(Left to right: Emmanuel Obayemi, Steve Muzzin, Nathan Ping, Heather Bryant, Kade Liang, Devon Clarke and Peter Sreckovic)

Publicis Toronto adds one, promotes six

Publicis Toronto announced the promotion of six employees alongside the addition of a new creative talent. These strategic promotions follow a successful year for Publicis Toronto, marked by substantial business growth and a series of high-profile hires.

Steve Muzzin was promoted to the creative director earlier this month, and will oversee the Stellantis account. Muzzin recently served as ACD for the agency after joining in 2019 as a senior copywriter.

The agency is also welcoming Emmanuel Obayemi as a creative director. In this role, Obayemi will spearhead a pool of clients including Samsung and Mondelez. Obayemi served in creative director roles for Ogilvy, working on brands such as TD Bank, and Leo Burnett, working on the likes of Metrolinx and Canadian Tire.

The shop is also promoting five new associate creative directors: Peter Sreckovic, Devon Clarke, Nathen Ping, Kade Liang and Heather Bryant.

Sreckovic joined Publicis as a senior copywriter in 2023 from Sid Lee, where he held the role for four years. He worked on brands such as Canadian Tire, Visa, City of Toronto and Jeep.

Clarke joined Publicis as a senior art director in 2023 from Kraft Heinz agency The Kitchen. Clarke’s brand work includes Canadian Tire, Mattie’s Place and Kraft Heinz.

Ping served as senior art director with the agency and is a former senior AD at The Kitchen and has worked on the likes of Old Spice, Volkswagen and Under Armour.

In the ACD role, Liang is working on Canadian Tire, Triangle Rewards, Haribo, Samsung, Heineken, Strongbow, Petro-Points and Visa brands. Liang joins Publicis from AD roles at BIMM and Rethink.

Bryant joined Publicis in 2022 as a senior copywriter, and served in copywriter roles for BIMM and McCann Canada.

“These promotions, and hire, are all about acknowledging the amazing creatives who’ve really stepped up, built strong bonds with clients, and kept pushing our creative excellence forward,” says Chief Creative Officer Vini Dalvi.

Senior leadership changes at Chimera Collective

PR shop Chimera Collective has named Signe Barlow (pictured right) as vice president of PR and communications and promoted Fraser Ballard (pictured left) to vice president of strategy.

This renewed structure comes as part of the agency’s accelerated growth plan for 2025.

Barlow, a seasoned PR professional and agency veteran, will lead client service, retention, new business and agency growth. Ballard, previously director of client services, will now lead Chimera’s client strategy and oversee the agency’s business operations.

The agency’s current portfolio includes global brands and category leaders such as L’Oréal, Reformation, Tinder, Amazon and WeCook, whose AOR PR business Chimera won earlier this month.

“[They] are exceptional senior leaders with complementary expertise, who share my deep focus on our clients’ success,” says Chimera Collective CEO Courtney Khimji.