Cossette has promoted Pete Breton and Dave Douglass to co-chief creative officers of its Toronto office, following the agency’s decision to form a single creative department.
Breton and Douglass take over for Cossette’s former English-language creative director, Bill Durnan, who will stay with Cossette to focus on business development from a global and North American perspective, said executive vice-president and managing director, Brett Marchand.
The agency has merged its creative departments across various disciplines like broadcast, interactive and digital, and moved the various groups onto the same floor at its downtown Toronto location.
In their new positions, the former VP group creative directors will work with five creative directors and a creative team of 50 to oversee advertising, direct response, online and promotions, and will report to Marchand.
Though Durnan will remain “very involved,” he will be spending less time at the agency in order to pursue more personal endeavours, said Marchand.
The change allows “all of us to work more closely together, and tap into all the different expertise that exists within Cossette,” said Breton. “Now we’re able to work more closely together. It’s a very collaborative environment.”
“Putting Pete and Dave in charge is going to be a shot of youth. They come from a new breed,” said Marchand. “We’re going to put our money where our mouth is and act convergent, creatively. It’s an interesting experiment. Not a lot of agencies are structured that way.”
Breton and Douglass will also remain active on various accounts, including McDonald’s.
