Alastair Taylor​

CEO

Alastair Taylor is a transformational leader, building corporate cultures for the modern business reality. With a proven track record in business development and culture creation, his diverse category experience across the UK and North America has seen him drive top and bottom-line growth through talent and diversification.                                                                            ​

Currently the CEO of Publicis Media in Canada, Alastair has an overall responsibility for the business, including the strategic direction and vision across the Publicis Media Canada brands Zenith, Starcom and Spark Foundry. Alastair has extensive entertainment experience including Disney, eOne and Netflix.​

Alastair brings many years of experience within the alcohol industry. He is backed by five years with Molson Coors, three years with Theakstons Brewery, and one year with Corby Spirit & Wine.​

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Heineken 0.0 ​​​

​Véronik L’Heureux​

EVP MANAGING DIRECTOR

After building media brands within the Publicis Groupe in Quebec, which grew to five times its size within four years, Vero now leads Spark Foundry in Canada. Over the years, her 360-media expertise was put to use on numerous accounts such as Air Transat, Campbell’s, Starbucks, BEL Group, Lowe’s, Disney and Bombardier. Passionate and committed to the industry, Véronik was President of CDMQ (Media Director Board of Québec) for two years, and now sits on the board of CMDC and A2C.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Coors Light​​

Paul Hewitt

VP GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR​

Paul is the business lead at Spark and ensure you have the right agency talent in place to push your business forward.

Paul worked in media and creative agencies for 20 years in both Canada and the US with a particular focus on fast moving package goods. Paul get’s excited when we merge strong strategy, smart data and a great creative idea into an amazing consumer experience that drives the business forward.

Paul’s work has been recognized over the years with five Gold Media Innovation Awards.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Vizzy

Dylan Montcalm

GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, MEDIA PLANNING​

Dylan has over 10 years of experience in paid media strategy; holding roles at Adobe, Carat, Cossette and CIBC before joining Publicis Media. He has partnered with world class brands such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Toyota and Fox Entertainment delivering holistic, cross-channel planning. In addition, Dylan has retail and luxury experience, currently leading media planning for Peoples Jewelers and Miele. He has a deep understanding of the Canadian cannabis industry; collaborating with the likes of major Canadian Licensed Producers in previous roles.

Dylan delivers plans that balance brand building with driving performance to deliver sales and ultimately growth.  In his spare time, he enjoys working out, reading, horror movies and travel. He has a passion for collecting vintage designer furniture and spending time with his cats, Monkey & Mango.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Creemore Springs

Jeff Thibodeau

President, PMX

Jeff Leads Publicis Media’s Investment business PMX across all media channels. Jeff’s role is to maximize value for clients through our deal negotiations and supporting our partners to ensure we continue to have a thriving Canadian Media Industry.

Jeff’s recent background was leading digital for the Publicis Media agencies, with 25 years of experience in media, the last 15+ in digital media, Jeff has a unique understanding of the role digital and MarTech play in a holistic, measurable performance marketing strategy. Primarily in integrated leadership roles encompassing strategic planning, digital and analogue media deployments, Jeff is a skilled communicator, innovator, and business relationship facilitator with the entrepreneurial spirit.

He is leading clients into new digital media platforms. Jeff is able to make the complex simple and is a true innovator and motivator.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Molson Canadian

Derek Bhopalsingh

EVP, PLATFORM MEDIA

Derek Bhopalsingh is a leader in the Canadian digital marketing landscape. He oversees programmatic, search, social, and eCommerce as EVP of Platform Media for the holding company. With almost two decades of experience, Derek knows how to build high performing teams and how to drive excellent business outcomes for his clients.

He is also known for his work through the IAB, representing the Canadian agency community as a member of the board of directors. He participates regularly in mentorship initiatives and is a regular speaker at industry events.

Previously, Derek has held senior roles in both agencies and holding companies – focusing on elevating digital, data and analytics. He is a product of both York University and Georgian College.

Derek is backed by roughly 10 years of alcohol industry experience proven from his time working with Molson Coors

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Miller High Life

Simon Chan

SVP, MEDIA BUYING

Simon leads a team of video and audio buyers. Simon’s roles is to acquire the right content for the highest efficiencies, lead the agency negotiations with broadcasters and most importantly, coach and mentor people.

Simon has over 25 years experience in the industry and brings a very unique lens with having both buying and selling expertise.

Most recently, Simon was the Director of Revenue Management at Rogers Sports & Media where he lead  go to market strategies, set up revenue models, pricing,  audience forecasting on all their Television brands.

Simon is a very passionate leader and a collaborative individual with all key stakeholders.   Having spent a majority of his buying experience at Publicis, coming back in 2021 was coming home.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Creemore Springs

Reza Alibhai

COMMERCE LEAD

Reza has been part of the Publicis Media eCommerce team for over two and half years. Reza’s role is to provide support to advertisers who are either already set up or looking to be in position to activate in eCommerce and Retail Media.

With over 13 years of experience, Reza’s background in media started of in Digital Media and over time growing into different roles such as overarching Strategy management and as well Data Science focusing on automating dashboards and building forecasting models. During the rapid growth of eCommerce during the lockdown, Reza saw an opportunity to take on the challenge of this new and emerging channel, taking him back to his roots in media, more specifically digital/performance media.

Passionate for what he does, Reza is leading clients into a new era of Digital Media providing his expertise on how to best manage eCommerce and Retail Media.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Molson Export

Lauren Martini

INVESTMENT LEAD

Support the Group Investment Director and team in media trading and television buying across a designated portfolio. Core responsibilities include managing a team to execute successful campaigns geared toward defined business objectives and goals.

Lauren is an experienced media buyer with a proven track record in negotiating and executing strategic advertising campaigns across various channels. She is proficient in market research, budget management and cultivating relationships with media vendors. With over 12 years of experience, she has been able to build a strong set of communication skills and a keen understanding of industry trends to drive impactful media strategies.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Vizzy Hard Seltzer

Jane Kartesheva

PROGRAMMATIC LEAD

Jane has accumulated four years of experience in the advertising media industry, predominantly on the agency side, with a brief stint on the brand side. In her current capacity as a Programmatic Manager, Jane specializes in aiding clients in the development, execution, and optimization of programmatic media strategies to align with their goals.

Beyond the professional realm, Jane harbors a passion for travel, whether it be exploring the diverse landscapes within Canada or venturing abroad. Known for her meticulous planning, she strategically organizes her travels in advance to uncover budget-friendly options. Looking ahead, Jane has set her sights on a trip to Japan with her partner, a venture she plans to embark on next year.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Coors Light

Arcie Gonzalez

OOH Traffic

Arcie is one of the OOH supervisors on the Apex Exchange team, a buying arm of Publicis Media. Arcie’s role is to overlook OOH planning/buying across all agencies and to present new innovative ideas to each team. Arcie has been in the industry for 10 years and has 360 planning background knowledge with a strong understanding of Out Of Home in the Canadian Market. Strong relationships with clients and vendors led Arcie to be apart of award-winning campaigns at Publicis Media. Arcie always steps forward with her creative ideas, communication and leadership skills.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Creemore Springs

David Rusli

CHIEF STRATEGY & DATA OFFICER

A strategist at heart, David is responsible for leading a team that bridges people and data, creativity and advanced analytics in order to create meaningful experiences across paid, owned and earned touchpoints. ​

He is focused in distilling complex brand problems in simple terms and providing an equally simple and meaningful solution. ​

He believes in looking beyond the numbers and putting the audience at the heart of everything, creating strategies that are loved by people and brands.​​

David has worked across various categories and brands in a few countries. Prior to this role, as the Global Strategy Lead on Microsoft based in New York, he designed the global planning system for Microsoft as well as the launches of Surface and Xbox One X amongst many.

David brings you one year of previous work experience with AB InBev

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Topo Chico

Priyanka Bora

GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

A seasoned media professional armed with a repertoire of varied expertise across verticals like Media Planning, Media Auditing and Consumer Insights. Priyanka Bora brings over 15years of global, multi-market experience to our team.

Priyanka is passionate about mining the human truth to unearth consumer challenges that aid balanced decision-making. Priyanka’s interest and understanding of human insights help bring the smallest of ideas to life, creating meaningful data stories.

In Publicis Media, Priyanka leads various research projects like competitive analysis, segmentation research to better understand the emotions of our audiences, market-mix modelling, consumer behavior, and developing and implementing media tools across the agency.

Favorite Molson Coors Drink: Coors Light