One of Canada’s top creative directors to lead firm’s creative team
Edelman today announced the appointment of ad industry veteran Andrew Simon as executive creative director, Canada. Simon will lead Canada’s creative team, which has seen incredible growth over the past year. He will join the Toronto office on September 9 and report to Lisa Kimmel, president, Canada.
“Not only is Andrew one of the top creative directors in Canada, but his unique background brings a rich and important understanding of both the industry and our clients’ needs to the firm,” said Kimmel. “He has a proven track record of being a transformational leader and his exceptional talent will further bolster our creative team both locally and globally to help our clients show up differently through inspiring and engaging programs.”
Simon joins the firm from Cundari, where he has been chief creative officer since 2013. He began his career at JWT New York and Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles, moving to Toronto to join DDB, where he rose to the title of executive creative director. Under his leadership, DDB became Strategy Magazine’s Agency of the Year an unprecedented five times and Canada’s most creative agency six times. Simon has also been rated one of the top 10 creative directors in Canada for four years in a row in Strategy Magazine’s Creative Report Card.
Simon has been featured on CBC’s The National, Global TV’s National News, and CBC radio’s The Age of Persuasion and Q programs, and has been profiled by both The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. He currently sits on the board of the Advertising & Design Club of Canada and has spoken at numerous Canadian Marketing Association conferences. He also holds an MBA from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management and worked in-house at General Mills as an assistant marketing manager for several years.
“Edelman is truly unique in its size, scope and ability to develop earned-centric, social-by-design creative solutions,” said Simon. “I couldn’t be more excited about joining the team.”
About Edelman
Edelman is a leading global communications marketing firm that partners with many of the world’s largest and emerging businesses and organizations, helping them evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations.
Our Canadian business has matured from one that has been primarily geography- and practice-focused to one that is also specialty-focused. Our offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal offer several specialized areas of expertise – including creative, crisis & risk, insights & analytics, paid media and digital – to deliver best-in-class work to our clients in today’s complex media landscape.
Edelman was named one of Advertising Age’s “Agency to Watch” in 2014; one of Forbes’ “14 Most Influential Agencies of 2014”; The Holmes Report’s “2013 Global Agency of the Year” and was awarded the Grand Prix Cannes Lion for PR in 2014. In Canada, Edelman was among the top three finalists for Marketing Magazine’s 2014 Agency of the Year and has been named one of the Great Place to Work® Best Workplaces in Canada and Best Workplaces for Women.
For more information contact
Kelly Curran
Kelly.Curran@edelman.com