Alain Desormiers, founder of Touché! and CEO of PHD Canada, and Phil Rowley, Group Innovation Director of PHD Global Business are named as Innovators of 2018. The Internationalist has selected 24 men and women throughout the world, who are all poised to make a difference in 2019.
Alain Desormiers, CEO, PHD Canada
This year’s Innovators are transforming our concepts of a contemporary advertising business. This extraordinary group of individuals from all corners of the globe are embracing change and making a difference for their organisations and for their clients. Many are reinventing business models, while being scrupulous about hot-button issues like return-on-investment, transparency and brand safety.
Alain Desormiers is the founder of Touché! and CEO of PHD Canada. One of the most awarded agency executives in Canada, Desormiers managed the Montreal and Toronto offices of Touché! and the PHD and OMD offices in Montreal, all under the umbrella of Omnicom Media Group. He has now added all PHD activities across the country to his portfolio – to brilliant success.
Phil Rowley, Group Innovation Director, PHD Global Business
Phil Rowley is Group Innovation Director of PHD Global Business. Phil has turbo-charged innovation across PHD by creating and institutionalising a new media innovation process across a global network of 100 offices to prepare clients for the future. In addition to his role as Innovation Director, Phil Rowley is a Media Futurist who believes in simplifying the complex and energising clients. He is the co-author of the book, Merge | The Closing Gap between Technology and Us.
Every year since 2006, The Internationalist has named those agency executives who have the rare ability to rethink current notions of brand building by simplifying complex internal processes, encouraging collaboration, managing risk while working in the midst of fast change, keeping sight of “the big idea,” championing multinational strategy, and involving customers directly in the creative process. Known as Innovators, they underscore how breakthrough thinking knows no bounds of geography, age, company size, or title within today’s agency organisations. They are often the unsung heroes of making projects happen.
Past PHD Innovators include Malcolm Devoy, Chief Strategy Officer EMEA, PHD Worldwide; Toby Hack, CEO, PHD Global Business; and Hilary Jeffrey, EVP, PHD Worldwide.
