From left: Ref Digital partners Nicolas Baldovini (CCO), Julie Pilon (president) and Romain Prache (VP of product)
After years together leading LG2’s digital practice, Julie Pilon, Nicolas Baldovini and Romain Prache have been tapped to steer the path for Ref Digital, the agency’s new pure-play digital shop.
Launched today, Pilon (president), Baldovini (CCO) and Prache (VP of product) are branching out with more than 50 staff members from LG2’s digital team to form the new independent agency within the LG2 Group.
Pilon tells strategy that breaking out on its own allows Ref Digital to better address clients across North American in their specific needs in the areas of tech consulting and the creation of ecommerce platforms and app development.
“Digital platforms are central to businesses today,” Pilon says. “We are expanding our capabilities for strategy and business consulting earlier in the process to build pivotal digital experiences that deliver tangible results.”
Pilon says the Ref team has already worked on the Fromeo AI-powered cheese butler platform for the the Milk Producers of Quebec and is currently working on mandates for Dime, People Corporation, It Gets Better Canada and Norda.
The digital team of web designers, technologists, creatives, strategists and account managers was established at LG2 in 2017 and has been under the collective leadership of Ref partners Pilon, Baldovini and Prache for the past five years.
Currently based out of LG2’s Montreal office, Pilon says Ref has plans to eventually expand into its offices in Ottawa and Toronto and hire on more digital strategists to further develop its services.
After 30 years, Wasserman rebrands to 9Letters
Vancouver-based independent firm Wasserman announced today that it is taking on the new name 9Letters as part of an agency rebrand.
The new identity is a nod to eye charts that arrange letters to bring hazy information into focus, a concept that resonated with the 9Letters team and its ambition to uncover insights and execute creative visions for its clients, according to a news release.
“This isn’t a rebrand for rebrand’s sake. It’s an acknowledgment and signal of change,” said Cam Landell, president and partner at 9Letters, adding that “reinvention wasn’t optional – it was essential … in our world, standing still means falling behind, and our clients deserve an agency that moves forward with them every single day.”
The refresh comes on the heels of a number of new hires at the 30-year-old agency, including Laura McRae as director of strategy and Rachael Abram as director of social content.
McRae joined Wasserman in January after a seven-month freelance stint with Tux Creative House, where she worked on projects for brands such as Levi’s, Ralph Lauren and Windsor Salt. She previously spent eight years in Australia working for agencies including AKQA and The Royals.
Abram joined Wasserman in February after a year and nine months as a director of channel management at Vancouver information-tech company RHEI. She previously worked at LG2 for more than five years in strategist and content director positions after a year and a half as a social content strategist at Dentsu Canada.
