BCP announced this morning the appointment of a new president, Alain Bergeron, formerly chief marketing officer and vice-president, corporate communications of Astral.
He takes over for Yves Gougoux, the Montreal agency’s chairman, who had been acting as interim president since the departure of John Parisella last fall for New York, where he is Quebec’s Delegate General.
When he left Astral at the end of May, Bergeron said he wanted to take a break and reflect on the future of his career. “At 45, I had planned on taking a step back to better define what I wanted to do and, honestly, I was aiming to come back at the beginning of 2011,” Bergeron said.
“I was examining a few possibilities, such as starting my own agency or joining one that shared my values,” he said on the phone from the BCP’s offices, where he was officially introduced to employees this morning. “When Yves Gougoux approached me and we started discussing our vision, it soon became clear that I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.”
Bergeron will officially become head of the agency on Nov. 29, “but those who know me know I will stay up to date as of now.
“It is a privilege to be associated with an agency with so much history that has known so much success and performance. I want to continue to build on these solid foundations, to ensure that BCP will set itself apart through the quality of our services and advice. And I will of course focus on developing new business and products.
“The switch to an agency is a natural one,” he added. “Some people warned me that it would be very different [from working in a media company], but in fact, I was the in-house agency at Astral. I had clients in TV, radio, and Ian [Greenberg] was also a client. In nine years, we went from two to 14 [marketing] people and I was so close to the agencies during this period that this has become an environment I feel comfortable evolving in. It allows me to combine two core interests: creativity and strategy.”
