Peter Shier, the one-time vice-chairman of FCB Canada and president of FCB Toronto, has surfaced at Naked Creative Consultancy, a year after leaving his old shop.
“It’s just a really good fit and a really good opportunity,” says Shier, the former ICA chair who quietly began his new job back in September.
Shier is the company’s new president, brought on board after a recommendation from Greg Gray, associate creative director at Naked, who worked with Shier for five years at Interpublic-owned FCB (now DraftFCB).
“He’s a great addition,” Gray says. “He’s extremely smart and I loved working with him.”
Shier is charged with growing the company without violating the small-agency culture it has developed. “We don’t want to become a multinational, 200-person agency. We have a definite size in mind.”
With 13 staffers on the payroll and a goal to grow to 20 a year from now, Shier says the switch to a smaller shop came out of a desire to focus on creative, but also because he feels the agency is better suited to meet changing client needs.
“There are a lot of clients out there who are unhappy with the status quo. What Naked has offered for the last 10 years has been ahead of the curve,” he says, adding that the agency has been developing integrated campaigns before most other shops were even talking about it.
Shier is also a partner at the Toronto agency, along with co-creative directors Jim Whitney and Marc Giacomelli.
In business for 11 years, Naked bills itself as a non-traditional agency or “communication design” company. Its client list includes The Globe and Mail, Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, Rotman School of Management and the University Health Network.
