Vancouver-based independent agency Wasserman has announced a number of key changes to its leadership structure coming out of the pandemic.

The agency has appointed Cam Landell to the role of president and partner. Landell, who had been part of the agency’s original roster two decades ago before leaving in 1999, returns with experience in senior roles at BBDO and Big House Communications, as well as having founded his own agency, Watershed Communications Group.

Landell replaces Stefan Hawes, who had served as president at the agency for nearly three and a half years.

Meanwhile, Antonella Frustaci and Kelly Swan have both been promoted to VP and partners at the agency.

Frustaci has worked at Wasserman for the past 18 years, responsible for the agency’s connection services, including strategic media planning and buying. Swan, meanwhile, has worked at the agency for the past 11 years and leads its production team and operations. Both will continue to perform those duties in addition to their new responsibilities as partners in the business.

“We know that having partners and owners engaged in the day-to-day business of the agency is a winning formula for us and the success of clients, so this is an evolution of Wasserman we’re truly excited about,” said Alvin Wasserman, founder and chair of the agency’s board, in a release.

The moves are “really about getting back to our roots,” Landell told strategy.

“The board was looking at the long-term sustainability of the company and I think the success of the company has really been on fogging relationships and nurturing local, B.C. brands,” he says. “Our whole team has grown up and really honed our skills in this marketplace, and I think that’s what the board was looking for.”

Landell says that while Wasserman wants “to deepen our cred in tourism and cause-related associations,” there are also other exciting business opportunities in the marketplace – and they align with his experience handling portfolios across a wide variety of businesses including credit union, food and beverage, tech and telecommunications and energy and utilities.

“These are all sectors that I have experience in, and I’d really like to bring that back to Wasserman and build the agency with that kind of business,” Landell says.

Longtime creative director Liam Greelaw left the agency in 2020, with Bronwyn MacKay – who was promoted to CD last year – having taken over sole leadership of the agency’s creative department.