Rethink Communications is an independent advertising agency based in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. The agency was founded on November 1, 1999, by Chris Staples, Ian Grais and Tom Shepansky. All three were formerly employed at Palmer Jarvis DDB (now DDB Vancouver). Staples was the national creative director of that agency; Grais was the creative director and Shepansky was the director of client services. Staples, Grais and Shepansky opened Rethink with no staff and no clients. In December 1999 they won the Dominion Grocery Store account in Ontario and the A&W Food Services account nationally, in English and French. In their first year of operation the agency grew to 20 people and was featured on the CBC-TV business program

Venture Venture may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 *"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes *''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR Games * ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade gam ...

. Rethink made news by offering a money-back guarantee in the form of a five percent rebate to be earned based on client-set criteria. They also launched Rethink Beer to demonstrate their branding abilities. The product was available in BC and Alberta until 2003. The agency currently handles advertising, design and online work for a range of local, regional and national clients. These include

A&W (Canada) A&W is a fast-food restaurant chain store, chain in Canada, franchising, franchised by A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. The company was initially a subsidiary of the U.S.-based A&W Restaurants chain, with the subsidiary opening its first franchi ...

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...

Molson Coors Brewing Company Molson Coors Beverage Company is a Canadian-American multinational drink and brewing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 through the merger of Molson of Canada, and Coors of the United States. In 2016, ...

, IKEA Canada, Coast Capital Savings,

WestJet WestJet Airlines, is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1994, it is the second-largest airline in Canada and the eighth-largest airline in North America by frequency. It began operations in 1996 with 220 employee ...

, Mr. Lube, Playland, Science World at TELUS World of Science, and Weston Bakeries. Rethink was named Canada's Agency of the Year three times: first in November 2003 by Marketing Magazine, and a second and third time by Strategy Magazine in December 2006 and October 2019. The agency was also ranked by Strategy Magazine as the most award-winning agency in Canada in 2008 and 2009. Partners and co-creative directors Staples and Grais were ranked the most awarded creative directors in 2006, 2008 and 2009 in the same surveys. Rethink clients Coast Capital Savings and Mr. Lube were named Marketers of the Year by the BC Chapter of the

American Marketing Association The American Marketing Association (AMA) is a professional association for marketing professionals with 30,000 members as of 2012. It has 76 professional chapters and 250 collegiate chapters across the United States. The AMA was formed in from t ...

in 2006 and 2008 respectively. On April 5, 2010, Rethink opened an office in Toronto, headed by partner and managing director Pema Hegan and creative director Dre Labre.

References

{{reflist

External links

Rethink Communications
Companies based in Vancouver Advertising agencies of Canada