MEX Wins: AToMiC Awards
March 9, 2023
Get to know our history, our people, and what’s happening with us these days!
Media Experts was founded in Montreal in 1981. Back then, the ad agency world was made up of predominantly full-service agencies. Companies such as Media Experts (specializing in the art of media buying) were thought to be rebels. To this day, we honour our maverick roots by always striving to be nimble, adaptive, and ahead of the competition in an ever-changing media landscape, allowing us to grow our customers’ businesses.
We have, and continue to be privileged to provide high performance media solutions, driving the sales of some of Canada’s leading brands and most savvy marketers. We provide advertisers with proven, award winning media solutions across all traditional, digital and emerging platforms. We deliver the best of both worlds: an agency with an entrepreneurial, independent spirit backed by best-in-class global resources. The result is agility, efficiency, and innovation.
Business growth does not just happen. You need always-on, active leadership; leaders with the foresight to know where the industry is headed, and how to capitalize on those changes for each client. Collectively, our leadership team has over 280 years of tenure at Media Experts – a rate unsurpassed by any agency in the country. Meet the people who grew our business with their hands-on approach to each and every client.
A recognized leader in the Canadian media landscape with over thirty years of experience in the field, Robert has a proven ability of delivering impressive results that strengthen brands by marrying client needs with agency offerings. Through measured steps, active listening, and intelligent risks, he capitalizes on prime conditions to reach strategic goals.
During his time as SVP of Digital for Media Experts, Robert was instrumental in developing, activating, and amplifying our digital practice, including the launches of our substantial Search practice as well as XPETO, our proprietary online advertising trading desk. Now, as Chief Executive Officer, he is evolving our customer-focused model to further our mission as a data-savvy, solutions-driven, cross channel media agency, bringing the agency and our clients into the next frontier of media solutions.
Outside of Media Experts, Robert’s vast experience extends on both the vendor and agency side, having propelled the digital agenda for Canoe.ca, Excite Canada, Standard Interactive, Microsoft, and The Globe and Mail. He is currently the Board Treasurer for Vividata, as well as Merit Award Bursary Program and has sat on the jury panel of several Canadian and international media industry awards.
An exceptional negotiator with over 30 years of experience in extensive cross-platform media buying and planning, Richard’s talent in bringing innovative and custom-designed strategic direction to Media Experts’ clients has been finely tuned over his career.
Richard consistently draws on his unique consumer insight skills, incisive analysis, and contagious enthusiasm to develop media plans for clients such as Bell, Michael Hill, Planet Fitness, Interac, and Kayak/Open Table. In his current role as Chief Procurement Officer, Richard not only oversees the Investment and the Broadcast teams, he is also responsible for all media investment and for managing relationships with our media vendors. He ensures that our clients consistently enjoy superior media value by institutionalizing bespoke trading strategies, procedures, and tactics that maximize customization, innovation, and advertising effectiveness.
Richard spins his natural leadership and industry know-how to gold, winning top honors at the Media Innovation Awards for his work with Bell. Outside of Media Experts, Richard has volunteered on a Habitat for Humanity build in the Philippines. He has also participated in the Executive Sleep Out for Covenant House and served as a mentor for a Covenant House young adult.
Unfailingly personable and resourceful, Flavia D’Orazio brings over 20 years of media research, planning and buying experience to her role as Executive Vice-President, Client Services, Head of Quebec. Her extensive experience across all media channels, combined with a highly results-focused approach, underpin Flavia’s commitment to the growth of our customer’s businesses. A lifelong student of human nature, she draws on her Sociology Degree to understand and analyze consumer behavior.
Whether negotiating with our partner suppliers or leading Media Experts teams in the execution of custom-designed media plans, Flavia searches relentlessly for the breakthrough solution that ensures our customers’ needs are attentively, and cost-effectively, delivered.
The collaborative relationships Flavia nurtures with creative and vendor partners continue to enable innovative and award-winning results. In 2010, Flavia mobilized her teams to conceive and execute campaigns that captured two Media Innovation Awards.
Flavia has been instrumental in the continued growth and success of the Bell Let’s Talk Day awareness campaign and is a champion for the Défi Candarel run for cancer research in Montreal.
For more than two decades, Kris has applied his passion for consumer insights and competitive strategy to help his clients build leadership positions in the marketplace. In his role as Senior Vice President at Media Experts, he brings strategic focus, extensive research abilities, and keen consumer insight to clients.
Kris has driven success on a variety of accounts, from iconic and innovative global brands to disciplined packaged goods companies, FS, automotive, travel and leisure and national retailers. He has also spearheaded numerous research projects to better understand the consumer mindset, lifestyle, and media consumption habits across all channels to establish the most meaningful connection between brands and their customers. He was instrumental in developing breakthrough media research initiatives that have won several Media Innovation Awards. He is also a member of the client advisory council for Touchpoints Canada.
Digitally dexterous and growth oriented, Patricia “Patty” Gray has 22 years of experience planning and buying online media for major brands across several categories including telco, government, travel, auto, finance and CPG, in addition to regionally specific and highly targeted campaigns.
Patty’s digital acuity is nothing new. Instrumental in launching Media Experts Digital practice, her passion for the rapidly evolving digital space ensures that she stays current by managing relationships with our digital vendors and positioning our customers to benefit from new opportunities, emerging technologies, and the early insights gained from leveraging first-to market opportunities.
In her current role as Senior Vice President, Digital, she leads Media Experts’ Digital Center of Excellence, helping them shape their role as digital thought leaders and navigating our client business through this ever-evolving landscape.
Patty’s guidance has pushed her teams to take home twenty industry awards in Mobile, Search Marketing and Digital innovation in the past two years for clients such as MINI, BMW, WestJet, and Pizza Pizza.
Patty sits on the Board of House of Hope and is one of two employees in the Ottawa area.
Armed with over 25 years of financial and business management experience, Vasso plays a pivotal role overseeing all daily financial and accounting operations of the company. Vasso combines her ability to attract great talent with strong leadership skills to motivate and coach her team members to achieve all established objectives. She ensures Media Experts payroll, administration, billing, collection and financial reporting teams adhere to industry-leading processes.
Under Vasso’s detail-oriented leadership, the Finance Department ensures the rigorous scrutiny of all customer expenditures and the clear and concise administration of all customer billing and adjustments.
Working closely with all levels, throughout all departments, Vasso ensures reliable systems of internal controls are in place to safeguard assets and provide accurate reporting on financial results.
A strategic, creative leader with more than a decade of experience in the industry, Morgan is known for consistently delivering big wins for the brands he works with. His sound media knowledge, rooted in research methodology, make him an important asset for the Media Experts leadership team, where he has been instrumental in the agency’s growth.
During his time at Media Experts, Morgan has increased the agency’s presence in the West through close collaboration with our SBU and network partners, as well as through thought leadership initiatives, spearheading such industry events as The Future of Privacy, Leveraging Today’s Data for Tomorrow, The Impact of Culture, and Connecting with Impact for Marketing Effectiveness. In his current role as Vice-President, Client Services, Head of Western Canada, Morgan works to ensure that clients have access to the resources and expertise needed to achieve their goals and to continue to thrive within the ever-evolving market. He is also focused on elevating the conversation around marketing effectiveness and media responsibility, ensuring that we are making the right investments for our clients from an ROI, DEI and ESG perspective, enabling us to protect our clients’ brands and grow their businesses. His diverse roster of clients over the years has included BC Hydro, ATB Financial, Earth’s Own, Best Buy, Whitecaps FC, Science World, Subway, and Specsavers.
Morgan’s passion for media extends well outside the office. He is a proud supporter and advocate of NABS, acting as chair for their Cannes Screening charity event for three years in a row. He was also recently appointed to the BCAMA board. Effective in July 2022, his role will include supporting and advancing the media dialogue in the Vancouver market, leading the development of their Senior Executive Program.
A forward-thinking leader with an unshakable passion for data, Jennifer ensures that Media Experts’ clients continuously evolve and innovate within the digital space. Since getting her start at the agency over 10 years ago as a search analyst, which first sparked her love of data and analytics, she has continuously and successfully applied her ambition and strategic thinking across several industries, including Telco, Fashion, Retail and Automotive,
In her previous position of Managing Director, Audience and Analytics, Jennifer led the growth of Media Experts’ Business Intelligence practice and helped launch Audience and Analytics, a specialty service that encompasses business intelligence and offers premium audience development and optimization to get media working harder and smarter.
In her current role as VP, Digital, Head of Audience and Analytics, Jennifer educates advertisers on the optimal usage of targeted marketing with the most advanced technology and reliable data sets to speak to the right audiences in order attain the real-world business results that tie directly to the impact of their advertising efforts.
Jennifer is the senior digital lead for clients such as BMW/MINI, CAA and EQ3, and her efforts have gained some high- profile recognition within the industry. Amongst others, her Media Innovation Awards wins for her work on MINI and BMW campaigns showcase her ability to create innovative solutions and drive outcomes that matter for her
clients.
Passionate and unflinchingly dedicated, Lloyd is a thirteen-year Media Experts veteran committed to amplifying our customers’ success by building strong relationships and maximizing media campaigns. From servicing our clients, analyzing and reporting on strategic direction and market trends, to working closely with other media planners and creative agencies, Lloyd works tirelessly to execute innovative, calculated and performance-oriented campaigns.
Lloyd’s expertise spans across several industries including telco, government, pharma, retail, travel, finance and e-commerce, giving him an intimate understanding of business across varied sectors and platforms.
In his current role as Vice-President, Client Business Partner, Lloyd continues to develop strategic insights and focus on results-oriented solutions for all of his clients. He is also a member of the Media Experts management team, leading and evolving our practice into the future.
His stellar reputation speaks for itself, having won Media Innovation Awards, a Prix Media Grand Prix and the inaugural Mentor of the Year award here at Media Experts.
Resourceful and solutions-oriented, Rachel has been a key contributor to Media Experts’ operational excellence since joining the agency in 2006.
After getting her start on the Media Experts Broadcast team as a Media Coordinator, Rachel quickly climbed the ranks, eventually finding herself on the operations team, where she discovered her true passion for streamlining and automating processes within the agency. She continues to play a pivotal role in ensuring compliance to process and data security according to company principles and practices.
In her time as Managing Director, she provided subject matter expertise regarding key business process decisions related to media execution and operational workflow. She was also responsible for overseeing the Financial Operations, Business Solutions and Project Management teams.She has been an essential collaborator with respect to developing solutions for IPG, bringing value to the entire network.
In her current role as VP, Operations, is responsible for Media Experts’ overall operational goals, which branches out to all teams including the SBUs.
An expert negotiator with 15 years of experience, Pina handles cross-channel vendor relations with resourcefulness and foresight.
Pina has elevated Media Experts to the next level of its broadcast business. Instrumental in efforts to future proof the agency, she transformed what was primarily a traditional TV and radio team into a full-service digital broadcast team, fully equipping them to thrive within today’s landscape.
Having started at Media Experts as a Media Coordinator, she quickly climbed the ranks of the organization, occupying key roles on the buying and planning teams with a focus on luxury automotive and retail. Through these experiences, she acquired strong media knowledge and discovered her passion and talent for negotiating. She has brought this expertise to her roles ever since.
Pina has a solid 360 foundation in traditional media buying, planning and investment. She has closed agency-wide deals across all media channels, which were hugely beneficial for the agency and its client roster. A hands-on leader, she has led the charge to ensure her teams were trained to hunt for the best possible value across all channels.
In her current role as VP, Investments, she oversees all media buying and will continue to manage the broadcast, digital investment, and centralized buying teams. She is also responsible for the growth of Media Experts’ connectivity to IPG partner agencies, teams and media vendors.