MDC’s Doner announced plans to expand its Los Angeles office beginning with the appointment of two new executives: ECD Jason Gaboriau and Managing Director Zihla Salinas (both of whom will also hold the executive vice president title).
Gaboriau, who was a member of the post-Bogusky team at CP+B, left that agency last fall after nearly four years during which he worked on Old Navy, A1, Grey Poupon, and various other accounts. Earlier in his career, he co-founded New York’s Amalgamated, which became Silver+Partners and will now close following Eric Silver’s February move to McCann.
While Gaboriau is modest about his CP+B work, the release tells us that he “grew the agency from a small production outpost with one client to a fully integrated agency with over 100 employees and several clients.” He replaces Rob Palmer, who left one month ago to accept a CCO position at area startup Fuhu (maker of the Nabi tablet for kids).
The move will allow Doner to “grow and define [its] vision for the future” by (possibly) doubling down on digital.
Salinas, who served as SVP of strategy and development at the larger MCD organization after spending four years as CMO at RAPP, will oversee all office operations and work closely with Gaboriau. In previous positions she specialized in “the rapid expansion of digital strategies,” hinting that Doner clients such as The UPS Store, Menchies, Neato Robotics, and Jafra International will see more digital work in the future. The agency also reportedly looks to hire in the coming months.
Both new executives will report to co-CEO/President David DeMuth and co-CEO/CCO Rob Strasberg.