TORONTO—Karacters Design Group, a division of DDB Canada, has hired Len Wise as managing director of its Toronto office.

“Karacters Design Group has a stellar reputation within the industry, and it has some great clients,” said Wise, in a released statement. “There is a real opportunity here to leverage and expand the agency’s talent and its integrated brand identity offerings. I’m really looking forward to driving the future growth and success of the division.”

Wise joins Karacters Design Group from Ove Design and Communications, a subsidiary of Publicis, where he worked as managing director for the last two years.

Wise replaces managing director John Furneaux who moved over to Identica Branding and Design. Interestingly, Furneaux left Ove to join Karacters in 2005.

Prior to Ove, Wise was a VP at Publicis in North America and the U.K. His clients included CIBC, Allstream, Hewlett Packard, Sun Life Financial and Grand & Toy. Wise has also worked for Bates Canada, The Cohen Group and BBDO. He has over 20 years of experience in the advertising industry. Contact: www.karacters.com