CLIENTS:

Rogers Video has promoted Hubert Wat to director of marketing. Wat was previously manager of advertising and promotions for the Vancouver-based company, which has 230 stores.

Small Fry Snack Foods, the Kitchener, Ont.-based maker of Humpty Dumpty potato chips, has promoted Lynda Murray to VP marketing. She joined the company in 1998 as director of marketing.

Points.com has announced that Rob MacLean is taking the reins as president. Points.com is a subsidiary of Toronto-based Exclamation Inc., an Internet-focused venture capital firm. MacLean joins Points.com from Canadian Airlines International, where he was VP of North American sales.

AGENCIES:

David Leonard is returning to Palmer Jarvis DDB. Formerly director of marketing and communications at Canadian Airlines International, he has been appointed PJDDB’s senior VP, group account director. He’ll be heading up the Vancouver-based agency’s work with McDonald’s in Western Canada. Prior to joining Canadian, Leonard spent five years at Palmer Jarvis.

Bruce Claassen, chair of the Genesis Group, is assuming the role of CEO of Genesis Media, following the recent departure of David Stanger, who worked in the company’s Vancouver office. Tom Batho, the company’s COO in Toronto, also left the company. Batho and Stanger haven’t announced their landing pad yet.

Howard Alstad has joined Lanyon Phillips Communications as VP, executive art director. He comes to the Vancouver agency from Toronto-based Avion Films, where he was a director.

Richard Groves, Kim Koster and Karen Tilley have each been promoted from VP, group head to senior VP, group head at Toronto-based Leo Burnett. Groves heads the Maytag, Allstate, FHP/Atlantic and Hallmark accounts. Koster is in charge of Procter & Gamble and Walt Disney World, while Tilley handles Visa and Star Choice.

Annette Warring has been promoted to VP, associate media director from associate media director at Vickers & Benson’s Toronto subsidiary, Maxx Media. Joanna Jorgensen Wisniewski, meanwhile, has been hired as media supervisor on the McDonald’s account. Wisniewski comes from MBS/The Media Company.

Kenneth Wong has joined Hamazaki Wong Marketing Group of Vancouver as director of client services. Wong was previously manager of the business program at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Deborah Kudzman and Jean-Daniel Rohrer have started a new agency in Montreal, called Publicité Piranha. Kudzman, formerly in the marketing department at Talvest Fund Management, will handle the business side, while Rohrer, formerly with Publicis, will run the creative side. The agency will specialize in adapting national campaigns for the Quebec market.

MEDIA:

KVOS TV of Bellingham, Wash. (channel 12 in the B.C. Lower Mainland) has appointed John Gibson to the post of president of KVOS TV Ltd., the company’s Canadian marketing and sales subsidiary in Vancouver. Gibson came to KVOS as national sales manager in 1980, and was promoted to VP, general sales manager in 1985.

Tom Cummings has been appointed VP, market manager for Toronto-based TDI Canada. The company recently won the $75-million contract to sell transit advertising on behalf of the Toronto Transit Commission. Cummings has been transferred from TDI’s office in Minneapolis, Minn.

Strategy is on the ground in Cannes, bringing you the latest news, wins and conference highlights all week long. Catch all the coverage here.

Friday’s batch of Silver and Bronze winners included the oldest category at the Cannes festival, Film, as well as Sustainable Development Goals, Dan Wieden Titanium, Glass: The Lion for Change and Grand Prix for Good. Canadians were recognized with four Lions today: two Silver and a Bronze in Film, as well as a Bronze in Sustainable Development Goals.

FCB Toronto was given yet another nod for its work, “The Count,” for SickKids, bringing the medal count for that campaign to four, including a Gold for Health & Wellness. Another Canadian agency recognized on the final day of the festival was Klick Health Toronto, which earned a Silver in Film for its work “Love Captured” for Human Trafficking Awareness and a Bronze for “18 Months” for Second Nurture. And over in Sustainable Development Goals, the Bronze went to Publicis Canada and its “Wildfire Watchtowers” work for Rogers.

Another massive win for Canada included not one, but two Young Lions (pictured above) taking home medals in the annual competition. In Design, the Gold Young Lion was awarded to Rethink’s senior motion designer Jesse Shaw and ACD Zoë Boudreau. The second, a Bronze in Media, went to Cossette Media’s business intelligence analyst Samuel David-Durocher and product development supervisor Tristan Bonnot-Parent.

Film (2 Silver, 1 Bronze)

1 SILVER: “The  Count” by FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation

“The Count,” a striking campaign from FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation, has earned 1 Gold, 2 Bronze and now 1 Silver for Film at Cannes. If you watch it, it’s easy to see why. The collaboration between brand and agency honoured the hospital’s “VS” platform, while steering it in a new direction from its initial development by previous AOR Cossette. The creative celebrates childhood cancer patients who have to fight for every birthday, while honouring the hospital’s own milestone – 150 years and counting.

1 Silver: “Love Captured” by Klick Health Toronto for The Exodus Road

Klick Health Toronto added to its medal tally with a Silver in Film for it’s work “Love Captured” for The Exodus Road. The creative features a romantic getaway that isn’t what it seems in an experiential short film for the global anti-trafficking organization. The experience takes viewers through a tragic and twisting experience of exploitation.

1 BRONZE: “18 Months” by Klick Health Toronto for Second Nurture

Klick Health Toronto also won a Bronze in the Film category for its work, “18 Months,” done for the charity organization Second Nurture. The animated film is based on a real-life story in which a same-sex couple adopts a baby found in a subway station, and the 18-month journey into a story of hope.

Sustainable Development Goals (1 Bronze)

1 BRONZE: “Wildfire Watchtowers” by Publicis Canada for Rogers

Publicis Canada landed on the winners board for its work, “Wildfire Watchtowers,” for Rogers. The Canadian-developed wildfire-detection tech – which has been billed as “a fire alarm in the forest” – uses AI-powered sensors installed on 5G towers to monitor vast remote areas in real time. By scanning, identifying and reporting early signs of wildfires (up to 16 minutes faster than other systems), the technology helped prevent 54 fires in 2024 alone.

Catch the Gold winners later today when they’re revealed at the gala in Cannes.