Gigil makes Toronto a key part of North American expansion
Filipino ad agency Gigil has set its sights on North America for its expansion, opening offices in New York, L.A. and Toronto. The Toronto office will also house Metama, a dedicated metaverse division.
Operations in Toronto will be overseen by Rain Pengson, a creative who has worked at Y&R Manila, in addition to directing several commercial spots. Pengson recently relocated to Toronto.
Gigil, founded in 2017, has worked with clients such as Netflix, Accenture, Unilever and 7Eleven. It has also worked with RC Cola on a campaign (pictured, above) that earned it awards at Cannes Lions, Effies and the Clios.
According to the latest Stats Canada figures, there are 900,000 people of Filipino descent in Canada, approximately 2.6% of the population.
Chicken Farmers poaches Farm Boy marketer
J.J. Hochrein has been named director of brand marketing at Chicken Farmers of Canada. A former head of marketing for Farm Boy, he was also recently group business lead at John St. Hochrein also had a six-year tenure as VP of marketing at Lee Valley Tools.
Makers adds two key senior leaders
Toronto-based producer network Makers is expanding its leadership team with the appointment of two senior hires: global development lead Adele Reeves and executive producer Sophie Chapman-Andrews.
In a newly created role, Reeves has been tasked with growing both the company’s entertainment and long-form branded content business, with an eye towards “expanding and elevating” the opportunities available to brands within the content space. Reeves was most recently an executive producer at Red Bull Studios.
Chapman-Andrews, meanwhile, will be a lead business partner to clients, overseeing the development and execution of projects, from her home base in London. She joins from McCann’s Craft Worldwide division, where she was head of integrated production for the U.K.
Makers is a production company that works directly with brands on creating content. Some of its clients have included Canada Goose, RBC, Credit Karma, PepsiCo, Sephora, Amazon and Habitat for Humanity.
