Yanik Deschenes will take on the inaugural role of VP global communications and PR at Sid Lee starting Jan. 30.

“My main responsibility will be to generate awareness of the Sid Lee work globally,” he says.

The newly created position will allow Deschenes to promote the company abroad, continuing his work from the Association des agences de publicite du Quebec (AAPQ), where he rolled out the Montreal.ad project to promote Montreal agencies as a global hub of creativity. He says this was the work he enjoyed the most while at the AAPQ, but could only dedicate a small portion of his time to the project.

“Now, with Sid Lee, I have the opportunity to do what I like to do best on a full-time basis,” he says.

He was approached by Jean-Francois Bouchard, president of Sid Lee, over a tennis match on Christmas Eve to discuss Bouchard’s vision for the new position. After thinking about the job over the holidays, Deschenes says the position and Sid Lee’s innovative and creative approach appealed to him, so he tendered his resignation to the AAPQ on Jan. 17.

At Sid Lee, Deschenes will focus his efforts largely in the U.S. and Europe, where the creative agency has started making waves with new clients and projects.

“I think Yanik has always liked the idea of working to shine a spotlight on the creative ad talent in Quebec, both nationally and internationally,” says Bouchard. “At Sid Lee, he’ll be able to do just that full-time, as we share the same vision. Working closely with Marie-Eve Chaumont (featured above with Deschenes), he’ll help us build the Sid Lee brand globally. Like us, he believes in Montreal and its creativity, and this aspect will play a key role in his day-to-day activities.”

“I think my first real challenge will be to understand what makes Sid Lee so different, so innovative, so successful,” Deschenes says. “I really need to immerse myself in the culture of the agency.”