Crispin Porter + Bogusky‘s Toronto office has new strategic and creative leadership. Subtej Nijjar has been named president, taking over for the departing Shelley Brown.
The agency has also announced that Michael Murray has been promoted to vice-president and executive creative director. He replaces Aaron Starkman, who is also leaving the agency after nine years.
Nijjar joined CP+B in 2005 as a strategic planner. Named to Marketing‘s One To Watch list that same year, he went on to earn a series of director roles.
Nijjar recently played a “significant role” in the agency network’s successful pitch for Under Armour (a U.S. account win that, the agency said, tapped into the Toronto office’s resources). According to the agency, Nijjar also lead strategic teams for Best Buy and Domino’s in the U.S.
Brown was made president of the agency in 2009 (prior to its merger with CP+B when it was still known as Zig) when Andy Macaulay took on a chairman’s position and began stepping away from day-to-day management. According to a release, Brown is “leaving to pursue new opportunities.”
Murray, who takes over as ECD for the departing Starkman who will stay on through the end of the month, joined the agency from Taxi in 2008 after starting with Zig in 2004.
Starkman was often credited, along with long-time creative partner Stephen Leps who now works at Taxi New York, for Zig’s hot-shop creative status in the second half of the last decade. The pair won a number of awards including multiple Gold Lions in Cannes and oversaw much of the work for Molson. Starkman said leaving the agency “was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. I will always root for CP+B. There’s such an amazing energy here and it’s all about the work.”
“Shelley and Aaron helped grow Zig into a well regarded, creative agency and they were instrumental in the merger of that agency into CP+B,” said Chuck Porter, chairman, CP+B, and chief strategist, MDC Partners. “We remain great admirers and friends of them both. All of us at CP+B are extremely excited about the future with Michael and Sub, two incredible thinkers who truly understand our mission. With a collective voice, CP+B has never been in a better position than it is today.”
