Gee Jeffery & Partners, the agency many considered a long shot, has emerged the winner of the coveted $20 million Canadian Airlines International business.
The victory by the Toronto shop is the latest in a series of recent big-brand wins by small- to medium-sized independent agencies, such as Taxi Advertising & Design, Cundari Group and The Gingko Group.
Gee Jeffery raised eyebrows in 1994 when it picked up Cantel’s $10 million Amigo account and later the balance of the cellular company’s business.
Gregg Saretsky, vice-president of passenger service marketing for cai says, ‘There’s a tendency for the big agencies to produce the award-winning creative stuff that is wonderful to watch, but the message might not be as clear as it needs to be. It’s time for our messages to be clearer.
‘Gee Jeffery has a bit of an edge in that their thinking is exactly in sync with our own.
‘They shied away from the flashy image campaigns with the expensive production costs and found a way of creating breakthrough advertising that is in keeping with where we want to go strategically.’
Alan Gee, chairman and creative director, says the agency’s experience with Cantel, which is also in a duopoly position in Canada, helped them understand the issues facing the airline.
cai began its review last November when it split with its agency of five years, TBWA Chiat/Day.
The process pitted Gee Jeffery not only against large multinational agencies but also some of the strongest independents in Canada.
A shortlist of 10 announced in January was whittled down to four, a month later, and Gee Jeffery found itself in the company of Ogilvy & Mather, Vickers & Benson, and The BCP Group – Canadian’s Quebec aor for eight years and the agency behind its successful Shuttletime launch in late January.
When the dust cleared following the creative presentation last month, two contenders were left standing, bcp and Gee Jeffery.
bcp will be staying on as Quebec aor and will also handle adaption of Gee Jeffery creative for the French-language market.
Other parts of the cai business that have not changed are direct marketing, which remains with O&M Direct of Calgary; the Asian account, which DDB Needham Worldwide handles from Hong Kong; and the domestic Chinese and Japanese assignment, which stays with Ken Koo Creative of Vancouver.
Gee Jeffery has also signed an agreement with Karo Marketing Design Communications of Calgary to handle any urgent work required.
When it assumes the cai assignment on June 15, Gee Jeffery will have added about 10 people to its staff, including an account director, a production manager and a couple of new creative teams.
The account will boost the agency’s capitalized billings to about $65 million, up from around $45 million.
