• by Larissa Faw , October 23, 2015

VSA Partners has Poached Chris Cancilla from Trisect to oversee business-to-business (B2B) marketing programs as associate partner/executive creative director.

In this newly created role, Cancilla will focus on building integrated marketing programs for VSA’s longstanding business-to-business marketing clients and connecting them, when appropriate, with business-to-consumer efforts.

Historically, VSA has had ECD roles specific to its branding practice and specific to its marketing practice, but Cancilla will work across practices.

He will be based in Chicago, but work across offices in New York and Detroit, as well as with the full roster of clients, including CME Group, Mack Trucks and Cargill.

At Trisect, Cancilla was Chief Creative Officer, working with brands such as Kawasaki, Kimberly-Clark and ConAgra Foods. Cancilla has also served as SVP, Group Creative Director at Y&R Chicago, where he led integrated campaign work for Sears, Hilton, Dave & Busters and The American Red Cross.

At Leo Burnett’s Arc Worldwide, he worked with brands such as McDonald’s and Visa.

VSA developed this role specifically for Cancilla in light of his experience across the entire marketing landscape. William Rosen, partner and marketing practice lead at VSA, reached out to him thinking he would be a good fit for the agency. “He’s a great addition to our team and will help us continue to bring cutting-edge thinking to our growing roster of B2B marketing clients," says Rosen.

In 2011, VSA expanded upon its design and branding capabilities with the launch of its marketing practice. Today, VSA services all aspects of brand building and activation — "from brand strategy, narrative and design through data science, advertising and digital marketing."