Dentsu Creative Canada has appointed Kevin McHugh as chief strategy officer.

As CSO, McHugh will lead a team of strategists responsible for growing brands through brand positioning, communications, cross-functional innovation and strive to understand the role brands play in people’s lives.

He joined Dentsu Creative in 2020 and according to the release, has played a pivotal role on key accounts across automotive, CPG and finance in addition to helping Canadians combat the rising cost of food with Inflation Cookbook, which took home Gold at Cannes last year.

He was named SVP of strategy last summer and worked on a client roster that included American Express (Global, Canada, International Markets), Honda / Acura, Dare Foods, Saputo, CDIC, CPA Ontario and Skip.

Prior to joining Dentsu Creative, McHugh was vice-president and director of strategy with Camp Jefferson.

McHugh’s latest move follows the news that former CSO Rafik Belmesk moved to an expanded role within Dentsu Creative across the Americas region as executive vice-president of strategy.

Last summer, Stephanie Gyles joined the agency as vice-president of strategy.

Gyles brings more than a decade of experience in strategic leadership within the creative agency landscape, notably at FCB Canada, where she worked on BMO (US & CAN), OLG, Sobeys, Quickbooks and Saputo Cheese as strategy director. Prior roles were at Zulu Alpha Kilo and Wunderman Thompson.