The Havas Group’s Battery is appointing Pete Breton as the first president and executive creative director of Battery Canada.
In the role, Breton will guide work for Battery Canada’s clients and build the agency’s footprint in Canada, including strategy, staffing and business growth.
A lead creative agency of the Paris-based Havas Group, Battery has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto and Shanghai, and Breton will report directly to Anson Sowby, Battery’s CEO, and Philip Khosid, CCO and co-founder.
“He brings decades of experience working with the biggest brands in Canada and beyond, and we’re confident he will help build Battery Canada into one the best creative shops in the country,” Khosid says.
Battery’s Canadian work includes “Team RBC” for the bank’s Vantage rewards program, in which Toronto Leafs star Auston Matthews teams up with “Gene Raymond.” The name is based on G. Raymond, a placeholder name – not a real person – used in the financial industry on sample credit cards for ads.
“I’ve been a fan of Battery’s work for years and am a big believer in the agency’s ethos of creating work that’s also entertainment,” says Breton. “I think that mindset, paired with our front-footed focus on media and production, is a great fit for the Toronto market.”
Breton spent the last 10 years at Anomaly Toronto, where he helped found and grow the office as partner and ECD, while leading teams for blue-chip clients in both Canada and the U.S.
He started his advertising career at Leo Burnett in account management working with clients such as Kellogg, Cadbury and P&G. He then moved into more creative roles, including increasingly senior positions with the likes of Cossette and Taxi.
In 2012, he joined Anomaly, and began working on brands such as Hershey, recently moving the creative away from traditional confectionery advertising to a more boundary-pushing approach – for example, launching Reese’s Pieces into space with a high-altitude balloon.
His work has been recognized at Cannes Lions, The One Show, Clios and D&AD.
