Harrod & Mirlin/FCB, Media Co. snag TD Canada Trust

To the surprise of no one, Toronto Dominion-Canada Trust has awarded both its creative and media accounts to former Canada Trust agencies.

The creative assignment went to Harrod & Mirlin/FCB, while media buying duties were given to The Media Company/MBS. Both agencies handled these responsibilities for Canada Trust prior to its Feb. 1 merger with Toronto-Dominion Bank. The value of the account is estimated to be approximately $25 million.

The outcome of the review furthers the perception in the community that the former Canada Trust marketing regime rules the roost at the new TD Canada Trust.

The former TD agencies will continue to work on some portions of the bank’s business, says Domenic Mercuri, senior vice-president of advertising and marketing services for the financial services giant. But all business under the TD Canada Trust name – TD Bank’s retail banking division – has been consolidated with H&M/FCB and The Media Company, to "ensure a consistent brand voice."

Peter Shier, president of Harrod & Mirlin/FCB, says he is "thrilled" with the win. (The agency also picked up the Compaq Canada business just days later, after the computer manufacturer’s U.S. head office moved its global account to H&M/FCB’s parent, Foote, Cone & Belding Worldwide.)

"I think we’ve done good work for Canada Trust in the past," Shier says. "That’s why they made the decision they did."

Since the Feb. 1 merger, the TD Canada Trust marketing department has been led by Chris Armstrong, executive vice-president of advertising and marketing services, and his second-in-command, Mercuri. Both are former Canada Trust executives.

Insiders expect a number of former TD marketing staff to be let go.

According to sources, Canada Trust’s marketing people were researching the potential implications of a merger with another financial institution long before talks with TD began. The goal was to ensure that Canada Trust would end up calling the marketing shots after such a deal went down.

As for the just-completed review, sources say that it wasn’t really a review at all, given the absence of a structured process or a written brief for the participating agencies, and contend that it was weighted heavily in favour of the Canada Trust agencies. (John Boniface, H&M/FCB’s newly appointed vice-president, general manager, was reportedly hired away from Padulo Integrated to head up the TD Canada Trust business even before the review was completed.)

The former TD agencies that retained pieces of the bank’s business are: TBWA Chiat/Day, which will handle TD Waterhouse in Canada; Gee, Jeffery & Partners Advertising, which has TD Asset Management and TD Securities; and SGCI Communications of Sackville, N.B., which also works on TD Asset Management.

McDonnell Haynes has been assigned collateral work, while Response Innovations will handle direct marketing. Both agencies are Toronto-based.

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.