A pair of senior staffers from Dentsu Canada have left the agency to start Lollipop, an interactive production company of their own.
Michael Gramlow, former creative director, interactive at Dentsu, and Amanda Loughran, its former executive multimedia producer, launched Lollipop as a sister company to Crush, a Toronto based production company and directorial collective.
Lollipop will offer online creative services and expertise in development tools such as Flash animation software.
It will also work in conjunction with Crush and its partner firms (including Sons and Daughters, Panic and Bob, and Notch among others) to offer a broader suite of production services.
Gramlow and Crush founder Gary Thomas have been mulling the possibility of launching a company like Lollipop for years.
“I always told him if he was ready, I’d help him find people and set it up,” Gramlow said. “But over the winter, I thought ‘What if I actually start something new with him?’”
Gramlow officially joined Lollipop yesterday after spending three years at Dentsu. Loughran, however, left the agency in May after more than four years, and has since been working with Lollipop’s first partner, Toronto agency Huxley Quayle von Bismark, on an unspecified project.
“It may seem like an odd time to jump into a startup, but research is showing that the only area of advertising that is growing this year is… interactive,” said Loughran, who assumed the role of executive producer at the startup. “As such, the demand for top-tier interactive suppliers is also growing.”
Bob Shropshire, president of Dentsu Canada, said Gramlow and Loughran leave big shoes to fill, but he will take his time finding replacements.
“This is a great opportunity for Michael and Amanda to start something,” he said. “The current state of the economy has us less busy than we’d normally be, so I don’t feel the urgency to fill [those positions]. I do feel the need to be sure we find the right people and make sure we keep the quality as high as it’s been with Amanda and Michael.”
