Canadian CEO Steve McCall upped to international head of client service
Global marketing agency KBS announced the promotions of president of KBS Toronto, Nick Dean, to national CEO, Canada, and KBS Toronto chief creative officer Matt Hassell to national CCO. They will both be responsible for the national footprint of KBS in Canada, including KBS’ Montreal office. Current Canada CEO, Steve McCall will be elevated to international head of client service where he’ll continue to oversee BMO, one of KBS’ most important global clients.
Following a two-year period of growth in Toronto, fueled by an all-time high of awards won and a slew of significant new business wins including ACE Bakery and CDIC, Dean and Hassell will be charged with leading KBS Canada on a national level. Both will report directly to Guy Hayward, global CEO, KBS.
“Canada is an important market for KBS. Our growth here will be driven by the quality of our creative output, which is why we’re pairing Nick and Matt to lead both our Toronto and Montreal offices. Over the past few years, they’ve been raising the quality of the work and building momentum for the Toronto office. We expect their tight partnership to do the same for both KBS offices,” said Hayward.
Dean and Hassell have known each other for the past 16 years and began their careers together at FCB Canada.
Current KBS Montreal president Annie Aubert and KBS Montreal executive creative director Sacha Ouimet will report to Dean and Hassell.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More