Some of the Best
Canadian Agencies Doing It Right.
Agencies are great.
Big, small, boutique. Parent’s basement.
Okay, fine.
But all the agencies I’ve been to have left me in awe, and the ones that are still around are still around for a reason. Whether old and still relevant or new and making waves, Canadian agencies definitely have their time in the sun. For most, that time is June-September. The ones further north have substantially less. But Canadian agencies’ time to make a real splash is during the Agency of the Year awards.
Here are some Canadian agencies that are making splashes, and I’m getting wet just sitting here.
Wait. What?
I mean the splashes are so big that I can feel them even in Ottawa. The big, international agencies are typically in Toronto: Leo Burnett, DDB, Union, Grip, john st. And Toronto is where the Agency of the Year awards is held. A night for agencies to show off their creative raisons-d’etre — Canadian agencies’ night to showcase their culture and make all the other agencies laugh.
The profs are showing them in class, Adweek has posted about them, and ad folk are talking about them: Canadian agencies are putting out these videos. Hilarious videos. Each with a different sense. Sense of humour, sense of storytelling. Style, insight, thinking — a different sense of each. A different way to show off how they’re different.
Most agencies went funny. John st. puts out hilarious videos every now and then; sometimes self-deprecating, but mostly just kind of poking fun at the industry. Every time john st. puts out one of these videos I stop and watch. Like eight times. The love and craft and detail put into each story makes the over-indulgance totally worth it. And each video has its own brilliance — john st. pushes the fact that good communication stems from a great concept. The agency jumped all over the “Prankvertising” fad and devised ExFEARiential. Catvertising was a way-too-real parody video about cats dominating internet videos, business, marketing, and life in general.
Ever feel like real-time marketing is all about being first, and not about being good? You're not alone. John St., the…www.adweek.com
Reactvertising, though, is john st.’s newest bit of hilariousness. Every piece of the story fits down to the filming and pace. The spot makes fun of advertising while making fun of itself and its place in advertising at the same time. It’s fantastic.
The johnst. video library makes me want to work there.
CEOs and COOs and CDs and all the head honchos and big wigs all being part of the fun, all getting in on the joke. Any agency with this self-knowledge coupled with the minds and ability to pull off these videos is a winner in my books.
Of course Cossette’s “What The Fuck” spot was talked about. Cossette is that agency making waves. With offices as far as Vancouver, Chicago, and Halifax, the Toronto office and (head) offices in Montreal and Quebec City have a pretty good hold on things. Nominated for Agency of the Year, Digital Agency of the Year, and Media Agency of the Year, Cossette has ad freaks and geeks all over asking WTF is going on. I think the video answers the question nicely.
This business of advertising isn't easy. There are people who put their blood, sweat and tears into the campaigns they…www.unioncreative.com
Union’s “Employee Appreciation Day” video was so expertly done. A simple concept with so many delicious little truths hidden throughout. Like Smarties ice cream, if Smarties were truths and the ice cream was a hilarious video. I’d eat that. Shoot, I’d order seconds.
The big guys were still strong. They were not dinosaurs and they did not lumber. Things were kept young and quick moving, with a shot of the good stuff and a slap on the cheek.
Leo Burnett won Agency of the Year, and DDB was a runner-up. Both are hiring amazing talent, finding beautiful insight and producing outstanding work while wowing consumers and clients.
Okay, maybe not ALWAYS wowing consumers.
But fuck Twitter.
Out of all the agencies I rhymed off, john st. is my favourite. From what I know of them I feel I would fit in well. I’ve got a blog post comin’ through the pipes that will talk more deeply about which agencies are really doing it for me, why, and whether or not I think I’d fit there. All that being said, if any of the amazing agencies I’ve written about above wanted me I wouldn’t say no. Each has character and culture. Each has a unique set of benefits, a unique set of people to learn from, to help and get helped by.
Ad school is immersive. And in the final year, everyone is thinking about placements. Internships. I’m just happy the profs, the students, and even the agencies, know it’s coming. And I’m even happier that the agencies put out videos like these ones; a look into their world. To show me where I might want to live one day.
Big, small, boutique. As long as it isn’t my parents basement.
