PUBLICIS CANADA BUYS INTEREST IN MEDIABEC
By Adnews Staff
Montreal-based Publicis Canada has bought a majority stake in Mediabec Inc. of Montreal. Under the deal, the two agencies will merge Mediabec with Publicis Promotions of Montreal and Publicis Direct of Toronto. The newly formed agency will be named Publicis Dialog. It will specialize in point-of-sale promotions, event creation, database set up and management, as well as loyalty building programs. Mediabec president and principal Gilles Charest will become chairman and CEO of Publicis Dialog, while Alain Cloutier, formerly president of Publicis Promotion, will become president of Publicis Dialog's Montreal office. Publicis Direct president Andy Kardos has been named president of the new agency's Toronto office. Mediabec has been operating since 1975. Its client list includes Nestle Canada Inc., UAP, Culinar, Convectair-NMT Inc., the Bombardier Transport Group and Perkins Paper Ltd. Publicis Promotion and Publicis Direct's client list includes Molson Breweries, Canadian Airlines, L'Oreal, Gillette Canada and the Reader's Digest Association.