Carat Canada has announced new leadership for its Montreal office, with the appointment of Michèle Savard and Dominique Verdon as co-managing directors.
Managing director is a newly created position for the Dentsu Aegis-owned agency, with Savard and Verdon filling the vacancy left by former Carat Canada president Ody Giroux – who left the company in June after nearly 20 years.
Savard has spent the past eight years at Carat, and moves up from her previous role as senior vice-president, while Verdon – who joined the agency in 2013 – has been promoted from his previous role as VP, group director.
In an email interview with Marketing, Carat Canada president Jeff Dack described Savard and Verdon as “experienced leaders with deep knowledge” of the media business, and an understanding of where it is heading.
“More importantly, they fully embrace our agency vision and our values of collaboration, agility and performance, which ultimately is what keeps us ahead in the industry,” said Dack.
In collaboration with Dack, the duo will be responsible for piloting Carat’s growth and strategy in Montreal, particularly as it relates to the agency’s stated goal of becoming a “100% digital economy business” by 2020.
Dack said Carat’s strategic focus was on the digital economy, which he described as one of the “few certainties we can count on from a business context” in a world of uncertainty.
He said Carat was evolving from a media agency to an “audience agency” by offering data-led, real-time and fully addressable solutions for clients. He added that the company was committed to clients’ needs by “laser focusing” on the consumer and offering “precision, relevancy and accuracy” to their consumer outreach.
“By 2020 Carat will be recognized as the leading audience agency, with superior understanding and activation of people through limitless data connections,” he said. “Redefining media is our vision, and we are in the process of redefining ourselves too, both nationally and globally.”
Roughly six months into his role as Carat Canada president, Dack said things with the agency were “going great,” with the French research firm RECMA recently ranking Carat as the country’s second largest agency by volume.
“This recognition is a testament to our tremendous team,” he said. “I can’t say enough about the talent, collaborative spirit and curiosity of our 200 team members across the country.”
Dack added that he had been particularly impressed by the network’s ability to utilize the “remarkable potential” of the Dentsu Aegis business model, which allows it to tap into the best mix of network capabilities for its clients.
“We’re pushing forward great work thanks to this collaborative process,” he said. “Of course I’m biased, but I am truly excited about what the future holds for our clients, and for Carat and Dentsu Aegis in Canada and across the globe.”
