The Karo Group is growing both in terms of business and geography. Already established in Vancouver and Calgary, the agency has recently opened a Toronto office, hired a couple of senior staffers and picked up some new accounts.
Marc Whitehead is the senior strategist heading up the Toronto office. He was formerly with Tapestry and before that was a partner in Fresh Baked Entertainment, both based in Toronto.
Chris Bedford, Karo’s president and CEO, said it makes sense for the 40-year-old shop to have a national presence.
“We have always had aspirations to grow out of our Western Canadian roots and footprint,” said Bedford. “We see lots of different opportunities. There is more in the way of consumer marketing opportunities in eastern Canada and we can begin to build that national presence so we are in a better position to win other types of work.”
The strategy appears to be working. In recent months Karo has added Organic Meadow in Toronto and the Ottawa-based Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada as clients.
Back out west, though, Bedford said Karo added Wild Rose Brewery to the client roster this week. The Alberta craft brewery plans to increase the scale of its operations four-fold and develop a stronger brand over the coming year.
Gaylene Macdonald also recently joined the Vancouver office in the newly created position of vice-president of digital strategy. Macdonald, who was most recently with Blast Radius and has worked on accounts such as Lululemon, Starbucks and Microsoft, will help implement a digital strategy for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Karo has approximately 55 staffers across its three offices. Its existing client list includes accounts such as Simon Fraser University, Ledcor Group and Enmax.
