Narrative PR announces two co-CDs

Narrative PR has tapped Laura Serra and Meredith Klapowich to fill the newly-created roles of co-creative directors. The two will lead all creative work for Narrative and be part of a broader creative team supporting the Toronto PR firm and its sister agencies Bensimon Byrne and OneMethod.

Serra joined Narrative in 2011 as director of lifestyle brands. Klapowich joined Bensimon Byrne in 2005. She worked as an account director and later joined the creative department as an art director. In 2014, the pair transitioned their roles into a senior creative team supporting all three agencies and their varied specialties.

The thinking behind creating CD roles at Narrative was that “you really do the best work for your clients when you get the right team together,” said Sarah Spence, who joined Narrative as managing director in March.

“There were two creative powerhouses here and I’ve had the chance to work with them on a few projects and there’s amazing chemistry between all of us. They do some fantastic work, so I wanted to pull them in and have them lead creative for all of Narrative.”

With the changing nature of PR today, Spence said agencies needed people who think “more collaboratively across all the channels and with all the disciplines.”

“Laura and Meredith had the chance to do that, working with both Bensimon Byrne and One Method, and so their experience really elevates what we’ll be able to do at Narrative.”

Joseph Bonnici, partner and executive creative director at Bensimon Byrne, said aside from their expertise in areas like digital and social, the two also have experience in strategy and positioning, having both started off as account directors.

“They really are the perfect melding of experience and talent that they can bring to Narrative because more and more, I think clients are demanding that kind of thinking: strategy from creative people,” he said. “You’re not just creative people here, you’re expected to be strategic and be part of the process and be at the table.”

Since joining the creative team in 2014, Serra and Klapowich have worked on a number of brands including Cactus Club Cafe, Aldo, Jackson-Triggs, Grey Goose, Reitmans, Blistex, Red Bull, Bayer and Google Canada. Most recently, they led a digital/experiential campaign for Häagen-Dazs with OneMethod, a creative PR campaign for Marriott Hotels with Narrative, and are currently working on several LCBO projects with the team at Bensimon Byrne.

Klapowich said the new position is “a way for us to move seamlessly across the agency in a senior creative way… I think being able to continue this hybrid role that switches from PR to experiential, to digital to social all in one day is what’s most exciting for us.”