Following its Nissan Infinity win, Toronto-based Union is opening an office in Montreal.
Union partner and president Subtej Nijjar said the agency had been using freelancers and partner agencies to handle French work for clients like Kraft, Best Buy and Hotels.com. “The recent Infiniti win increased the need for us to have a real integrated creative offering across all of Canada,” he said.
The MDC Partners-owned agency has tapped Martin Belanger as its managing director and creative director. Belanger had worked with Union on a project basis and is the former associate creative director at DentusBos. He also served as VP, creative director at Ogilvy Montreal.
“He’s an immensely talented creative director who has a real strong understanding of ideas that work across markets,” said Nijjar. “He has similar views [to the agency’s creative leaders] on what makes great ideas, how we move brands and then drive businesses. So there was a natural fit and he’s just an awesome guy.”
Union has also made three additional hires — an integrated producer, an accounts lead and a creative person, and is looking to increase staff on the creative, strategy and accounts side. While the Montreal office will officially open in April, Belanger’s post is effective immediately.
Aside from servicing current clients, Nijjar believes having a formal presence in Quebec will help Union win new business.
“I think clients are looking for an integrated agency and traditionally that was defined by the capabilities of the agency, [such as] CRM and digital,” he said. “Now it’s around how you bring those ideas to market across the entire country, to all consumers. We pride ourselves on being a consumer-focused agency and it just made a lot of sense to have that offering. And we feel that is a key piece to help us grow.”
