Birthplace Founder Patrick Scissons Joins Grey Canada as Chief Creative Officer

TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Stephanie Nerlich, President and CEO of Grey Canada, today announced that Patrick Scissons is joining Grey Canada as Chief Creative Officer.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110929/NY77904 )

The deal calls for Birthplace, the multidisciplinary agency specializing in emerging channels Patrick Scissons founded, to become part of Grey Canada.

"During our search, we met with many of the most talented people in the country," said Stephanie Nerlich.  "Patrick stood out because of his track record of award-winning work and the digital, social media and branded content expertise the Birthplace team will bring forward to enhance our agency's offering.  He's going to be a terrific leader of our creative department and an outstanding partner to me as we help clients blaze fresh trails in new media marketing."

Birthplace has become a recognized leader in digital, social and branded content.  Since its founding in 2009, the agency has grown to a staff of 20 with offices in Toronto and Vancouver.  Its client roster has included Walt Disney, Toronto Port Authority, CBS, CBC as well as Post Foods Canada and U.S.

"I am extremely excited to be joining Grey Canada and working with Stephanie again," Patrick Scissons said.  "The Grey brand has experienced explosive growth and creative momentum across the globe in recent years and we look forward to making Canada a prime mover in that success."

Patrick Scissons has consistently ranked in Canada's Creative Report Card as one of the top minds in the country.  As a former Creative Director and writer at BBDO, his work helped propel that agency to the top creative ranking in Canada in 2008.  His work has been highly awarded at home and around the world for both creativity and effectiveness, including a dozen Cannes Finalists (4 Lions), Clios, Communication Arts, One Show, Archive, and Canada's Marketing Awards -- where he was appointed Co-Chair in 2009.

Nerlich concluded, "Patrick has built a fantastic team that will complement ours and we can't wait to welcome them.  All of us have a passion for big, exciting creative ideas that can resonate across the media landscape."

This closes out a successful summer at Grey Canada.  Stephanie Nerlich joined as President and CEO in April and appointed two high-profile executives:  Malcolm Maclean as Vice President, Director of Strategy and Darlene Remlinger as Managing Director.  Recent new business wins, including new brands from GSK, and success at Cannes was topped off with Grey Canada becoming a finalist for Strategy Magazine's "Agency of the Year."

About Grey Canada

Grey Canada is a unit of Grey, the advertising network of Grey Group.  Grey Group ranks among the largest global communications companies.  Its parent company is WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY).  Under the banner of "Grey Famously Effective Since 1917," Grey Canada serves many of Canada's and the world's best known companies: Diageo, Eli Lilly, Energizer Playtex, GlaxoSmithKline Inc., Procter & Gamble, South Coast BC Transportation Authority/TransLink, Special Olympics Canada, Warner Bros., WirelessWave, and Tbooth Wireless.  Website: www.GreyCanada.com)

Contact: Owen Dougherty
212-546-2551
[email protected]

SOURCE Grey