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 ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. 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 in Canada, franchised by A&W Food Services of Canada, Inc. The chain was originally part of the U.S.-based A&W Restaurants chain; locations in Canada were sold to Unilever in 1972, and then bought by its mana ...

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

Molson Coors Brewing Company The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 t ...

, IKEA Canada,

Coast Capital Savings Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union (formerly Coast Capital Savings Credit Union) is a member-owned financial co-operative headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia. By membership, it is among the largest credit unions in Canada with 535,00 ...

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

, Mr. Lube, Playland,

Science World at TELUS World of Science Science World is a science centre run by a not-for-profit organization called ASTC Science World Society in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located at the end of False Creek and features many permanent interactive exhibits and displa ...

, and Weston Bakeries. Rethink was named Canada’s Agency of the Year three times: first in November 2003 by

Marketing Magazine ''Strategy'' is a Canadian business magazine about marketing, advertising and media. The magazine is published by Brunico Communications Brunico Communications is a Canadian magazine publishing company."Desktop tabloid publishing firm sports 2 pu ...

, 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 th ...

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