Montreal out-of-home start-up Impax Media has added a former Astral Out-of-Home executive to its leadership team as it gears up for what it calls a “rapid expansion” across North America.
The company announced this week it has hired media sales veteran Eric Menzies as its vice-president of sales and network development. Menzies has nearly two decades of experience, having most recently spent eight years with Astral, the past six as director of street furniture advertising.
Menzies has amassed extensive experience in network launches over the course of his career. He was a key figure in launching Astral’s massive Toronto street furniture contract, and had a hand in the rollout of its so-called “Signature Column” product as well as its digital transit shelter and column networks in Toronto and Montreal, respectively.
His career also includes a stop at Zoom Media, where he launched the Zoom network in the U.S. and opened a New York office, and Media Group, where he was GM, Ontario and Western Canada, and opened the Toronto offices of mall media advertising company Neo-Traffic Speed Experiential Marketing.
In his new role, Menzies will be responsible for finding retail partners for Impax Media’s “digital media gate” in the key Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver markets, as well as building and leading its sales team.
The digital media gate sits at grocery store checkout lanes and doubles as a security system and ad network. The gates feature a 32-inch, 1080p digital screen that shows a combination of Canadian Press content and 15-second ads, and can be lowered to block access to closed lanes.
Lesley Conway, the former Astral Media executive who joined Impax as EVP/GM late last year, said Menzies’ experience and knowledge of the out-of-home space would be “instrumental” in helping Impax drive its growth strategy.
“With Eric’s proven track record in building client partnerships and leading top-notch sales teams, we expect our network to expand quickly and significantly,” she said.
