Stéphane Charier and Geneviève Grenier to lead unified agency
fusing together creativity of advertising with the discipline of design
MONTREAL, Feb. 2, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - As part of its ongoing commitment to driving client success through great work, BBDO Canada has appointed Stéphane Charier and Geneviève Grenier as the new Directors General at Nolin BBDO effective immediately.
Along with his role as co-Director General, Charier will continue as Chief Creative Officer and Grenier will assume the title of Chief Strategy Officer. They replace Alain Gignac, who has left the agency after successfully leading the merger of two of Montréal's top agencies — BBDO Montréal and Nolin BBDO—over the past three years.
"As co-heads of one holistic agency—Nolin BBDO — Stéphane and Geneviève will lead an agency that offers our Québec clients a unique blend of creative depth and the rigour of design," says Gerry Frascione, President and CEO of BBDO North America. "Nolin BBDO will fuse the discipline of design thinking with ad agency creativity for a behaviour-centered approach to marketing solutions that integrates the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success."
Frascione says these new roles will allow Charier and Grenier to build on their outstanding body of work for existing BBDO clients, with their joint leadership providing the Nolin BBDO team tremendous momentum for 2012. With its new direction, Nolin BBDO, whose clients include—Pepsi, the Federation of Milk Producers of Québec, and Bombardier—is moving far beyond the traditional agency model.
"We're an ideas agency," says Charier. "We're a nimble, entrepreneurial shop where clients work with the leads directly. We don't have layers between the client's business goals and us. When required we also have the resources of the most creative network in the world in BBDO. We believe we're exactly what clients in Québec need to compete and win in a challenging marketplace."
Charier joined BBDO Montréal a year ago as vice president and Creative Director, after serving in the same role at Taxi Montréal for six years. He started his career at BBDO in 1998 and worked in the Montréal office for five years. He says he enjoys working closely with Grenier, who joined the agency in June 2010 as Strategic Planning Director and Senior Design, after leaving her active role within her firm, Age design, which she cofounded in 2006.
"Geneviève doesn't come from the advertising industry. She's an entrepreneur, she has built two successful design companies and that's why she truly understands clients. She knows the path to find the best solutions to their business problems, and as an industrial designer, she's very creative and open to new ideas. We work as a team."
Grenier agrees, adding, "I enjoy partnering with Stéphane because of his unique perspective and the way he champions brand ideas. Working together we strip away complexity to arrive at simple and powerful insights. We always start with consumer behavior, not media. In an increasingly complex world, this approach helps us clearly define the connection between the brand and the consumer's needs. This clarity is key to the communications planning process and ensures we have the right message at every touch point along the consumer's journey."
About BBDO Canada
BBDO Canada manages the communication needs of some of Canada's largest and best-known brands. BBDO Canada is a subsidiary of BBDO Worldwide, which is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Along with numerous awards in Cannes and London, BBDO Canada was named 2011 Strategy Magazine Agency of the Year and last month industry magazine Adweek Global named BBDO Worldwide Agency of the Year for 2011.
For further information:
Valérie Gonzalo
For Nolin BBDO
Ph. 514-626-6976
[email protected]
Stephen Rouse
Media Relations
BBDO Proximity Canada
Ph: 416-402-6876
Email: [email protected]
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