Toronto’s Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K) has brought in Chris Davies as its new VP, national CD.

Davies joined the PR shop last Monday, after serving as ACD at Toronto-based creative shop Bimm, and will work across H+K’s client roster, which has included GPS maker TomTom, Reckitt Benckiser and Virgin Mobile.

The newly created position comes on the heels of a number of new business wins Davies says, and is a result of increasing client demand for creative leadership in the traditional media space (outside of what would otherwise be considered traditional PR roles). It also follows similar moves at other PR firms, which have been steadily bolstering their creative offerings over the past year. 

Davies says he’ll provide thought leadership across all disciplines and help brands create content and social media strategies.

Because it’s such a new area of interest for the PR firm, Davies says he doesn’t have a staff reporting to him yet, but they may grow the department’s remit over time.

“The goal isn’t to create a mini ad agency inside these walls,” he says. “I don’t want to smash the two things [PR and creative] together. I want to create something new, and find a way to bring the multi-channel integrated [advertising] thinking inside the walls of the [PR shop].”