Cooperation seems to be the operative word in the creative departments of some of Canada’s most prominent advertising agencies.

In less than three months, Ammirati Puris Lintas, BBDO Canada, and Publicis-BCP have each made co-creative director appointments.

And now Cossette Communication-Marketing of Montreal has followed suit.

At press time, Vice-President and Creative Director Jacques Labelle named Francois Forget Cossette’s vp and creative co-director.

While each agency had different reasons for installing two creative leaders at the helm, they are unanimous in declaring the success of this approach.

Part of this success can be attributed to the comfort level that those in creative departments have in working with a partner – something they’ve done since the start of their careers.

‘We’re not splitting the groups,’ says Cossette’s Labelle, comparing his agency to Montreal-based Publicis-BCP which two months ago became part of Group Publicis S.A. of France.

‘We’re sharing the direction and administration of the creative department,’ he says.

John Parisella, executive vice-president of Publicis-BCP, says the naming of Jean Gamache and Luc Merineau as vice-presidents, co-creative directors came about as part of the agency’s restructuring.

Publicis-BCP has been divided into two work units responsible for different client groups, says Parisella, each co-managed by a creative director and a client services director.

Gamache leads one unit with Rene Guimond, while Merineau heads the other with Mario D’Amico.

Parisella says the decision was made to split the creative department in order to maintain the close proximity of the agency to its clients. He says although bcp was already the second largest agency in Quebec when its majority share was purchased by Publicis, it did not want to be at a disadvantage to smaller shops.

‘We also wanted to encourage a greater mix between the client service, the strategic planning and the creative product,’ says Parisella.

Although Gamache and Merineau work in different account groups, they have joint responsibility for the agency’s creative direction.

Parisella says the key to making the co-creative structure work is finding people who are compatible, work well together and understand the culture of the agency.

Asked for his assessment of the new structure, Parisella says, ‘My sense is we’ve made a good move and there’s harmony among the creative people that I have never seen to such a degree.’

Peter Stringham, president and ceo of BBDO Canada, says the agency doesn’t have a bias toward either individual or co-creative directors, but does whatever makes sense under each set of circumstances.

So when it came time to replace Larry Tolpin, who moved to BBDO South in Atlanta last month, the award-winning, long-time creative team of Stephen Creet and Michael McLaughlin were promoted to co-creative directors of the Toronto shop.

‘It’s very common for creative teams to feel very strongly that they see themselves as a team and rely on each other to work through the entire creative process together,’ says Stringham.

‘In the case of Michael and Stephen, they complement one another superbly. In meetings, one starts a sentence and the other finishes it. They so clearly understand one another.’

Dennis Stief, president of Toronto-based Ammirati Puris Lintas, says the decision to have two creative directors was a very easy one and part of the inherent culture of the agency.

‘Ammirati & Puris was formed by two creative guys. That’s how they built a great agency.

‘If you look at any great creative people as individuals, they usually had a great partner with them,’ adds Stief. ‘So there’s kind of a natural progression.’

Stief says that although Doug Robinson, co-creative director of the agency, previously held the title of associate creative director, he and former creative director Tom Nelson really worked as team, both creatively and in building the creative direction of the agency.

When Nelson returned to the New York office in September, Stief says it was obvious the agency needed to find a partner and co-creative director to work with Robinson. Brad Riddoch moved from Bates Canada to take on that role in October.

‘Creative directors today, more than say five years ago, are so involved in doing ads versus running a department. They’re less pure manager in that sense,’ says Stief.

‘They want to do ads, because they’re still at the peak of their career, not at a point where they want to be the gurus of advertising,’ he says. ‘And to be a really good working creative, I think you need a partner – and so do they.’

While the transition at bbdo might be smooth because Creet and McLaughlin have been a team for years, Stief says there is usually a period of adjustment when individuals are first paired.

‘We spent a lot of time before we hired Brad, making sure it was going to work,’ says Stief.

‘So far I’ve got to say it’s great. And hopefully so will the work be, which will start to come out soon.’