Just five years into her professional career, Celia Gibb has been part of Canada’s first ever silver-winning team at the Young Lions Media competition in Cannes, developed several highly successful media campaigns for a diverse group of clients, and earned the respect and admiration of both colleagues and superiors.
“It seems to be a fit so far,” she says.
Gibb, 28, describes her role as supervisor, communications strategies at M2 Universal as “a fancy way of saying media planner,” yet her day-to-day involvement with clients like Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) can encompass multiple roles: From consumer research and strategic planning, to proposal evaluations and social campaign management (which she insists is not just a fancy way of saying she hangs out on Facebook).
“When people think of advertising, I don’t think their mind immediately goes to media,” she says. “But I think we have an interesting challenge to get creative in where we’re investing and how we’re talking to consumers.”
Gibb arrived at M2 in May 2013 as the agency’s first-ever “hybrid planner,” bridging the gap between online and offline media planning.
Colleagues and superiors describe her as “driven, talented, creative and positive,” praising her extra attention to detail and calling her a “go-to person” for never-been-done-before media initiatives.
“You will never get a cookie cutter idea from her,” says Kate Pedchenko, senior strategy planner at M2.
Gibb’s work with long-time M2 client DFC, for instance, has produced several highly successful programs, including the 2014 “Recharge with Milk” campaign to convince consumers to consider chocolate milk as part of their post-workout routine, and the installation of the Get Enough Helper app designed to remind consumers to drink the required amount of milk per day.
Nathalie Savoie, assistant director of nutrition with DFC, said Gibb’s media strategy led to 128,000 app downloads in 2014, surpassing objectives by 256%. The app consistently ranks among the top 30 free health apps.
She has also been recognized on the international stage. Along with her partner of five years Megan Metzak, Gibb won Canada’s first-ever silver medal at the Young Lions Media Competition in Cannes this past June.
She is also a proud winner in both MacLaren McCann’s Throwback Thursday and Ugliest Christmas Sweater contests – she even “bedazzled” the latter herself – and was nominated for the agency’s 2014 Creative Wizard award, bestowed on those deemed to have gone above and beyond on creativity for clients.
“At the end of the day, it’s [about] creativity with numbers,” says Gibb of her role. “Where the fun is, is taking that data and building a story around it.” So far at least, Gibb’s story is one of early-career success.
