Martin Rydlo and Derek Joynt have jumped the client-side ship to join independent agency Infield Marketing Group to build up its shopper marketing business.

Rydlo, formerly director of marketing at Campbell’s handling its shopper marketing portfolio, and Joynt, formerly director of marketing at Walmart, began talks earlier this year about moving over to the agency side, and in February the pair began talks with Infield to make it happen.

They join the Mississauga-based agency, traditionally known for design and experiential marketing, as partners, and have already begun chatting with some CPG companies and retailers.

“Because we’ve been on that client side, we understand what clients are looking for. And already it dramatically changes the discussion for them as well. They aren’t trying to help the agency understand what their situation is,” says Rydlo. “Rather, we’re coming in having been in the very same seat not long ago. Now we can bring the solutions to them.”

The pair say they expect their first campaigns to hit the market this holiday season and have been heavily involved in strategic 2013 planning for some of Infield’s existing clients.

“We’re open and ready for business,” says Joynt. “We’ve been short-listed on several RFPs already in the short weeks we’ve been active. As the news moves among the community, we’re certainly getting a lot of interest from people who know Martin and I, and are looking for how we can help them with their business.”

Joynt is quick to point out that despite their retail and CPG backgrounds, they want to move beyond traditional shopper marketers.

“We want to expand beyond CPG,” he says. “Certainly financial services, automotive and many other sectors are very interested in the services we can offer them.”

(Pictured; L-R Nick Jelinek,  founding partner & CEO, InField Marketing Group, Joynt and Rydlo)