Vision7 International is setting its sights on the U.S. and international growth and on Tuesday unveiled a new organization structure to make that goal a reality.
The restructuring comes eight months after Vision7, the parent brand for Cossette since 2010, was purchased by Chinese agency network BlueFocus.
Vision7 will consist of four operating divisions: Cossette Communications; Vision7 Media, including Cossette and Jungle Media; Citizen Relations, the firm’s PR brand; and the new The Camps Collective, formerly known as Dare in North America.
Overseeing it all will be Brett Marchand as CEO with a number of key appointments made to support his new international outlook.
Cossette has been enjoying a strong year of growth in Canada, but that is no longer enough, said Marchand.
The acquisition by BlueFocus in December included only Vision7’s North American operations, with the European holdings spun off separately. Vision7 has about 950 employees now, up 8.5% from Vision7’s North American operations a year ago.
An 8% or 9% growth rate in Canada is good, but can’t continue indefinitely, said Marchand. “And with our new owners, the expectations for growth are a lot higher.”
“Part of this is about freeing my time up so I can spend less time on administration, especially of the Canadian offices, and more time on helping the agencies grow internationally,” said Marchand.
The shift in focus for himself along with some other key Vision7 executives, became possible with a number of other recent hires and appointments a little further down the org chart, he said. Melanie Dunn was named CEO of Cossette Canada in June, for example, and Joseph Leon was named president of Vision7 Media a few weeks after. “They are all ready to run their own shops and they don’t need as much of my time and effort,” said Marchand.
Marchand said he expects the Cossette and Camps brands to have the most potential for growth in the U.S., while Vision7’s Citizen Relations PR brand has the most upside globally.
Overseen by CEO Daryl McCullough in Los Angeles, Citizen Relations now has offices in New York, Irvine, London, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver and just opened in Hong Kong.
Other key executives joining Marchand on his international mission include:
•Glen Hunt keeps his chief transformation officer title, but takes on a wider mandate as part of the growth team for Vision7 rather than just Cossette;
•Martin Faucher is executive vice-president and chief financial officer for Vision7;
•Valerie Swatkow, senior vice-president and national account leader on the McDonald’s business in Canada, was promoted to EVP client leadership, focusing on McDonald’s in both Canada and the U.S., as well as a strategic role for Vision7;
•Colin Schleining was appointed CEO of The Camps Collective which has offices in Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles.
Cossette founders Claude Lessard and Pierre Delagrave remain with Vision7, but in non-executive roles: Lessard as chairman and Delagrave as chair of the Vision7 innovation committee.
