2013 Jury

Baron Manett
SVP
Ariad Communications

As one of Canada’s leading brand builders, content marketers, and a frequent speaker on audience engagement, Baron applies his distinctive vision and expertise to the current and future needs of Ariad clients. Baron is adept at developing and executing marketing strategies that grow brands and align messages with maximum results.

Baron’s notable career spans the worlds of digital, branded entertainment, promotion, and experiential marketing. His relentless focus on innovation, quality and results, coupled with his experience in launching and growing some of North America’s leading brands enable the development of marketing ideas and programs that connect and resonate with both consumer and B2B audiences.

He co-chaired the inaugural 2013 CMA Content Marketing Show Conference, is a Senior Judge for the 2013 CMA Awards. Baron is co-authoring the CMA White Paper on the state of Content Marketing in Canada. Baron is a founding member of the B'nai Brith Advisory Council to the League for Human Rights Baron holds an MBA and a Graduate Diploma in Arts & Media Management from the Schulich School of Business.

Benjamin De Castro
VP of Brand and Advertising
Kobo Inc.

With over 17 years of experience, Ben has seen marketing tours of duty across several industries including with such companies as Bell Mobility, ING DIRECT, Toronto Star and currently with Kobo. A fervent brand champion, Ben is always looking for new ways to interact with consumers as they evolve their relationship with the brands they love.

Dan Hunter
Partner
IMI International

Dan is a partner at IMI International, a firm that has been helping its clients make smarter, more cost efficient business decisions for decades. Dan combines his marketing management experience from companies like P&G and Molson-Coors together with marketing research insights and consulting to provide fact-based optimization to his International clients’ marketing initiatives.

Danielle Wallace
Vice President, Marketing and Business Development
Best New Product Awards

Danielle Wallace is VP Marketing and Sales for the Best New Product Awards, the most credible consumer-voted CPG awards, where she currently overseas the North American and global operations. Prior to joining, she primed her marketing expertise in a series of progressive management positions at Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo Foodsover the past decade. Her focus on business growth and marketing excellence resulted in her $100 million portfolio exceeding sales targets and with numerous corporate recognition awards. At the Best New Product Awards, Danielle has built a strong team and more than tripled growth, while providing a resource that consumers can trust when choosing new products.

Danielle is passionate about developing the skills of others and she designs and facilitates marketing workshops for the CPG community, which all receive best-in-class feedback.Danielle coaches and mentors many professionals in the consumer goods industry and through programs for new immigrants.

Danielle has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with Honours from University of British Columbia specializing in Marketing. She was awarded her Competent Leader and Competent Toastmaster designations and has won numerous speaking competitions.

Darren Mahaffy
VP Marketing
Nature’s Path Foods

Darren Mahaffy leads the marketing efforts at Nature’s Path Foods as the Vice President of Marketing. He has extensive knowledge and experience in consumer brands, having worked atleading consumer packaged goods companies including Procter & Gamble, Gillette and Campbell’s. He has a passion for beating the completion through great trial generation programs, building trust in consumer brands and driving higher ROI through test-and-learn approaches.

Darren came to Nature’s Path, North America’s largest organic cereal manufacturer, from Weston Bakeries, Canada’s leading commercial bakery. During his tenure at Weston,his team received two Grand Prix awards in 2010 for their work – Best in Bakery and Top Consumer Acceptance for GadouaMultiGo. He also led the award winning promotional program behind Weston’s 2010 Winter Olympic Games program- Winner of Global Best Temporary Display at the 2010 POPAI Awards.

Darren worked at Gillette Canada, where he led several launchesincluding Gillette Fusion, Tag Body Spray, and Venus Embrace. Before Gillette, Darren worked at Campbell’s on the Ready to Eat portfolio and Pepsi-QTG on the Tropicana Pure Premium business. He started his career at Procter & Gamble in Toronto, building health and beauty care consumer brands including Crest, Scope and Pantene.

Darren lives in Surrey, BC with his wife, daughter and son. He is an avid hockey fan and enjoys curling.

Derek Joynt
Partner
Influence Marketing

Derek Joynt is a Senior Marketing Executive with a proven track record of outstanding business results. His unique point of difference is a powerful combination of Tier 1 consumer packaged goods, agency AND retail experience.

Having spent the first part of his career on the agency side before joining PepsiCo and then Cadbury Schweppes in key marketing roles, Derek has the advantage of an exceptional range of relevant business knowledge in shopper marketing, sales, joint business planning, insights and strategic planning. As Director of Marketing at Walmart, he was responsible for leveraging shopper and category insights to develop go-to-market strategies designed to influence merchandise planning, seasonal advertising and in-store experience.

Outside of the office, Derek loves spending time with his family. He is also an avid sailor, traveller and part-time runner.

Imran Choudhry
Vice President
TrojanOne

As Vice-President, Consumer Engagement, Imran oversees all aspects of client service at TrojanOne. An innovative and seasoned entrepreneur connecting client objectives with consumer passions to drive ROI, Imran demonstrates a unique knack for seeing the big picture and forging meaningful and successful relationships with clients.

Developing integrated brand campaigns to engage consumers through all touch-points including media, sponsorships, events, digital, experiential and grassroots, as well as retail, Imran brings over 10 years combining expertise with passion to create successful partnerships with major properties and organizations. From FIFA, Hockey Canada, Luminato, Toronto International Film Festival, to the National Capital Commission and Scouts Canada, Imran has helped a long list of blue chip brands, including Astral Media, BMW, Coca-Cola, Cineplex Entertainment, Family Channel, Imperial Oil, Mattel, Nike and OLG.

His leadership has produced many of TrojanOne's most successful campaigns, including Gold award-winning work on Nike RUNTO, the Coca-Cola Zero Fans First Game, and more recently the Hot Wheels® Colour Shifters™ Road Trip, a program which saw TrojanOne create the first ever life-size colour shifting car.

A lifelong sports enthusiast, Imran was the starting goalkeeper for the Yeomen Varsity Soccer team "back in the day" at York University. Perhaps that explains why he’s so quick to react to clients’ needs.

Julie Raheja-Perera
Sr Director, Portfolio Marketing
PepsiCo Beverages Canada

Julie has been Sr Director, Portfolio Marketing since 2011. This role includes management of partner brands/sports properties, innovation commercialization process, and planning to execution for in-store, shopper & local marketing for all PBC brands. Julie joined PepsiCo in 2001 as a Marketing Manager on Mountain Dew, and took progressive roles with increasing scope and responsibility.

Before this current role, Julie was the Director of Marketing for Gatorade and Aquafina. Under Julie’s leadership, Gatorade achieved record share and brand health metrics through an integrated campaign. It leveraged U.S. strategy to contemporize the brand and broaden its appeal to more athletes through a uniquely Canadian athlete and marketing plan. This was followed up with an innovation plan that moves Gatorade from a hydration brand to a sports nutrition brand with the launch of the G-Series in 2011. This was part of a Cassies award win in 2013.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Julie worked at Kraft (Nabisco) in marketing. Julie graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration. She is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School, Leadership Development Program. Julie, her husband and two sons live in Toronto.

Todd Allen
Director, Light Segment
Labatt Breweries of Canada

Todd Allen is an entrepreneurial Senior Marketing Executive with more than 13 years of experience in the fast-moving consumer goods industry. He is currently the Director of Marketing for the Premium Light portfolio of brands at Labatt Breweries of Canada (Anheuser-Busch InBev), where he is responsible for both Bud Light and Michelob Ultra.

Most recently, Todd led the launch of Bud Light Platinum and brought Bud Light Sensation, the world’s leading dance event to Canada. Prior to joining Labatt, he spent 11 years building brands at Unilever and Sun Products Canada, holding Senior Manager Positions in both Marketing and Sales. Todd is a graduate of Acadia University.