Toronto agency The Hive has made a series of senior personnel moves it says are intended to strengthen its management team and position it for further international growth.
Speaking with Marketing on Thursday, The Hive president and CEO Andy Krupski said the personnel moves are intended to “de-tangle” the decision making process and make the agency more responsive to clients, while simultaneously positioning it for growth in the U.S. and Europe.
The moves include new roles for vice-president and chief creative officer Simon Creet and VP of client services Trent Fulton, who now become co-managing directors of The Hive’s Toronto operation.
Krupski called Creet one of Canada’s “pre-eminent” creatives who has made a “massive impact” on The Hive, and lauded Fulton as “a creatively oriented strategic guy. “They make a magnificent pair.”
Hive founding partner Rick Shaver has also assumed the newly created title of senior VP and managing director of global partnerships, a formalization of a pre-existing role nurturing global growth.
The Hive is currently doing work with SABMiller in the U.K. and Brown-Forman in the U.S., and has also created global operating divisions including The Hive U.S. and BF Canada Powered by The Hive.
It also recently forged a relationship with a U.K.-based agency, a non-network shop that Krupski described as “one of the more creative agencies in London.” The partnership is part of a new business relationship that Krupski said will produce work within the next few weeks.
“We want to deliver a superior product and be pushing the boundaries of thinking and inventiveness,” said Krupski. “To do that we’ve got to get our roles clear so that we don’t have two people trying to do three jobs.
“This business is a momentum business – you’re either going up or down,” he added. “I’ve always believed that if you want to grow and continue to grow, you’ve got to take part of that growth and invest it in the future and that’s really a fundamental part of this announcement. It’s just investing so that we can continue that momentum.”
