Toronto-based advertising agency Bensimon Byrne has appointed former Youthography co-founder Max Valiquette to the newly created position of managing director of intellectual property and content development.
Valiquette will manage the content development of the Consumerology Report, a national survey commissioned by Bensimon Byrne and conducted by The Gandalf Group, on a quarterly basis.
He has also been charged with advising agency teams across all departments on new and innovative ways to add value to clients’ strategic planning processes.
This marks Valiquette’s return to agency life after running the youth-focused market research firm Youthography, which closed in the last quarter of 2009 when several pillar clients from the U.S.–Durex and Mattel among others–scaled back spending during the recession.
Valiquette spent the last two years working in Toronto as a freelance consultant, focusing on modern consumers for clients within the travel, tourism and CPG sectors.
Valiquette said it was time to return to an agency setting. Working from home, Valiquette missed collaborating and bouncing ideas off of “smart strategic thinkers,” he said.
“[Bensimon Byrne] is an incredibly smart agency in terms of strategy,” he said. “I love the fact there’s different business units that work across the entire communications process but also very close relationship with a research company.”
Valiquette worked with Bensimon Byrne at Youthography. The two agencies partnered on more than a dozen projects including Stupid.ca and work on the Molson Canadian brand.
“Max Valiquette is one of the most influential thought leaders on technology, contemporary culture and youth behaviour,” agency president, Jack Bensimon said in a release.
“Creating successful campaigns for major brands relies heavily on consumer insight and Max’s skills in this area complement our agency approach.”
