” that Jones could not comment on, as they are not yet in market. But since relaunching, PS DDB has helped several clients shift their approach, particularly when it comes to responding to the pandemic. It created a social awareness campaign for The Alzheimer’s Society of B.C. that allowed users to create virtual sticky notes detailing how they’ll stay connected to the person in their life living with dementia and share the sticky note on social media to keep the conversation going. It also created an emergency fundraising campaign for March of Dimes to drive donations for the more than 6.2 million Canadians living with disability who have felt especially isolated during the pandemic.