Media Experts has one of the highest employee tenure rates of any Canadian agency; 40% of employees have been there for five years or more, which spurred the creation of their anniversary program that commemorates each five-year milestone with a custom-designed canoe paddle.

Media experts has a long history of being pioneers; entrepreneurship is embedded in their DNA.

With media sitting at the epicentre of fast-changing industries, that appetite for innovation built around evolving client challenges has driven its evolution.

The company was the first media agency in Canada to launch a search marketing practice, the first with a programmatic trade desk and first to deploy a Data Management Platform. It was also the first global shop to be Adobe AMO certified and the first to launch a dedicated Audience & Analytics service.

WestJet has been performing Christmas Miracle stunts for seven years now, setting huge expectations as the brand who does Christmas advertising best. One of their most intricate campaigns of the year, Media Experts spearheaded a robust social media voting outreach to reach the right audience and result in 5.4x higher engagement than typical WestJet campaigns.

Founded in 1981 by Mark Sherman, the agency has offices in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, supported by over 200 employees. Acquired by Interpublic Group in 2015, they still operate with a nimble structure that responds to change with the agility you’d expect from an indie player. According to President Robert Jenkyn, this allows them to offer “the best of both worlds: a scrappy, entrepreneurial spirit combined with best-in-class global resources.”

Media Experts’ raison d’etre is growing client business in a holistic manner. “Our agency model positions us as true strategic partners.

Every plan we recommend to clients must answer the question, ‘will this grow their business?’” explains Kris Davis, SVP client business.

This further demonstrates that every first they’ve initiated was born through finding solutions to fulfill a client need. It also accounts for why their client relationships last three times longer than current industry benchmarks, refected in decade-long partnerships with major brands like Bell Canada, WestJet, and BMW Canada.

Gas was on the rise, and so were the number of online searches for up-to-the-minute fluctuating prices. To increase awareness for MINI’s fuel efficiency feature, Media Experts highjacked high search demand for “gas prices,” then positioned MINI directly within localized gas price ad copy, all in real-time. The campaign took home six international industry awards.

Innovation is made possible through the agency’s unique structure. “We have three offces, but one P & L, meaning we operate without barriers, as one team,” explains Jenkyn. While agencies typically outsource product specialists, Media Experts builds an in-house team for each brand. This means the shop’s search, social and programmatic experts are fully integrated with planning, allowing for nimble execution and optimization. It also promotes a culture of cross-discipline ideation.

The recent award-winning MINI search campaign is a great example of how innovative ideas are made possible when product specialists possess a deep understanding of their client’s business, and are encouraged to bring forward solutions.

In this case, Media Experts was able to leverage the high number of searches for cheap gas with messages promoting MINI’s fuel-efficiency. By bidding on ‘gas price’ related search terms that showed the average local price, ads directed users to a fuel-efficient MINI webpage. This campaign generated an estimated 16X increase in revenue.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of Bell Let’s Talk. Media Experts has been the brand’s media partner since Day One, using strategic media tactics to grow the movement, drive impactful change, and raise essential funds for our communities.

This idea of delivering effective solutions runs deep within the veins of the agency. “We’re not interested in silos or hierarchy.

We’re interested in good ideas that achieve results for our clients,” stresses Davis. Davis believes building meaningful connections requires a deep understanding of consumers: “We see better results if we can balance hard data with human behaviour.”

By unlocking a data-driven insight, Media Experts helped Pizza Pizza uncover a new late-night audience. This charted the path to pot smokers with a “dope 4/20” search marketing strategy, driving 30% more store visits, a 70% sales lift, and seven industry accolades including Best in Show at the MMA Smartie North America Awards.

For example, Pizza Pizza’s sales were declining due to a fat QSR market and disruption from services like Uber Eats. Using Google Trends, Media Experts learned that Canadians order pizza during two distinct timeframes: dinnertime and late night.

Pizza Pizza had never targeted its late-night business. A deeper look found strong correlating late night search patterns for something else: weed. Hence the $4.20 pizza, available on April 20th, 2019 – the high holiday of cannabis. That insight was parlayed into a full digital program to grow late night share, which delivered a 70% sales lift YoY.

To raise awareness of all the benefits a CAA Membership offers to consumers outside of roadside assistance, Media Experts launched a multi-media campaign that resulted in a lift of 48% in ad recall.

The agency’s performance speaks to the impact of their unique approach. Recent new business wins include CAA, Kayak, Open Table and Earth’s Own out of Vancouver. Industry recognition has come in the form of 29 awards on the international circuit in 2019 – fve times the accolades won in 2018 – Microsoft’s Agency Partner of the Year Canada; seven Media Innovation Awards; and eight MMA SMARTIE Awards, including Best in Show North America for Pizza Pizza’s Blazing into Late-Night.

Media Experts’ success has been built by delivering business outcomes that matter to clients, thus fueling continuous growth for four decades. The combination of a nimble, entrepreneurial team, guided by strategic insights, allows Media Experts to help brands succeed in a rapidly changing media environment.

CONTACT:
Robert Jenkyn
President
robertj@mediaexperts.com