Rethink adds group strategy director
Mauricio Barreda has joined indie creative shop Rethink as group strategy director and will take on responsibility for developing creative strategy across clients that include WestJet, Destination Canada, Dayforce and others.
Rethink’s global chief strategy officer Sean McDonald says that Barreda, based in Los Angeles, will have a primary focus on West Coast clients but will collaborate on brand work in each of the agency’s four offices in Vancouver, New York, Toronto and Montreal.
On LinkedIn, Barreda called Rethink one of the best creative problem-solving companies in the world.
Barreda has experience developing creative strategies for brands such as Amazon Prime, Under Armour, Nissan and more. Prior to joining Rethink, he was a lead strategist at Mother, also based out of Los Angeles.
Before that, he held strategy roles at 180LA, TBWA, and Grey.
His work has earned kudos from the Cannes Lions and D&AD.
ICA makes board changes
The Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA) has announced new appointments to its board of directors.
These include Brent Choi, partner and CEO at Angry Butterfly; Sacha Lai-Svirk, VP, partner at Outpost379; and Paulo Salomao, founder and CEO at King Ursa.
Alongside them, board member Ryan Timms, president at McCann Canada, steps up to the role of vice-chair.
Choi, who co-founded independent agency Angry Butterfly in 2020, was previously CEO and CCO at DDB Canada and president and chief creative officer at JWT Worldwide.
La-Svirk is a health care advertising specialist and has spent the past 16 years in digital and leadership roles at Outpost379.
Salomao, a Brazilian-born entrepreneur and thought leader, launched King Ursa 10 years ago and has grown the independent agency’s reputation for integrating creative, media and AI-driven performance.
The board appointments follow the selection of Beverley Hammond, founding partner and chief business officer at Toronto-based agencies Broken Heart Love Affair and Lifelong Crush, as chair in early 2024.
Hawkeye adds martech consultant
Kenneth Hatcher is starting a new position as marketing technology consultant at Publicis’s CRM and UX experience agency Hawkeye Canada.
Hatcher is a longtime senior martech manager with Toronto shop William Thomas Digital.
Prior, he was senior manager, CRM technology, with Cossette, also based in Toronto.
Monks adds an ACD
Malavika Ravi is starting a new position as associate creative director at Monks. She most recently held a senior copywriter position with Hogarth for two years.
Before joining Hogarth, Ravi was an associated creative director at Behaviour in Toronto and senior copywriter with Momentum Worldwide, based out of Dubai.
Ravi’s campaign work includes PepsiCo Foods brand, Crispy Minis, Quaker Harvest Crunch, OLG and Estee Lauder.
