The public relations community in Toronto has been in flux recently with a string of senior executive appointments.
Greg Power, currently senior vice-president and general manager of Cossette‘s Optimum PR practice, will take the president’s chair at Weber Shandwick on July 20, reporting to Cathy Calhoun, North American president for the Interpublic agency.
“It’s hard to turn down an opportunity to work with such a great global brand that sees Canada as a priority growth market, and is providing me with a national role, which is something I’ve always wanted,” said Power.
Weber Shandwick has offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa.
The agency has been without a president since the departure of Kerry Harris, who left in January to become chief marketing officer of Crosscap marketing consultancy.
Power has been at Optimum since 2007, when he joined from Edelman. At Optimum, he oversaw accounts for IKEA, Future Shop and Procter & Gamble.
Taking over Power’s vacated role will be Nick Cowling, currently vice-president, who joined Optimum at the same time as Power, having worked with him at Edelman.
With 21 staff, Cowling believes Optimum will grow to become a more national player.
“The business is set up incredibly well from a process standpoint,” Cowling said. “We have an incredible team and we’ll be looking to add a couple more.”
Meanwhile, yesterday marked David Gordon‘s first day as managing partner of Cohn & Wolfe Canada after 11 years with the firm.
Gordon assumed the role vacated by Peter Block who now steers financial communications at National Public Relations, Cohn & Wolfe’s sister agency within the Res Publica Consulting Group.
The appointment means Gordon broadens his purview beyond the corporate affairs clients such as Nissan and Nintendo he oversaw as executive vice-president. He now leads overall agency strategy and business development.
Gordon said he does not see the need for any drastic changes at Cohn & Wolfe, and plans to “continue to build on what we’ve been doing for the past couple of years,” developing the company’s position as a “creative communications” firm.
“We do professional services extremely well, bringing a different mind set to that space,” Gordon said. “That’s always been the corporate team’s cornerstone among business-to-business clients.”
