Mark Ayer named president and CEO of Crossmark Canada

After only five months with Crossmark Canada, Mark Ayer has been promoted from SVP customer development to president and CEO. He starts his new role Sept. 1.

Ayer, who got his start in the business at Kraft in 1989, replaces Chris Terrio, who held the president/CEO position for nearly six years.

In a press release announcing Ayer's appointment, Crossmark CEO Steve Schuckenbrock recognized Terrio for his leadership and "long list of business and organization building accomplishments."

Ayer, meanwhile, was quoted as saying he had been impressed with the people he's met at the company and proud to lead the Canadian team into "the next phase of growth."

"I'm looking forward to working very closely with all of our clients and customers as we continue our journey," he said.

Ayer left Kraft and joined Procter & Gamble Canada on the Gillette brand in 2005 and, following a series of promotions, became P&G’s vice-president, sales in 2010.

He returned to Kraft in 2014 to lead the company’s customer and retail business team, and remained through its merger with Heinz in 2015. He left a year later — amid leadership changes at the company — to pursue other opportunities.

Crossmark handles retail merchandising, in-store events, shopper and experiential marketing as well as data collection and field intelligence for a number of CPG brands.

Crossmark has more than 40,000 employees throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The company’s Canadian headquarters are in Mississauga, Ont.