Young & Rubicam Canada’s appointment late last week of Michael Shostak as SVP/MD interactive beefs up the Toronto agency’s interactive media capabilities. Prior to joining Y&R, Shostak was a consultant specializing in online marketing and interactive strategies, and VP/MD of Arnold Interactive.

Shostak will lead the interactive team at Y&R’s Toronto office and work collaboratively with the interactive groups at sister companies VML, Wunderman and mediaedge:cia. ‘Y&R is committed to interactive and digital as a core competency,’ he tells MiC. In his new role, Shostak says he’ll be joining interactive execs from the company’s offices worldwide, plus the chief digital officer at the Y&R’s NYC HQ, in aligning the company’s interactive capabilities on a global level.

‘The climate of digital marketing is changing,’ Shostak tells MiC. ‘Marketers are looking for one-stop shopping marketing solutions today, and interactive and digital capabilities are critical. There’s pressure on agencies to become much more sophisticated, to bring additional resources to meet clients’ needs for more interactive solutions as a part of their overall campaigns.’

Although Shostak declined to give details, he says an innovative campaign with interactive components for Ford Canada is set to launch next week. And several other big projects are on his plate, including one for client Wyeth Consumer Healthcare.