Halifax-based creative agency Colour is entering the new year with new leadership and a new direction, as it has named EVP Randy Newman as its new CEO.

Newman, who initially joined the agency in 2016 as VP of media and strategy and oversaw the opening of its office in New York, took the helm of the agency’s three offices as EVP in early 2020. The role, which Newman describes as “not hugely different from CEO,” saw him leading his colleagues through the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his new role, Newman succeeds Paul Lockhard, who was named CEO of Colour early in 2020 before departing in October to join William Thomas Digital. The agency’s long-time former CEO Chris Keevil, who remains owner and chairman after stepping back from the chief executive role in 2019, will continue to advise Newman in his new role.

Newman is being tapped to lead Colour as it enters a year where it is anticipating growth. The agency has moved “past the most significant challenges of the pandemic,” Newman says, which included client concerns about a lack of clarity around the potential impacts COVID-19 could have on their businesses.

To that end, Newman will also oversee a key shift in the agency’s business in 2021, changing its approach to be more of “an omni-channel planning and execution firm.” The new direction will explore how data, technology and creative come together, specifically when it comes to forming seamless customer journey.

In fact, Newman says, clients have become increasingly reliant on digital media, which helped Colour close out 2020 with some big wins, including being appointed media agency of record for AstraZeneca Canada, becoming social agency for Hostess USA’s Voortman brand and digital agency for Atlantic Canada-based Garrison Brewery. Colour has also won what Newman describes as “some exciting new client work in Canada and the U.S.” for Sol Cuisine, a rapidly growing plant-based food company.