Masterfile has announced that it restructured its marketing operations and established a department for product development and innovation. Picture-agency president Steve Pigeon tells Selling Stock that this reorganization will make operations more efficient, as well as allow key executives to focus on "some very cool product development initiatives."
According to Pigeon, the company has been running separate marketing departments in both the Toronto headquarters and Düsseldorf, the company's European base. Each had its own staff and management. "Of course, we can't retain a local flavor unless we have people on the ground in both markets, [but] this was inefficient and strategies were conflicting," he comments.
As such, Masterfile merged the marketing function under senior vice president Tomas Speight, who has managed the company's international sales since 2005 from Germany. Hailing from Zefa Visual Media and The Stock Market, Speight will now lead marketing and design teams on both sides of the Atlantic, each with separate responsibilities and areas of expertise.
Though he enthusiastically promises "ground-breaking stuff," Pigeon is keeping the details of Masterfile's in-development products under wraps. All he'll say is that part of the reason for the restructuring of responsibilities was to free up John McDonald, previously the Toronto head of marketing. Apparently, McDonald has been spending his spare time working on new product development initiatives that the rest of the executive team felt warranted his full attention.
With a shiny new title of vice president of product development, McDonald will spearhead the work of a new top-secret department. Having spent the earlier part of his 20-year career in the film and broadcasting industries, McDonald joined Masterfile in 1999 to later father the agency's intelligent search systems, SimSearch and Tag-Cloud.
While the very concept of restructuring strikes fear into the hearts of stock-agency employees, Pigeon says: "No layoffs. This was a reorganization of responsibilities, not a euphemism for downsizing."
In fact, the move is akin to a promotion for both Speight and McDonald. "Tomas' responsibilities have increased, and John is free to develop [products] that will make our competitors weep. Both are doing what they do best and enjoy most," explains Pigeon. He does, however, point out that neither executive can move much further up the proverbial food chain: Both Speight and McDonald are already part of Masterfile's 7-person executive team, which includes and is headed by its president.
In addition to offices in Canada and Germany, Masterfile runs sales offices in New York, Chicago, London, Milan and Paris. Company management says the reorganization will strengthen Masterfile's competitive position by optimizing marketing efforts and investing in innovation.