After two years, NFA has grown to a full-time staff of some 80 people across the entire communications grid.
Two years ago, No Fixed Address burst onto the agency scene.
Co-founders Serge Rancourt and Dave Lafond, both industry veterans, introduced a new agency concept, created as an alternative to the traditional model.
“We had the advantage of building an agency during a period of profound change in the industry,” says Rancourt. “As the multinational networks continue to struggle with how to adjust to the shifting tides, we are able to reverse engineer our operation without the burden of having to undo cumbersome and outdated infrastructures. We are able to build freely from the ground up based entirely on what makes sense for market requirements, for our people and most importantly, for our clients.”
The NFA positioning is embedded in its name, “No Fixed Address.” It promises flexibility, open-mindedness and the ability to find the right home for clients’ business challenges and opportunities.
Year two has been a very powerful validation of the NFA vision.
“We are thrilled with the response, from the kinds of clients we’ve been able to attract to the quality and scope of people who have opted to join our team,” says Lafond.
“Our goal after year two is to consolidate and add further on the foundation we’ve built,” adds Lafond.
Over the past year, NFA has turned industry heads with its growth and the calibre of people who have been attracted to the NFA proposition.
NFA expanded with new assignments from existing clients as well as new business across the discipline spectrum including: fully integrated responsibilities for rewards platform Ampli; creative, strategy and digital for retailer Lids and real estate company SmartCentres; media for Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; PR for Disney; and Canadian creative and social media AOR for pizza chain Little Caesars.
The agency also continued to earn international industry acclaim, winning Silver in Ad Age’s International Small Agency of the Year contest.
But NFA truly set the tone for its second year in February with the addition of David Jowett, a prominent figure in the global media agency scene. Jowett became the new head of NFA’s media service.
Beyond his experience in media and tech, Jowett brought a shared philosophy to NFA of a belief in simplicity and a commitment to client success through radical transparency and accountability.
Says Jowett: “Our job is to develop custom-made content and then place it in the right context, which really means creating the right story, presenting it to the right audience, when they are in the right frame of mind in the right place to best receive that story. Simple.”
In March, NFA added partners David Federico and Josh Budd formerly with J. Walter Thompson as the agency’s new creative leadership team. Federico and Budd, whose experience goes back to the early days of digital and integrated thinking, became NFA’s Chief Creative Officers and key members of the NFA exec team.
“NFA is helping to define a new agency model, based on the real needs of clients today, which means flexibility, full integration and a commitment to doing things differently … and better,” says Federico. And Budd shares that vision, saying it leads to more effective work.
And in August, NFA further expanded its integrated agency offering, adding public relations to its discipline range with the hiring of Sarah Crabbe who came to NFA from Citizen Relations, a leading professional in the Canadian PR community.
“NFA wants to integrate PR into the overall agency offering as an equal discipline partner … not as a separate or allied service,” says Crabbe. “One communications agency that can deliver everything from media to digital to social to PR, solely focused on what’s best for the work and the client.”
As it begins its third year of operations, NFA has quickly grown to a fully diversified staff of some 80 full-time people, representing expertise across the entire communications grid. Says Lafond: “The NFA platform is now well established … and there’s more to come.”
CONTACT
Dave Lafond
President and Co-Founder
dave@nofixedaddressinc.com
