What are you doing after Y&R?

After four years and countless advertising awards, AGF Management has dropped Young & Rubicam as its advertising agency of record.

The move comes as AGF, Canada’s ninth-largest mutual fund firm, with more than $22 billion in assets under management, looks for a fresh approach, says Pat Phillips, AGF director of communications.

‘It has been a good partnership and we have been happy with the work, but we can’t rest on our laurels,’ she says.

Y&R coined AGF’s much-lauded ‘What are you doing after work?’ tagline and created ads that employed everyone from Spiderman to Santa Claus to Gumby & Pokey to illustrate the idea that ‘Eventually Everyone Retires.’ The advertising – print and television – garnered Y&R some of Canada’s most coveted advertising awards and helped AGF retain healthy sales during one of the worst downturns in the Canadian mutual fund business.

Recently, AGF hired The Sebastian Consultancy, run by Canadian ad guru Gary Prouk, to work on special projects. Neither The Sebastian Consultancy nor Y&R will be participating in the agency pitch.

Y&R president Darcia Joseph plays down speculation that the agency’s recent pitch to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce played a major role in AGF’s decision to fire the agency. Y&R eventually dropped out of the CIBC pitch for fear of endangering its work for U.S. megabank Citibank (reports in the U.S. trade media suggest Citibank has already approached a number of agencies to discuss the possible breakup of its US$500-million account, held by Y&R).

‘We knew AGF was not happy with our participation in the CIBC pitch,’ says Joseph. ‘But we have been partners for years and there comes a time when a client needs fresh eyes.’

AGF is the latest mutual fund company to break ties with a long-term agency. Trimark Investment Management recently completed a review after firing Leo Burnett earlier this year. A new agency will be named in the next two weeks, says Elizabeth Hoyle, Trimark vice-president of marketing.

Cannes Lions 2025: Canadians nab more medals on final festival day

Strategy is on the ground in Cannes, bringing you the latest news, wins and conference highlights all week long. Catch all the coverage here.

Friday’s batch of Silver and Bronze winners included the oldest category at the Cannes festival, Film, as well as Sustainable Development Goals, Dan Wieden Titanium, Glass: The Lion for Change and Grand Prix for Good. Canadians were recognized with four Lions today: two Silver and a Bronze in Film, as well as a Bronze in Sustainable Development Goals.

FCB Toronto was given yet another nod for its work, “The Count,” for SickKids, bringing the medal count for that campaign to four, including a Gold for Health & Wellness. Another Canadian agency recognized on the final day of the festival was Klick Health Toronto, which earned a Silver in Film for its work “Love Captured” for Human Trafficking Awareness and a Bronze for “18 Months” for Second Nurture. And over in Sustainable Development Goals, the Bronze went to Publicis Canada and its “Wildfire Watchtowers” work for Rogers.

Another massive win for Canada included not one, but two Young Lions (pictured above) taking home medals in the annual competition. In Design, the Gold Young Lion was awarded to Rethink’s senior motion designer Jesse Shaw and ACD Zoë Boudreau. The second, a Bronze in Media, went to Cossette Media’s business intelligence analyst Samuel David-Durocher and product development supervisor Tristan Bonnot-Parent.

Film (2 Silver, 1 Bronze)

1 SILVER: “The  Count” by FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation

“The Count,” a striking campaign from FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation, has earned 1 Gold, 2 Bronze and now 1 Silver for Film at Cannes. If you watch it, it’s easy to see why. The collaboration between brand and agency honoured the hospital’s “VS” platform, while steering it in a new direction from its initial development by previous AOR Cossette. The creative celebrates childhood cancer patients who have to fight for every birthday, while honouring the hospital’s own milestone – 150 years and counting.

 

1 Silver: “Love Captured” by Klick Health Toronto for The Exodus Road

Klick Health Toronto added to its medal tally with a Silver in Film for it’s work “Love Captured” for The Exodus Road. The creative features a romantic getaway that isn’t what it seems in an experiential short film for the global anti-trafficking organization. The experience takes viewers through a tragic and twisting experience of exploitation.

 

1 BRONZE: “18 Months” by Klick Health Toronto for Second Nurture

Klick Health Toronto also won a Bronze in the Film category for its work, “18 Months,” done for the charity organization Second Nurture. The animated film is based on a real-life story in which a same-sex couple adopts a baby found in a subway station, and the 18-month journey into a story of hope.

Sustainable Development Goals (1 Bronze)

1 BRONZE: “Wildfire Watchtowers” by Publicis Canada for Rogers

Publicis Canada landed on the winners board for its work, “Wildfire Watchtowers,” for Rogers. The Canadian-developed wildfire-detection tech – which has been billed as “a fire alarm in the forest” – uses AI-powered sensors installed on 5G towers to monitor vast remote areas in real time. By scanning, identifying and reporting early signs of wildfires (up to 16 minutes faster than other systems), the technology helped prevent 54 fires in 2024 alone.

Catch the Gold winners later today when they’re revealed at the gala in Cannes.