Image of Adam Zolis courtesy of Labour

Toronto-based agency Labour is expanding its offerings beyond PR and creative advertising with the launch of a dedicated strategy practice to be led by long-time brand builder Adam Zolis.

Zolis joins the shops as its head of strategy after a year-long stint as the strategic VP at advertising consultancy The Turn Lab. He previously spent 11-plus years as a strategy director as a founding partner at Arts & Mechanical, acquired by The Turn Lab in 2024, and has executed strategic campaigns for major brands including Microsoft, CIBC, AMD, AstraZeneca and Peller. Zolis has also worked as a managing director at Jacknife and an account director at John St.

Labour says the launch of the new practice comes after receiving client feedback about the challenges of breaking through the volume of content that audiences consume daily. President James Loftus said in a statement that Zolis will play a key role in helping clients better understand how people discover, consume and engage with brands through strategies that drive demand over time.

“They want efficiency and ROI, but what’s changing is the media environment,” says Loftus. “Audiences are more selective than ever about the content they engage with and brands need smarter guidance from agencies on what actually earns attention versus how to pay for it.”

In the newly created role, Zolis will also be responsible for expanding Labour’s use of AI-powered insights, predictive measurement capabilities and intelligence tools to help brands make more informed business decisions by building on the agency’s proprietary “Earned Demand” prediction model.

“We understand that consumer behaviour is fluid, and the factors that drive engagement are constantly changing,” Zolis says. “We’ve built processes, within our ‘Earned Demand’ model, to monitor and respond to these changes and become increasingly predictive in how we advise clients. Every campaign becomes another opportunity to learn, refine the model and build a stronger understanding of what earns attention in different categories and markets.”