Charlotte, North Carolina
-July 10, 2017- North American promotional marketing distributor, BrandAlliance, is entering the final stages of a two-year implementation for its merger with former promotional marketing distributor, Activate! Promotions + Marketing. As part of the process, BrandAlliance has initiated a coordinated centralization of its regional leadership across the U.S. and Canada.
The restructure will see a newly formed Eastern Canada region that will be comprised of the Toronto, ON, Waterloo, ON, and Montreal, QC offices. It will be led by Ian McLearon, who also leads the U.S. and Canada Enterprise Accounts division. He will be supported by Lindsay Alcorn, who has been promoted to Canada East Regional Vice President and will continue to assist Ian McLearon within the Enterprise division. The Eastern Canada region will also see the departure of Montreal President, Valérie Duchense-Carle, while Toronto President, Alan Chippindale, will be shifting back to a business development role.
In addition to an Eastern Canada region, there will also be a Western Canada region consisting of BrandAlliance offices in Calgary, AB, Vancouver, BC, and Vernon, BC. The Western Canadian region will be led by Ian Huntley, who has also been named as BrandAlliance's new Canadian President. Ian's new role fills a leadership opening that was left vacant by the departure of Nick Thompson.
As a result of these new Canadian leadership changes, the majority of personnel at BrandAlliance's Edmonton, AB office have chosen to transition to another Edmonton-based promotional marketing distributor in an effort to maintain their current leadership structure. The BrandAlliance Edmonton office is in the process of closing.
"The idea behind restructuring leadership is one of optimism and ultimately moving forward together as a stronger organization," said Ian Huntley. "While every move isn't always going to be the most attention-grabbing or most popular, it's important that it's still the right one."
In the U.S., BrandAlliance's structure will mirror Canada's, therefore the Central U.S. region and its employees will now be tucked under the Western U.S. region, which is led by Dave Claunch. Billy Booe will continue to lead the Eastern U.S. region.
"This regional realignment and consolidation of leadership will continue to help us realize our goal of a successful merger for all of our stakeholders," said Fred Parker, CEO of A Brand Company. "If you want to be competitive in this industry, it's vital to constantly evaluate your company's way of doing business, which means being open to change."
The U.S. and Canada regional restructuring will be completed prior to A Brand Company's Annual Sales Summit in July 2017.
For more information please contact Bryan McCormick.
Telephone: 800.520.2583
