Gaétan Frigon
Executive Chairman
gfrigon@publipage.com
Gaétan Frigon, Executive Chairman at Publipage Inc., graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1961.
Mr. Frigon has pursued a career primarily in the retail sector, first with Eaton’s, Canada’s leading retailer at the time, and then with other major organizations involved in franchising, food retailing and publishing.
In 1983 and 1987, Mr. Frigon won the Mercure for Marketing, awarded by the Quebec Chamber of Commerce. During the same period, he developed a unique and innovative concept to obtain corporate visibility – the Gala Metrostar (now known as Gala Artis), which is the Quebec television broadcasting equivalent of the People’s Choice Awards.
In the early 1990s, Mr. Frigon drew on his vast experience to launch his own business ventures. He developed several consumer-oriented products for sale in supermarkets and convenience stores. One of those concepts was the “Fiches cuisine Bon Appétit,” a line of recipe cards issued periodically that broke all sales records for continuity collections.
In 1998, Mr. Frigon was appointed the President and CEO of the Société des alcools du Québec (the Quebec liquor board), a government-owned corporation responsible for purchasing, importing, warehousing, distributing and retailing all wine and spirit products in Quebec. More recently, Mr. Frigon was Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Loto-Québec, another government-owned corporation responsible for gaming and gambling (casinos, lotteries, etc.) in Quebec.
In 2001, Mr. Frigon was named Personality of the Year by the Association Marketing de Montréal, the local branch of the American Marketing Association. In 2002, he was awarded the Prix Dimension by the Ordre des administrateurs agréés du Québec (the order of chartered administrators in Quebec). In 2004, Mr Frigon successfully managed the financial restructuring of Groupe San Francisco, an important retail company operating in Quebec and Ontario.
Mr. Frigon is the co-founder of Publipage, with his partner Hélène Héroux. He has been the Executive Chairman since 1998.
Helene Heroux
President and Chief Executive Officer
hheroux@publipage.com
Hélène Héroux, President and CEO of Publipage Inc., graduated from Université Laval in Quebec City in 1981, with a degree in business administration, marketing major.
Ms. Héroux began her career as a media supervisor for Cossette Communication-Marketing, Canada’s largest advertising agency. In 1983, she became Director of Communications for Telemedia, a major Canadian publishing organization, where she was involved in the successful launch of several monthly magazines that are still among the best sellers in their categories.
In 1987, Ms. Héroux joined Transcontinental Publishing, another major publisher in Quebec and Canada, as Director of Marketing, before joining Metro-Richelieu as Director of Direct Marketing. In 1990, she became Executive Assistant to the President for Quebecor Publishing, with a major role in the launch of continuity collections.
In 1991, Ms. Héroux launched her own business ventures with her partner, Gaétan Frigon. Numerous successful concepts were marketed, notably the “Fiches cuisine Bon Appetit,” a collection of recipe cards that were sold in over 8,000 points of sale in Quebec, and the “Qu’est-ce qu’on mange ?” (What’s for dinner?) recipe book that sold more than 200,000 copies, and the “Argent du monde” (currency of the world) continuity collection that featured coins and paper money from 39 different countries.
In 1996, Ms. Heroux co-founded Publipage Inc. a directory advertising agency. She has been the President and CEO since 1998.
Ms. Heroux is also the founding president of the Société québécoise de marketing direct (Quebec’s direct marketing association).