Gaylene Macdonald
United Kingdom-based Myclever Agency has chosen Vancouver as the site of its North American office for business and personal reasons.
The social media agency says Vancouver is not only located strategically between Europe and Asia, with easy access to the U.S. market and other parts of Canada, it’s also a quick ferry ride away from founder Rob McNair’s hometown of Salt Spring Island, B.C.
McNair founded Myclever in 2009 in the U.K., and has since attracted a handful of large global brands such as eBay, Seagate, Nikon and Red Bull.
The story is, “small town boy leaves, does really well, then decides to bring his expertise and excitement back to his home province and to Vancouver,” says Gaylene Macdonald, the recently appointed president of the North American office.
Macdonald, who reports directly to McNair, says the Vancouver office was set up to help serve global clients interested in stronger North American partnerships.
She worked previously at Karo Group in Vancouver as vice-president of digital strategy and before that at Blast Radius as business development director.
Macdonald has more than 15 years of digital marketing experience and has worked with clients such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Lululemon, AOL and Paramount Pictures.
“When I was approached by Rob, I already knew of the tremendous success the agency is experiencing in the U.K., Europe and global markets,” Macdonald adds. “I knew this was something we could introduce to North America, and that Vancouver would be the perfect spot to start from. It really is my dream job.”
The agency’s Vancouver office will not only serve existing clients, but aims to land new clients, with an eye on some major Canadian brands as well as other global companies.
“Social is there and it’s across every industry,” says Macdonald. “That means we’re not beholden to just one.”
Myclever currently has three full-time staff in the Vancouver office including Macdonald, as well as a handful of freelancers. The office officially opened its doors in late July.
