Montreal-based shop Bleublancrouge has named Bernard Asselin, formerly vice-president of marketing and reader sales at the Montreal Gazette, its new president.
Current president Sébastien Fauré will become the agency’s chairman of the board.
“In 2004, the agency had a rebirth, now the question is what’s next?” said Fauré. “If you look at what clients are asking for compared with five years ago, and where the marketplace is going, it’s clear we need someone who can help [bring] us to the next level, moving faster and better responding to customer needs. And we also need people thinking about the big picture and preparing for the future before it arrives.”
That “next level” includes further embrace of the shifting media landscape and improving the agency’s ability to plan its long-term strategy.
Fauré said the agency has known Asselin for years.
“We knew Bernard and we had a need for this type of guy,” said Fauré. “Normally, the success factor for someone going from client-side to agency-side is quite low, so we had to pick someone with a good track record and is pre-approved by creatives.
“Bernard always approved great campaigns. We won awards with him when he was at the Gazette. And before that, the campaign he bought while at Bell ExpressVu won [awards] for Cossette… I think he has the ingredients to really deliver for the needs of our clients.”
On his own change of title, Faure said it won’t change his day-to-day too much, but will allow him to focus more on the agency’s big picture. “Most of the time my job will be focused on new business, supporting the teams and coming up with bigger ideas,” he said.
