Above, from left to right: ACD Naeem Walji; AEM regional manager Justin Van Horik; and producer Danielle Lloyd
The Hive recently hired three new staffers to help the agency continue to move deeper into the content, experiential and brand activation space, building on the agency’s “valuable encounters” positioning.
“We spend our lives encountering brands, but the encounters only become meaningful when the brands offer us something of value in exchange for our attention and our loyalty,” says Rick Shaver, CEO and president of The Hive. “We call these valuable encounters… when brands and consumers reward each other through a powerful and lasting value exchange.”
To help the agency build brand encounters through content, Naeem Walji has been hired as an associate creative director, having previously worked at FCB Toronto, where he was a senior art director and helped create campaigns such as BMO’s Grass of Greatness for Toronto FC and the award-winning Michelob Ultra x Running program.
As for The Hive’s experiential and activation pillars, the agency hired Justin Van Horik as a regional manager to help lead the Advocacy and Engagement Managers (AEM) team.
According to Shaver, AEMs represent client Brown Forman and its portfolio of brands. He likens them to “brand activation staff or ambassadors” and says they help to educate vendor staff, from bar managers to waiters, on things like brand features, history and ingredients.
Van Horik will lead the AEMs team as they continue to build experiential work for Brown Forman’s brands, in particular Jack Daniel’s, which The Hive has created dozens of events for over the years, says Shaver. According to a release, Van Horik previously worked with Heineken and Coca-Cola.
The Hive also hired Danielle Lloyd as a producer, working alongside its project management team. Lloyd previously worked at commercial production company Spy Films, and also held an account executive title at agencies like FCB and Grey Canada, having worked on campaigns such as Kellogg’s All Bran Buds.
