Toronto-based brand activation agency Fuse Marketing Group has hired Patrick Weir as vice-president, creative director.
Weir comes to the agency from a similar role at DraftFCB, where he worked on campaigns for Molson Coors, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, TD Bank and others. Weir has worked in advertising and media for more than two decades, and in 2008 created the influential LinkedIn group Brand Activation: Cutting Through the Clutter, which today has more than 20,000 members.
L-R Heather Kinoshita, Patrick Weir and Dima Zelikman
Weir replaces Brenda McNeilly, who spent seven years with the company as creative director and senior copywriter.
“I’m excited to go back to my roots to an independent agency that is more of a challenger versus a big marketing machine,” Weir said in a release. “It gives me the chance to build a dynamic creative team that can create innovative ideas that deliver value for our clients.”
Weir’s creative team will include two new senior new hires – associate creative director Dima Zelikman from Tribal DDB Toronto and copywriter Heather Kinoshita from Proximity BBDO.
Notable clients the team will work with include Canadian Tire, Interac, CIBC and the 2015 PanAm Games in Toronto.
Zelikman’s recent work includes Canadian Tire’s interactive digital catalogue, “The Canadian Way.” Prior to his work at Tribal, he was creative lead at boutique agency Biz Media, which focused on online video production.
Kinoshita has written several recent campaigns for Blackberry, including “Why BlackBerry” and “Trade Up,” which won a bronze CMA Award last year.
