Marketing News Roundup: July 29, 2022

Today we feature a round-up of some big events and recent industry happenings.

• Golin Canada Hires Renee Weekes Duncan as Senior Vice President
• rock-it Promotions Wins Internationally Renowned Menswear Line, Atelier Munro
• TikTok’s Dominance is Now Expanding into News and Search

Read more below!

Golin Canada Hires Renee Weekes Duncan as Senior Vice President

Interpublic Group agency Golin, a global public relations agency that helps companies create change that matter headquartered in Chicago, announced today the appointment of Renee Weekes Duncan as senior vice president.

Based in Golin’s Toronto office (in the Globe & Mail Centre), Duncan will report to Lindsay Peterson, managing director for Golin Canada. Duncan will lead the consumer portfolio including Staples, Amazon Prime Video, Columbia Sportswear and Emma Sleep Company.

Duncan brings 15 years of agency experience to the role, previously holding the position of communications lead of inclusion and diversity and culture communications at Canada’s leading communications group, Rogers. Throughout her career, she has worked with many consumer brands including Nike, P&G, RBC, Coty, CBC, Wrigley, Hershey and the Ministry of Health in Canada.

“Renee is an important senior addition for us, bringing vast consumer brand experience to our growing team and practice areas (consumer, corporate and wellness),” said Peterson. “We know she will bring a fresh and seasoned perspective to our valued clients having both agency and in-house experience behind her.”

Duncan is dedicated to developing a truly inclusive workplace culture and this is reflected in her co-founding Code Black Communicator Network, a community that creates pathways to success, empowering the journey of present and future Black marketing communications professionals.

“I am excited to bring the experience that I have in the D&I space both internally to Golin, and to our clients and passionate about driving high impact and meaningful work,” said Duncan. “I’m also thrilled to help shape the team through mentorship and professional development – building off the tremendous growth at Golin Canada over the last 6 years.”

About Golin: Golin is a global public relations agency that helps companies create change that matters. Together, we discover powerful human truths that bind us, create with bravery and collaborate inclusively and obsessively. Golin’s 1700 global employees operate across 50+ offices worldwide, allowing us to provide our clients with comprehensive solutions for multi-market, regional and global communications programs. Golin was named PRovoke Media’s 2022 overall North America Agency of the Year, PRovoke Media’s 2022 and 2021 North America Large Agency of the Year, PRWeek’s 2021, 2020 and 2019 Global Agency of the Year, AMEC’s 2021, 2020 and 2019 Communications Research + Measurement Team of the Year, a 2021 Chicago Tribune Top Workplace and is the first-ever PR agency to be credited with “ideation,” when the firm took home Gold and Silver Lions at the 2019 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

rock-it Promotions Wins Internationally Renowned Menswear Line, Atelier Munro

After a competitive bid, Amsterdam-based premium menswear brand, Atelier Munro, has selected rock-it promotions as their PR agency partner in Canada. rock-it will support the launch of Atelier Munro’s Canadian flagship store, set to open in the Fall of 2022 in the heart of Toronto’s luxury Yorkville Village shopping district, and the brand's expansion plans across the country.

The brand, which builds on extraordinary personal service from around the world to create quality, made-to-measure clothing, will usher in a new era for menswear in Canada, with a focus on slow fashion and pieces that are made to last. From knitted polos to handmade shoes, they offer easy to layer, versatile pieces, with a focus on timeless, seasonless essentials like an understated yet elegant solid sport jacket.

Their stunning 3,000 square foot Toronto home at 19 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto will feature a beautiful three-story showroom complete with several luxury fitting rooms.

Atelier Munro joins rock-it promotions’ impressive roster of clients including Peloton, Knix, RBC, Dr. Martens, Chotto Matte, The JUNO Awards and more.

TikTok’s Dominance is Now Expanding into News and Search

As shared by Social Media Today, new reports are showing TikTok’s influence goes beyond entertainment, with younger users in particular now increasingly relying on the app for search and discovery.

As part of a recent panel discussion (Fortune’s ‘Brainstorm Tech 2022’ event), Google’s Senior VP Prabhakar Raghavan, noted that younger users were now often turning to Instagram and TikTok, instead of Google’s apps, for discovery purposes. Raghavan stated that: “In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search, they go to TikTok or Instagram.”

This increased reliance on the platform raises interesting questions considering the company’s speculated ties to the Chinese government. You can read more about this through the Social Media Today article.

Compiled by Emma Whiten, Editor of Marketing News Canada