Facing a weaker brand now than when he became Liberal leader, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tapped a marketing guru with self described expertise in “understanding Millennials and Generation Z” to become his executive director of communications.
CTV News has confirmed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has hired Max Valiquette to lead his communications team starting next month, as first reported by The Hill Times on Friday.
Valiquette has spent decades in the marketing sector, and his LinkedIn profile says he’s “one of the country’s best known marketing leaders, strategists and presenters, with a 20-year career focusing on brand building, marketing, innovation, and understanding Millennials and Generation Z.”
Coming in to PMO at a time when the “Nanos Party Power Index Tracking for Canada” shows Trudeau’s trend line on “quite a steep downward trajectory,” it will likely be Valiquette’s job to help revamp the impression Canadians have of the Liberal government eight years in.
Valiquette’s “Speakers Spotlight” page touts that Trudeau has called him “a ‘don’t miss’ speaker, while noting he has helped “some of the biggest companies in the world” transform their brands.
Among his listed past clients are Nike, Budweiser and Coca-Cola. He also founded now-shuttered Youthography, described as “North America’s first youth-market focused research and marketing firm.”
Valiquette also worked for Toronto-based award-winning advertising agency Bensimon Byrne between 2011 and 2015.
Bensimon Byrne was the firm behind Trudeau’s 2015 English-language TV advertising campaign that featured him on an escalator talking about how it felt “hard to get ahead,” and strolling through Confederation Park with Parliament Hill in the background, addressing head-on the Conservatives’ charge that he was “just not ready.”
“I’m a strategic planner and consultant. I’m a public speaker, writer and media figure,” reads Valiquette’s “about me” page on his personal website. “I focus on what’s new, and modern, and what’s young, and now. I help companies, organizations and brands figure out solutions to their problems, usually by understanding their consumers or citizens.”
With files from CTV News’ Rachel Swatek
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