After eight years of leading large accounts and digital initiatives at Grip Ltd., Jon Finkelstein has left the Toronto agency.
Finkelstein was a creative partner in the business and helped found its interactive management team, growing the digital division to approximately 80 staff and $12 million in revenues since joining in 2004.
Finkelstein said he is leaving the agency on very good terms to find “new challenges.”
“I love the agency; I’ve been there for eight years. I loved working with the partners, but it was time for me to go,” Finkelstein told Marketing. “Being a partner in an agency takes a lot of energy. In order to assess my next steps, my opportunities, I needed to leave… it’s only fair to the agency.”
While Finkelstein was known as a digital leader within the agency, his specific role will not be filled now that he’s left. According to agency president Harvey Carroll, the nature of Grip’s digital work has changed so that a dedicated digital leader is no longer necessary.
“We’re thankful to Jon for building up that digital capability, but we’ve never really run that group like a ‘department.’ He was incredibly talented in the digital space, but each of our clients is now led by a partner and a creative team… they’re responsible for the digital leadership across those accounts. Thanks to Jon, [digital] is integrated into the whole agency now.”
Finkelstein led Grip’s Johnson & Johnson and Certified General Accountants accounts, while contributing to several others.
“Jon’s leaving on great terms,” Carroll said. “We’re sorry to see him go. He’s been a great contributor and we wish him the best. He leaves behind him a great and capable team that’s capable across all media.”
