Citizen Relations’ Toronto office has new leadership.
Mark Carpenter, previously VP of digital at the agency, and Sabrina Kandasamy, previously VP of strategic planning, will co-lead the office as deputy general managers.
Carpenter and Kandasamy will continue to lead the firm’s digital and strategic planning functions: Carpenter as SVP of integrated communications and Kandasamy as SVP of strategy.
Carpenter was formerly group digital director at BBDO. Kandasamy was director, media and digital marketing at kids and teens entertainment brand Spin Master, in addition to operating her own strategic consulting practices.
Both joined Citizen Relations just over a year ago, as the agency started to put a more concerted effort in strategic planning, creative and analytics.
Nick Cowling, president of Citizen Relations Canada, said the agency had seen tremendous success with the new model. In the first half of the year, Citizen Relations has won a number of new clients including Molson, Dyson and PepsiCo Foods.
Carpenter and Kandasamy replace Rob Moore, who left the agency in February after less then a year in the GM role. When the role was vacant, Carpenter and Kandasamy “put their hands up,” said Cowling. For Cowling, there were two things at play: “First was, ‘I don’t want you to take your eye off the functions that you’ve been building,’ but I do see also the value of having strategy and integration leading one of our offices.”
Carpenter added that “PR is evolving as other marketing disciplines are evolving including traditional advertising, and we want to be at the forefront of that evolution.”
