James Dunlop has left Toronto agency Marshall Fenn Communications for a new role with Publicis Toronto.
While Dunlop didn’t respond to interview requests by press time, sources said he will work on the Rogers account.
Dunlop spent the past six years with Marshall Fenn, all as creative director. “James made a tremendous contribution to the agency in terms of our creative product and organizing our creative department,” said CEO Jim Kabrajee in an interview with Marketing this morning. “It’s a great opportunity for him to go to Publicis and work on a national account like Rogers.”
The agency has launched a search for Dunlop’s successor, but Kabrajee said there is no timeline for when the new hire will be made. “We have some fairly tight parameters in terms of the type of person we’re looking for, but it may not happen overnight,” he said.
“We’re not really feeling a tremendous vacuum at this point in time, but it’s not a long-term solution to leave the post unfilled. We’re certainly looking for the right leader to come in and manage the creative staff.”
Among Dunlop’s most recent work for Marshall Fenn was a much-publicized interactive PSA for Toronto Boost Child Abuse Prevention & Intervention in October that received media attention both in Canada and internationally. The online ad invited viewers to make a call to put a halt to a potentially abusive situation, with their action – or lack thereof – driving the on-screen narrative.
“James was very much responsible for the direction that went in and some of the concept development,” said Kabrajee. “The vision was a team effort, but the team was very much headed up by James.”
According to his bio at JamesDunlopCopywriting.com, Dunlop joined Marshall Fenn in 2005 after spending two years as a freelance copywriter for agencies including Taxi, DDB Canada, Cossette and Ogilvy & Mather. Prior to that, he spent two years as a copywriter with MacLaren McCann (where one of his clients was Rogers Video).
