From upper left, clockwise: Sarah Carpentier, Ryan Roberts, Pooja Beri,  Alex Singleton and Mani Du Plessis

Leo Burnett Canada is announcing multiple promotions and hires across its strategy team following a run of new remits.

Leading the people moves is Ryan Roberts, who has been promoted to SVP and group strategy director. Reporting to chief strategy officer Tahir Ahmad, Roberts will oversee the agency’s strategy group and play an important part in helping the agency achieve the goals of its growth plan as part of the management team.

Since joining the agency in 2020, Roberts has led strategy across key Leo clients including GM, TD Bank and a recent Enbridge campaign that centred on its sustainability efforts. Roberts also helped co-author the agency’s inaugural Humankind Study, proprietary research done in order to gauge how consumers interact with brands, now in its third edition.

Leo has also promoted Mani Du Plessis and Pooja Beri to group strategy director roles. Both will see their current mandates grow as they take on more leadership roles at Leo Burnett.

Du Plessis joined the agency in 2017 as a senior strategist, working on accounts such as GMC Buick and TD Bank’s credit cards and loyalty activity. Beri came to Leo Burnett Toronto in 2021 after five years at the agency’s Dubai office, working on accounts like Mercedes-Benz, Samsung and Emirates Airlines.

New hires on the agency’s strategy team include Sarah Carpentier as a behavioral scientist. Carpentier, who holds a PhD in cognitive neuroscience and psychology, will be joining The HumanKind Study team, which will launch its first report covering the U.S. along with the next Canadian edition in early 2024. She is a former behavioural sciences consultant from the Bay Area.

Alex Singleton, meanwhile, has been hired as a senior strategist, and will support new business wins including, most recently, Pizza Hut Canada. She is a former senior strategist with Sid Lee.

“We are in a strong position thanks to our recent growth to add more depth, experience and expertise to our team” says Ahmad. “It’s exciting to be able to bring new insights and perspectives to help fuel our creativity, while at the same time recognizing the contributions of our great people.”