Jay Bertram is going to have to order new business cards. Already the president of TBWA\Canada, Bertram has just been named president of TBWA\Latin America. He will retain his Canadian duties, which he has held since 2006. TBWA Worldwide made the announcement today.
Bertram takes over the Latin American post from Gerard Govaerts. During Bertram’s transition into the role, which Govaerts held since 2009, Govaerts, a member of TBWA’s executive committee, will provide support.
“Jay [has] the skills required to help lead us to continued success in Latin America,” said Tom Carroll, president and CEO of TBWA Worldwide, in a release. (The company currently has 18 offices throughout the region with clients including Visa, Mars and Nissan.)
Bertram told Marketing he will relocate this summer to Miami headquarters for Latin American operations. “I’ll be back and forth between Miami and Toronto,” he said. “So it’s like being in Calgary – three hours away.”
As for TBWA’s Toronto office, Bertram says they’re still looking at whether anyone will be hired in light of this executive shuffle, “but I anticipate we’re going to handle it with an internal restructure. We’ve got a great team in place, so I’m not worried at all.”
Commenting on his new additional role, Bertram said, “Latin America is one of the world’s great markets and we have great offices there; my job is to help them be the best they can be.
“It’s more of what I was doing when we had [offices in] Vancouver and Montreal – it’s coaching and encouraging and motivating and trying to help people out.”
Bertram’s history in the business includes joining Chiat\Day as an account director in 1989. He subsequently became the co-managing director responsible for new business. Then, in 1995, he moved over to Cossette Communications where he was named a partner in 1997.
In 2002, Bertram returned to TBWA and led more than 85 employees in the Toronto office.
With 274 offices in 100 countries, TBWA has more than 11,000 employees around the world. It is part of Omnicom Group Inc.
