Craft grows its team alongside its client roster
Toronto’s Craft Public Relations has picked up three new assignments and eight new hires.
The agency was awarded AOR duties for The Very Good Food Company, leading media relations for its plant-based The Very Good Butchers brand, beginning with the fall launch of new gluten- and soy-free line Butcher’s Select premium products.
Craft will also lead media and influencer work for outdoor travel company Hipcamp in Canada, as well as PR strategy and execution for ecommerce shoe company Ketch Shoes.
Work on all three clients is underway, and Craft has also brought on eight new hires to help support its work: account executives Kaila Currie-Bartlett, Kayla McLean and Madelyn Whittaker, as well as account coordinators Megan Ruhig, Emily Callahan, Erika Johnson, Robert Van Horne and Danielle Filler.
Dentsumcgarrybowen adds to Montreal creative strength
Karl Ouellette and Magali Lafleur have joined the creative department at Dentsumcgarrybowen Montreal.
As ACD and senior art director, Ouellette will be taking a leadership role in the agency’s creative team. He brings experience from the likes of Publicis, Terrain and Ogilvy, where he worked on Quebec-campaigns for brands such as Coca-Cola, Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, Metro and L’Oréal.
Further adding to the agency’s bench of art directors, Lafleur brings a background in design honed at Lg2 and Anomaly for campaigns with Bell, American Apparel and Virgin Mobile.
The new hires are the first in what is expected to be a further expansion of the agency’s creative department to serve global, national and Québec-based assignments.
Outpost 379 adds to leadership team
Peterborough-based, health-and-wellness-focused agency Outpost 379 has made a trio of new hires, adding to its leadership on both the creative and client service teams.
Arthur Shah has been hired as a creative director, reporting to ECD Rick Kemp. Shah will also be a member of the agency’s management team, taking over day-to-day management of the creative department. Shah previously led digital and experiential work for Mercedes-Benz at Publicis Emil, and also had a lengthy stint as SVP and CD at BBDO Toronto.
Outpost 379 has also hired Shah’s long-time creative partner Elsie Fehr as senior art director to lead the agency’s growing design studio. Other than working with Shah at Publicis and Ogilvy, Fehr also brings experience from the team at Pethealth, and had a stint as creative group head at Leo Burnett.
Rounding out the new hires is VP of client service Jenni Cowdy. Reporting to president and founder Paul Hickey, Cowdy will lead the agency’s growing YMCA Toronto remit, as well as other consumer-facing brands that the agency brings on. Cowdy was most recently a team lead at John St., where she worked on clients including KFC, Tangerine, Maple Leaf Foods and Sleep Country.
The agency’s other clients have included Dukoral, Cialis, The Canadian Canoe Museum and the Government of Ontario.
