Agency of the Year shortlist announced

October 7, 2002 by Strategy Staff

A mix of new and returning, big and boutique is evident in the shortlist of agencies invited to compete in Strategy’s 12th annual Agency of the Year competition. This year’s list of seven competitors includes a high percentage of home-grown indies slated to go head-to-head with several of Canada’s largest networked agencies.

In alphabetical order, the agencies competing this year are: Bensimon*Byrne D’Arcy, Cossette Communication-Marketing, J. Walter Thompson, Palmer Jarvis DDB, Rethink, Taxi and Zig.

Palmer Jarvis has won the competition for the last three years in a row and is a returning contender along with JWT and Taxi. Bensimon is returning to the shortlist after a one-year absence and Cossette is returning after a three year hiatus. This marks the very first year of competition for both Vancouver’s Rethink and Toronto’s Zig.

The shortlist was determined by a telephone poll of 50 top client marketers and agency executives. Each respondent was asked to vote ‘yes, they should be invited’ or ‘no, they should not be invited’ based on work produced over the past year. The seven agencies with the highest number of ‘yes’ votes were asked to take part in the invitation-only competition.

The winning agency will be announced at a lunch-time gala presentation in Toronto Dec. 13.