New Business—The Hive
Canadian e-commerce mattress brand Endy has chosen The Hive as its new creative agency following a pitch process. The agency is already working on a new creative platform, with work planned for the second half of 2023.
“When we set out to find a new strategic and creative agency for this project, what we were looking for was a collaborative partner who could work with us, not for us” said Christina Sfeir, director of PR and strategic communications at Endy. “The Hive demonstrated not only an insightful direction of where they could take our brand, but also an understanding of what’s important to hold onto.”
“Our ambition as an agency is to be the world’s greatest creative collaborator,” added Jung Ahn, co-ECD at The Hive. “From the very beginning it was clear that the Endy team shares these values, which is so important in realizing bold ideas that have the power to move a market forward.”
Earlier this month, The Hive was also awarded the remit to develop the name, visual identity, and uniform design for a new team from Chatham-Kent that will play in the Intercounty Baseball League.
New Hires—Courage
Courage has hired former Adweek editor Shannon Miller as executive director of development, with a mandate to share the agency’s experiences and successes, both internally and externally, across Canada and the U.S.
This is a new role for the agency, which launched less than one year ago. It has grown to more than 40 employees working with clients like Nescafe, CIBC and KFC. In a release announcing the hire, Courage said Miller will help deliver strategic communications and support the leadership team.
“Not only does she have an incredible resume and a finger placed firmly on the pulse of the industry, her positivity and get-it-done attitude is absolutely infectious,” said founder and CCO Dhaval Bhatt. Miller held a number of roles with Adweek, and was most recently editor of creativity.
New Hires‑Zulu Alpha Kilo
Zulu Alpha Kilo has made a number of additions to its creative team in Toronto and Vancouver.
Addie Gillespie joins the west coast office as creative director. She has spent the past five years at One Twenty Three West, leading creative on Athletics Canada, BC Breast Cancer, and Sleeman.
Meanwhile, eight new hires have been made at the Toronto office. Ivan Mallqui, Nayla Alana and Jack Hwang all join as associate creative directors: Mallqui from Potro Lima, an independent agency in Peru; Alana from Galeria in Sao Paulo; and Hwang from BBH.
Jarrett Moffatt has also joined as a copywriter from The Narrative Group, while the agency has also hired recent grads Shelby Harper, Mariia Kul, Amaris Branco and Nick Kidd. The agency also named Damian Simev digital design director.
“Our pool of creative talent keeps getting deeper across North America, and I’m excited to see this new crop of talent join us and contribute to our creative product,” said agency founder and creative chairman, Zak Mroueh.
New Promotions—Cossette Media
Cossette Media has promoted Adriana Novoa to vice-president, Responsible Media Solutions. Novoa has been with the agency for 11 years, the last three as business lead on the Government of Canada and Elections Canada accounts.
Cossette media launched the Responsible Media Solutions Group in 2011. Led by Brian Cuddy, the group has a mandate to support innovation, product development and partnerships that create more positive and sustainable outcomes for advertisers, media owners and society.
“Our mission to ‘Make Media Matter’ continues to evolve, and I’m delighted with the progress we’ve made since the creation of our Responsible Media Solutions group in September,” said president Axel Dumont. “Adriana’s experience with the Government of Canada and Elections Canada, combined with her passion for responsible media, will make the perfect complement to Brian’s leadership and will allow us to continue the momentum we’ve built in this area.”
New Promotions—Leger
Leger has promoted Dave Scholz, Sandie Sparkman and Steve Perrone to the executive board to prepare for continued growth in Canada, the U.S. and internationally.
Scholz has been with Leger since 2000, holding a range of leadership positions across research practices and general management. He has been appointed chief strategy officer to collaborate on strategic initiatives across markets
Sparkman, who joined Leger in 2013, has been appointed chief growth officer, responsible for overseeing sales and marketing.
Perrone is Leger’s new chief technology officer, bringing 29 years of information technology experience to his new mandate to find the most effective solutions to connect Leger technology across global markets.
New Promotions—Hawkeye Canada
Publicis Groupe’s CRM agency Hawkeye has promoted Raymond Smith to creative director, working alongside SVP and ECD Scott Pinkney to build a best-in-class 1:1 marketing and communications agency.
Smith has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry, including stops at FCB Direct and Bensimon Byrne, and The Globe and Mail before joining Hawkeye in 2016. In addition to his contributions to key client accounts, he helped launch of “This is The Job,” an important D&I initiative to guide racially marginalized high school students into the advertising and marketing industry.
“I’ve worked with Ray for over 20 years at three different agencies and he has more than proven his creative and strategic prowess, new business savvy and drive to deliver great work,” said Pinkney. “The timing of this promotion is perfect as we continue to grow and expand our practice in Canada and the US.”
