First there was Touché, then it was Touché PHD and now there is also Touché OMD.
The Montreal office of Omnicom’s media agency OMD has been rebranded as Touché OMD with Touché founder Alain Desormiers assuming the title of CEO.
“The change is because Alain [Desormiers] is an incredible resource and he has built the [Touché] brand to an envious position,” said Cathy Collier, CEO of OMD Canada.
Soon after taking over OMD last August, Collier began talking with Desormiers about growing the OMD office in Montreal, which worked on regional work for national clients with just a limited number of full-time employees. “There is a lot more potential there,” said Collier. “There is room to grow.”
By November, former OMD Montreal manager Mike Chiasson had left the agency and Collier was looking for a new leader. In conversation with Collier, Desormiers said that Touché PHD was running smoothly with Karine Courtemanche in control as president since October 2010; Desormiers felt he could dedicate time to helping OMD.
Desormiers founded Touché in 1995 before selling to Omnicom in 2004. Since then Touché PHD has performed well for Omnicom, winning awards and clients and earning a reputation for media creativity.
Collier said OMD has garnered a reputation for creative media thinking itself, but admitted she hopes the agency will perform even better with Desormiers on the team and Touché on the door. The office is moving immediately into growth mode with plans to add staff, she said.
The rebrand means Desormiers effectively takes on an Omincom Media Group (OMG) role, reporting to both Collier and Fred Forster, CEO of PHD Canada.
“[PDH and OMD] are still separate brands with two separate leaders and offices,” said Collier, adding Desormiers is the only link between the two agencies. “They will continue to be two competitive brands,” with potential conflicts handled on a case-by-case basis.
Leading the charge for Touché OMD against Courtemanche and her team at Touché PHD will be Nicolas Marin.
Desormiers hired Marin from independent media agency Espace M, where he was a partner. Marin started with OMD on Monday.
“Nicolas has exactly the kind of business leadership, media knowledge and enthusiasm we were looking for to redeploy OMD in Montreal,” said Desormiers, in a release. “His strengths in analytics, media creativity and in digital represent the perfect skill set in today’s complex media battlefield.”
