Leo Burnett Canada’s Strategy Team Expands and Diversifies in Response to Agency Growth

From top left, clockwise – Sarah Carpentier, Ryan Roberts, Pooja Beri, Mani Du Plessis, Alex Singleton

Following a run of new business wins in the first half of 2023, Leo Burnett Canada have announced multiple promotions and hires across its Strategy team. 

Led by Tahir Ahmad, chief strategy officer Leo Burnett Canada, Ryan Roberts has been promoted to SVP group strategy director. Ryan has led strategy across key Leo clients including GM, Enbridge, and TD Bank for the past four years and helped co-author our inaugural The HumankindTM Study, now in its third edition. In his new role, Ryan will oversee the Strategy group and will play an important part in helping the creative consultancy achieve its ambitious growth plan as part of the management team.

Mani Du Plessis and Pooja Beri have both been elevated to group strategy director. Both will see their mandate increase as they take on more leadership roles at Leo Burnett.

New hires include Sarah Carpentier as behavioral scientist. Sarah has a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology. As part of her mandate, Sarah will be joining The HumanKindTM Study team which will now launch for the first time in the US along with the next Canadian edition in early 2024. Alex Singleton, has been hired as a Senior Strategist, and will support new business wins including, most recently, Pizza Hut Canada.

“We are in a strong position thanks to our recent growth to add more depth, experience and expertise to our team” says Tahir Ahmad. “It’s exciting to be able to bring new insights and perspectives to help fuel our creativity, while at the same time recognizing the contributions of our great people.”