Staff Announcement: Assistant Vice-President, Brand Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer

From: David Palmer, Vice-President, Advancement
Christine Szustaczek, Vice-President, Communications
Date: June 9, 2023
Re: Staff Announcement: Assistant Vice-President, Brand Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer

We are writing to share news of a title change for our colleague, Tanya Kreinin.  Effective immediately, the role of Assistant Vice-President, Brand Strategy & Integrated Marketing has changed to Assistant Vice-President, Brand Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer. In keeping with current practice, the role will retain its dual report to the Vice President, Advancement and the Vice President, Communications.

The AVP, Brand Strategy & Integrated Marketing was created in 2018 to provide leadership to institutional brand strategy and marketing and advancement communications and marketing, working closely with academic leadership and marketing and advancement teams across our three campuses. The title change to Assistant Vice-President, Brand Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer reflects how the executive responsibility for managing University-wide marketing activities has grown significantly over time, both in scope and impact, to encompass a broad range of priorities for the President’s, Provost’s, and Vice-Presidents’ offices, and for many important campus and divisional priorities. With increasingly ambitious agendas emerging from Simcoe Hall and TVP/P&D leaders requiring sophisticated brand marketing support and a high level of execution, the Brand Hub team which Tanya supervises, comprising UTC Brand Marketing and Advancement Communications and Marketing, has become even more integral to the success of these portfolios and their ability to craft compelling marketing initiatives that deliver on important business objectives.

Notably, in 2021 the AVP led the creation of the first University-wide brand, Defy Gravity, which also serves as the brand for the institution’s current fundraising campaign—a broad and consultative process that has led to an extraordinary degree of alignment and adoption across the University for the manner in which the Defy Gravity platform both reflects and embodies our institutional values, community, and aspirations.

Reflecting our unwavering commitment to a one university, three campus mindset, the AVP, Brand Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer will continue to work in close collaboration with the AVP, Communications and the Executive Directors at UTM and UTSC on major marketing and communications plans and initiatives. This integration is a hallmark of our collective success—an essential element in leveraging our resources to optimal effect in support of the University’s highest priorities.

We are delighted that Tanya has accepted this new challenge. Please join us in extending our congratulations to our valued colleague.