Latest AGENCY PROFILES articles

Agency Profile: Sid Lee Paris

Atelier: a French word, which translates to “workshop.” I don’t know if the ever-pervasive advertising of the holiday season has yet to leave my head, but the thought of a workshop conjures up an image of an old man with a white beard whittling away amidst a bevy of little elves.

But at Sid Lee Paris, the atelier is more of an artisan’s workshop. Instead of an old white-bearded man, there is Creative Director and Partner Sylvain Thirache. And rather than a bevy of elves, Thirache is surrounded by a band of specialists from architects, to illustrators, to web designers to typographers. There are also copywriters and account managers, all working to bring fresh creativity to clients including Ubisoft, Coca-Cola, Vitamin Water, Adidas, 1664 and Carlsberg.

Agency Profile: La Comunidad

Its name says it all. It says it in Spanish, but it still says it all. “La Comunidad” means “the community” and it is the culture at La Comunidad, so fiercely cultivated and protected, that makes this agency who they are.

“It’s all about the people, and for us the name is a tribute to the people that make our dream even better,” said Co-founder and Creative Director Jose Molla. “We tried from the beginning to make this place different, to try to get all of the internal politics out of the way, to encourage everyone to really speak their minds and be open.”

Agency Profile: Dare London

Remember the game “Truth or Dare,” where two brave souls challenge one another to choose between spilling the unspeakable or doing the unthinkable? At London-based agency Dare, the two are not mutually exclusive. Rather, the Dare team works by the mantra “Truth and Dare,” always striving to reach the core truth of a brand and be daring enough to state it. It’s about getting the right information out from the very beginning of a project or client relationship to ensure efficacy in the long run.

Agency Profile: Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam

More than 20 different nationalities work within the walls of Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, representing a blend of cultures, experience and language, even though linguistic individuality is only discernable by the accent in which a person’s English is spoken. This community of creativity-loving ex-pats produces some of the best work in the world for international clients such as Heineken, Nike, Coca-Cola, ESPN, Levi’s, Delta Airlines and Electronic Arts.

Agency Profile: Lean Mean Fighting Machine

The biggest challenge you’ll face in a visit to Lean Mean Fighting Machine is finding the place. The location is idyllic, situated across from the famed Roundhouse Theatre, near Primrose Hill, not far from Regent’s Park and the peacefully winding Regent’s Canal, just north of Central London in Camden Town. But the office itself is cleverly hidden just off the hip hustle and bustle of Chalk Farm Road on Ferdinand Street.

Agency Profile: Target Marketing & Communications

In little St. John’s is a little agency with 50 people called Target Marketing & Communications. You probably don’t know about it, but if you live in Canada and go to the award shows, their name very frequently pops up. In fact they are “…proud to be one of only 11 agencies in the country to win Gold at Cannes.”

I was always curious about Target and I even know of really talented creatives that made their way there, but I just never came around visiting since it is, well, an island and a bit out of the way.

Agency Profile: 72andSunny

72andSunny was “born modern.” Founded just seven years ago, it’s not an agency that has to catch up with the times. It was born in the times and works to leverage the times, both through its people and its work. 72andSunny calls itself a “culture first company,” putting the staff above all else. Coming from big agency environments like W+K Amsterdam and Deutsch/LA, the founders of 72andSunny set out to build an egoless studio where the work is owned by all.

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Agency Profile: TBWA\NEBOKO

Amsterdam is known far too often for its red light district and lenient marijuana laws, and not often enough for its stunning architecture, art and incredible quality of life. In a new industrial area of the city, a creative atmosphere surrounded by water (as much of Amsterdam is, with its interconnected water highway of canals) and host to scads of agencies, television production and film companies, sits TBWA\NEBOKO.

Agency Profile: CARTEBLANCHE

It is not by coincidence that one of Quebec’s up-and-coming agencies is located on one of Montreal’s most renowned streets. Boulevard Saint-Laurent used to mark the divide between English and French-speaking Montreal, but now that we can all play nice in the sandbox of language and linguistics, Saint-Laurent is known for neater things. Like the path it takes directly through some of Montreal’s funkiest neighbourhoods, from Old Montreal to Little Italy, with Chinatown, the Plateau and others in between.

CARTEBLANCHE is just south of Little Italy on Saint-Laurent. Inside the agency, the atmosphere is fresh and uncluttered. There is no reception, so I was greeted by the incredible fact that “CARTEBLANCHE” is written across five walls facing the door in a three-dimensional mind trip.

Agency Profile: CloudRaker

“You cannot possibly comment on the state of the ad industry in Canada without visiting Montreal” was a chorus I heard again, and again, and again in Toronto, the most recent leg in my Saturn Return Project world tour. “You’re going there, too, right?”

How could I not? Not only the home and headquarters of IHAVEANIDEA, Montreal is the heart of French-speaking Quebec, the heart of the province, and also the heart of the culture and the heart of the ad industry français. Most shops in English-speaking Canada have at least a partner, if not an outpost, if not a full-blown office in Montreal to ensure that their communications resonate with all Canadians, including their crazy cousins in Quebec.

Shops like CloudRaker have their roots exclusively planted in Montreal. A truly bi-lingual agency, CloudRaker has one foot on both sides of the language divide, though in fact, there is no divide.

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