Diamond has hired Peter Ignazi as its first chief creative officer.
A high-profile creative leader in Canada, Ignazi was most recently at Cossette where he spent seven years before departing as global CCO in February. Prior to that, he spent nine years with BBDO Canada.
Under his direction, Cossette was among Canada’s leading creative agencies, winning top prizes at both domestic and international awards shows for clients including SickKids Foundation, McDonald’s Canada, and General Mills.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the inherent, almost effortless creativity of true entrepreneurs. They don’t just find innovative solutions to challenges—they actively search out opportunities where none seem to exist,” said Ignazi. “Diamond was born out of this operating system and live it daily for their clients. My goal here is to help broaden, and hopefully raise the creative aspect of this entrepreneurialism to new levels.”
Ignazi’s hire comes after a strong year of growth for Diamond that has seen it add several key new clients including theScore Bet, Accor Hotels, and the Ontario Tourism digital assignment, while also bolstering its creative department with a series of new additions.
“I’ve seen Peter Ignazi in action for years and admired his creative leadership,” says president David Diamond. “We are an agency who has always been relentlessly focused on solving our client’s biggest challenges; with Peter at the helm, we can now provide them access to the best creative talent in the world.”
Ignazi’s hire follows several other senior creative appointments, including creative directors Jordan Cohen and Mark Holden, and will build upon the ongoing leadership of SVP, creative director Dave Stevenson. Diamond has grown to 120 employees across offices in Toronto and New York.
“Dave Stevenson has done an incredible job leading our creative group to this point,” said Diamond. “He’s been a key contributor to the agency over the past number of years and will continue to be for many more to come. With Peter, we are adding creative firepower that few agencies have, firepower that will bolster our already strong and diversified teams executing across the entire marketing funnel.”
Mike Pierantozzi joins Movers+Shakers as exec creative director
Creative agency Movers+Shakers has appointed Mike Pierantozzi as executive creative director. In this new role, he will help guide the creative direction of Movers+Shakers’ socially-native campaigns. Pierantozzi will report to co-founder and chief creative officer Geoffrey Goldberg.
With nearly two decades of experience as a copywriter, creative director, and multi-platform storyteller, Pierantozzi brings a wealth of knowledge from his work with major brands including Kraft, Unilever, IBM, and Walmart. He has led the creation of award-winning campaigns for agencies like Red Tettemer, Ogilvy, The Brooklyn Brothers, TAXI, Saatchi & Saatchi, and most recently, Vayner, where he spearheaded culturally iconic work for Planters including “Death of Mr. Peanut.” He led the National Down Syndrome Society and Luvs account, whose “First Kid. Second Kid” campaign was awarded by the Effies, ADC, Clios and LIAs.
Outside of the office, Pierantozzi practices what he teaches brands. He’s gone viral multiple times on his own TikTok account, featuring comedic interactions with his son and a trombone. He’s accumulated 15K followers on TikTok.
“Mike brings a rare and awesome combination of deep social and platform experience, a keen eye for excellent storytelling, and a humble and kind approach to leadership,” said Goldberg. “Mike’s got a knack for turning brand stories into cultural movements, making him the perfect fit for Movers+Shakers. He’s got the kind of bold vision and attention to culture that fits perfectly with our mission to push creative boundaries and drive industry firsts. Plus, as a creator himself he has the innate ability to make people stop, laugh, and share--which is exactly what we’re about.”
“I’ve... Read More