Arlene Dickinson’s independent creative agency, Believeco:Partners, has named veteran entrepreneur and strategist Mario Simon as its CEO.

Starting February 20, Simon will lead the agency’s 300-plus team across more than 10 offices in North America. Believeco’s client roster includes Balzac’s Coffee, Alberta Milk and Securian Canada, which rebranded last year from Canadian Premier.

For the past seven years, Simon served as managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In that capacity, he served as global topic leader for brand strategy and development, and as a leadership member of both BCG’s Center for Customer Insight and its marketing, sales and pricing practice. Simon has supported organizations in a wide range of sectors including consumer products and services, retail, FI and insurance, telecoms, healthcare, and energy.

Prior to BCG, Simon founded, built and led Kantar Vermeer, a marketing strategy consulting firm he created within WPP. He also spent several years at McKinsey & Company, where he led strategy, marketing and pricing engagements for large health care, consumer, and financial services companies.

“[Simon’s] knowledge of the unique challenges businesses face today combined with his ability to solve complexity and deliver results for clients, makes him the ideal choice to lead Believeco:Partners,” said Arlene Dickinson, executive chair of the board. “[His] appointment significantly propels our global growth strategy.”

With the appointment, Believeco:Partners also expands its footprint from across Canada, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Houston, to New York.

In December, Believeco added Cossette vet Alyssa Huggins to the team as its president of its marketing division.