Launch! is in expansion mode, with the recent hiring of Shawna Weinman.
Weinman has stepped into the role of president at the brand communications division of Consumer Impact Marketing (CIM) specializing in shopper marketing, experiential and promotional advertising.
Weinman came from Cargo Cosmetics, where she headed up the company’s global operations for a decade.
“It’s great to be back on the agency side,” says Weinman, who started her career at Mosaic Sales Solutions and spent 13 years there, the last three as president of its merchant group division focusing on experiential marketing initiatives.
“You don’t know how much you’ve missed something until you’ve come back.”
At the same time, Weinman says she gained invaluable experience at Cargo, including seeing a brand from the consumer side and witnessing different consumer behaviours across the globe.
“It’s a highly outsourced business,” she says. “You are marketing the brand at the most grassroots level.”
While at Cargo, Weinman took the brand to global level, expanding its retail footprint across Canada, the US and the Middle East.
It’s that experience that made Weinman a natural fit for the role, says CIM CEO Michael Smith.
“You don’t meet too many agency presidents that have actually conceived, developed and grown brands themselves,” Smith says. “Our clients also wanted a peer, someone who has been facing exactly the same challenges they face in today’s market.”
The position is a new one for Launch!, reflecting a need for senior strategic resources due to 50% business growth in the last year, as well as an opportunity for expansion through CIM’s new partner, California-based in-store marketing company BDS Marketing.
With the recent announcement of a new shopper marketing division at DDB in Toronto, shopper marketing is expanding its reach beyond niche agencies such as Launch!.
Weinman acknowledges the concept is evolving quickly in Canada and the US but says Launch! is well positioned as an agency to develop effective programs with its partners.
“There’s a huge power to be able to mine data…and activate a reaction that’s meaningful for the consumer,” she says.
“Brands and retailers [are] working together to gain a clearer understanding of the needs and behaviors of targeted shopper groups.”
