Draftfcb Toronto has started 2014 with a series of new hires and an internal promotion.
Alex Glinka
Its most recent hire is “creative technologist” Alex Glinka, who joins as the agency’s new head of technology. Glinka has spent 15 years in software development, leading both creative and technology teams.
He was most recently head of Capital C’s technology team, working for clients including Nissan Canada and Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.
“Alex brings a depth of technology experience across many categories that the agency and clients will value greatly,” said Ricky Jacobs, Draftfcb’s vice-president, managing director and digital head, in a release.
“Navigating an increasingly integrated world requires a practical view on what’s possible, in any platform. Adding Alex to the team will enable us, and more importantly our clients, to deliver on those possibilities.”
Glinka’s hire follows three appointments within the agency’s integrated team made earlier this month. In addition to adding Neal Halliday as senior planner and Laurie Maxwell as vice-president, integrated production, the agency also promoted Heather Segal to lead its integrated planning discipline.
Halliday had been chief strategy officer with TBWA Toronto for the past two years, after holding the same position with BBDO Detroit. Maxwell was previously with Grip, where she produced the award-winning Kokanee project The Movie Out Here.
Segal was previously a senior strategist with the research and brand consultancy Human Branding, which uses applied anthropology to discover deeper human insights. Her 15-year career also includes stints with JWT and MacLaren McCann.
From left - Laurie Maxwell, Neale Halliday, Heather Segal
She provides strategic leadership for clients including Fairmont Hotel and Resorts, Nestle Canada, Ontario Tourism, Delmonte Foods’ Meow Mix and Milk-Bone brands and Mondelez’s Oreo brand.
“This is an exciting time for the agency,” said Draftfcb president Paul Mead in a release. “As we plan for the future, we have sought out talent that will ensure we continue to provide our clients with the very best.”
