Oliver is expanding its senior leadership presence in Canada in wake of significant new interest from major clients on this side of the border, with the first step being the promotion of Dave Carey to president for Canada at the agency.

The agency, long known as in-housing specialists, have developed a “substantial” presence in Canada with clients from coast to coast, Carey says – including CIBC, for which the agency, alongside Courage, won the AOR assignment last month. The agency has seen its headcount expand from 50 employees to more than 200 with that win, as it works on a client roster that also includes 7 Eleven, WestJet, Adidas, Molson Coors and Manulife.

“We realized we have a fairly substantial Canadian client list and now we are being invited to more and bigger pitches, too,” Carey tells strategy. “We realized that requires a more senior presence. So while I’ve been doing much of the work of this role for a while, a lot more comes with the title. … It’s a sign of greater commitment from Oliver to Canada.”

A former founding partner at Union, Carey joined Oliver in 2018 as its country manager for Canada, helping it establish its local presence. He was named managing partner the following year.

According to Carey, the CIBC win is just the tip of the iceberg for the agency, which has noticed a shift in the conversation among marketers at many of Canada’s largest brands, including several Fortune 500 companies.

“We see clients looking at in-housing more, and also larger clients shuffling their marketing mix, and we see a growth opportunity here in Canada because of that,” he explains. “So we have decided to put more focus here. I’m still going to be doing some work in the U.S., but my primary responsibility is now shifting to growing the business in Canada. … We’re going to build some staff around me to achieve that.”

Whether clients are looking to develop an in-house solution, or simply needing an agency with the capabilities to help them with one part of their larger marketing solution, the agency aims to be part of the conversation.  As an example, Carey points to the CIBC assignment, where Oliver will be implementing the more rapid, small-scale advertising, while Courage handles the big brand and strategic work.

“People are now realizing in this market that there is a different way of doing things,” he elaborates. “They’re more willing to come to talk to us. And that’s important. At least there is that conversation. Because of that, we’ve decided we need to focus on this market more.”