• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, September 8, 2017

Pittsburgh-based marketing and innovation shop Deeplocal has established an outpost in San Francisco with the hiring of Chelsey Susin Kantor as director of creative strategy.

Kantor’s appointment is the first step in building a major presence on the West Coast —i n both San Francisco and Los Angeles — according to the agency, a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff that was acquired by WPP earlier this year.

The move marks the 10-year-old agency’s first expansion beyond its Pittsburgh base. The West coast makes sense, given a client roster that includes Silicon Valley tech giants Google, Netflix, Airbnb and Lyft.

In fact, Kantor is joining the agency from a client—she previously was senior brand and creative strategist at the Google Brand Studio. Her remit at Deeplocal, which had $12 million in revenue last year, includes building new brand relationships and deepening ties with existing clients, as well providing strategic guidance on marketing innovation work.

Prior to her work at the Google Brand Studio, Kantor had roles at Google as product marketing lead for Google Play Books and Newsstand and G+ Brand Partnerships lead.

Earlier, Kantor was a strategist and planning director at several agencies, including Campbell-Ewald, Riney, AKQA and Mullen. She’s won a numerous awards for her work, including trophies from Cannes Lions, the One Show, Shorty Awards, Clios and the D&AD Pencil.

“This has been a year of milestones and growth for Deeplocal—including our 1--year anniversary, our acquisition by WPP and now this important step of building a greater presence on the West Coast,” stated Deeplocal CEO and founder Nathan Martin. “Pittsburgh will always be home, but as we continue to evolve, it’s exciting to be building an on-the-ground team in other cities for the first time.”

Martin added that Kantor’s “creative talent, perspective and experience make her a valuable contributor and an excellent representative of our team and work to the West Coast.”

Deeplocal is currently looking to hire creative teams or individuals in both San Francisco and LA, including strategists, designers, marketing consultants, creatives, artists, writers and makers.  Client service and business development talent is also being sought. Interested parties can apply here.