Diamond has announced two new senior hires, creative director Simon Craig, and VP of strategy Erin Banting, as it continues to build with an eye to becoming what it calls the “best idea-led integrated agency.”

In a LinkedIn post announcing their hire, chief strategy officer Lori Davison, who joined Diamond as CSO in April, said “look at these two hotshots [SVP strategy] Jon Crowley and I get to work with now!”

Craig’s more than 15-year career has included stops at some of the country’s best-known network and independent shops, as well as creating his own agency, Send&Receive, which he co-led for several years.

Prior to joining Diamond, he spent four years as a freelancer, producing work including “Mushroom,” a seven-minute film promoting Ford EVs that ran on YouTube and Bell Media’s streaming service Crave, as well as the Cannes Lions-winning “ParaExpansion Pack,” for the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

“I’ve always connected with smart, scrappy, independent shops, hell-bent on getting great stuff done,” said Craig in a release. “It’s exciting to join the team at Diamond on their mission to build the best idea-led integrated agency, especially with this immensely talented group of people. I look forward to working with friends and colleagues, old and new, to make this place, and our clients, famous.”

Banting began her career in PR with shops including Veritas and Citizen Relations, before joining No Fixed Address as vice-president and its second PR person. Diamond described her as “a champion of earned-led creative thinking” who helped lead several projects for NFA, including SickKids Airbnb, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s “Lolli” and “Happy Birthday, Twitter.”

Diamond has been aggressively adding to its creative capabilities over the past year, most notably adding Peter Ignazi as its first ever chief creative officer in October.

Its core clients include TD, Tim Hortons, Skip The Dishes and the Score bet, and it has recently added Accor Hotels North America, Toronto Zoo and Ontario Tourism.