With campaigns centred around Shohei Ohtani crushing baseballs and Taylor Swift eating ketchup and ranch, Canadian ad agencies had no shortage of award-winning ideas last year.
What happened: Canadian ad agencies won a record 62 awards at this year's Cannes Lions, arguably the world’s most prestigious advertising festival. This performance in Cannes continues a trend of Canadian agencies showing up and showing out on the world stage.
- Last year, Canada won a then-record 51 prizes at Cannes and received the most nominations of any country at the Epica Awards, another global marketing contest.
Why it matters: These successes raise the profile of Canadian agencies as they look to expand their footprint. This year, the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA), the country’s top ad industry group, unveiled an ambitious six-year plan to nab more big international clients.
- ICA board member Brett Channer told Campaign that he believes the plan will go beyond ad dollars and will generally stoke more made-in-Canada content.
Big picture: For now, Canadian agencies should be able to find a lot of work at home. Following a pandemic-driven slump, Canadian media owners’ ad sales are projected to grow by 7.8% this year, the fastest rate in three years, per a new forecast by Magna.—QH