New Hires — Transat
Transat A.T. Inc., the parent company of Air Transat, has appointed Bernard Côté as director of marketing, public relations and social media.
Côté has more than 15 years experience as a marketer, including career stops at Reebok, RDS and MEC. He was most recently vice-president at Ketchum Canada.
He will oversee all of Transat’s marketing, public relations and social media activities to support the company’s strategic vision in both domestic and international markets.
New Hires — Salt XC
Salt XC recently made four additions to its leadership team (below, from left): Sarah Krafman, managing director, influencer; Jeff Pontes, VP, digital strategy and data analytics; Warren Paisley, managing director, shopper and packaging; and Kait D’Agostini, senior director, client services.
“As we continue to mature as an agency, it’s crucial for us to have key players to help expand and build out our core pillars of service,” said Salt XC president Jeff Rogers. “With Sarah, Jeff and Warren championing our influencer, digital, and shopper and packaging service offerings respectively, and Kait on our client services team, I am confident that together we will continue to deliver on our experiential commerce philosophy and drive impactful results for our new and existing clients.”
New Business — Labour
Toronto agency Labour (formerly Co-Op) recently added Bobacha and Poseidn to its client roster.
For Bobacha, the GTA-based bubble tea and dessert chain, Labour will provide creative content production, influencer marketing and public relations services. And for the Montreal-based Poseidn—which creates “3D bombs” for flavouring beverages—Labour will be focused on PR and influencer relations as the brand expands across Canada.
New Hires — Horizon
Horizon Media Canada has hired Karrie Werny (right) as director, business solutions (the first new hire for Horizon’s Alberta office) and Simon Ross as VP, digital acceleration. Both will join Horizon’s senior leadership team in Canada.
“Karrie’s western Canada roots will help us better serve current and new western Canadian clients as we ramp up our operations outside of Toronto,” said Kevin Kivi, EVP and general manager for Horizon Media Canada. “Simon’s ability to help us continue to grow our digital capabilities, while bringing a unique combination of a global orientation and a bias for action, will serve us tremendously.”
New Business — Full Punch
Northland Properties has chosen Full Punch as its lead strategic and creative agency. MediaCom and Thinkingbox will handle the media planning and digital respectively. Northland is the parent company of well-known hospitality brands like Sandman Hotel Group, Denny’s Canada, Moxies, The Sutton Place Hotels, as well as the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
“We see a lot of potential behind each of these brands in the coming months and years,” said Manoj Jasra, EVP, marketing and chief digital officer at Northland Properties. “Having a team like Full Punch bring their business knowledge, strategic capabilities, and creative strength to the table is exactly what we need to unlock our full potential and have a lasting impact on our guest experience.”
Full punch has already begun strategic work on several Northland Properties brands for the Canadian and U.S. markets.
New Promotions — Balmoral
Balmoral Multicultural has made three additions to its executive team: Jeffrey Almeida as senior vice president; Donovan D’Souza as executive creative director; and Keshav Kumar as executive media director. The agency has also acquired a new office in north Toronto.
“The last few years has witnessed clients’ growing belief in multicultural marketing, and as they increased investments in the growth of cultural marketing, so have we,” said Balmoral president and CEO Sharifa Khan. “Today, there is a recognition that multicultural marketing has to be at the table with brands from the outset, and this discipline is and will continue to play an important role in their growth and success.”
New Promotions — Cossette
Cossette recently promoted Max MacBeath to head of strategy in Vancouver. MacBeath joined the agency as strategy director in 2020, and before that was at VCCP in London, working as lead planner on accounts including O2, Paddy Power, Canon and Pentland.
“We’ve been on a growth trajectory this past year, and Max is a very welcome addition to our leadership team,” says Robyn Smith, VP, general manager at Cossette in Vancouver. “Max is a true creative strategist in every sense of the word. We’re thrilled to tap into his strategic thinking and planning rigour to unlock insights for our clients.”
