McCann Canada’s operations in Calgary are leaning in on two key areas of specialization with the recent additions of new leadership and talent that have enhanced their media and digital practices.
The shifts at the office began last year, according to Ryan Timms, McCann Canada’s president. After hiring Brian Allen as its ECD in May, the Calgary office added Megan Hardisty as managing director in September, which prompted the agency to “look at what we could do to further evolve, transform and improve the overall offering out of that office.”
For Timms, the picture quickly became clear.
In November, McCann won recognition for its work in digital, Timms says, while at the same time adding Andrew Brown to its executive team as VP and director of digital solutions. This prompted new investments in the digital space – an area of growth for the Calgary office – including the recent additions of senior digital media strategist Mike Hwang and digital director Adam Gaumont.
“Historically, most people would not have named McCann as one of the top performing digital agencies in the country, so last year is something we’re particularly proud of, because we showed up and were recognized in a category we traditionally haven’t been,” Timms tells strategy. “It’s also a telltale sign of where we are putting our emphasis. When we talk about creating lasting brand platforms, digital is a cornerstone of that.”
As part of that digital evolution, McCann has looked to open up its offices to interact more broadly with national and international clients, as well as regional ones. For Calgary, that has meant that it has created “far more connectivity” with its employees outside of the country than ever before, explains Timms – linking the digital team up with McCann’s leads in London and New York.
“What we’ve really set out to change is that Toronto is not a gatekeeper to our teams in Calgary and Montreal being able to connect in and build upon the global agency’s efforts,” he elaborates.
Alongside its growth in digital, McCann has also been developing its media practice out west. This has included the promotion of Julie Evans, its media lead, to executive media director. The agency’s “integrated media solution” is “one of the unique success stories about McCann West,” says Timms.
Recently, McCann’s Calgary office was part of a winning bid – with IPG sister agency Initiative – to become PetroCanada’s media AOR. McCann already handles PetroCanada’s creative AOR duties, so in some ways, this was an extension of that.
“In Calgary, we have a small-but-mighty media outlet that is often operating as an extension of [IPG’s] media family within the MediaBrands unit, as well as focusing on McCann-led businesses,” he notes. “We have tight and longstanding foundations with certain key clients who use us particularly for highly targeted media.”
One such client is Bayer, which taps McCann West to develop targeted media strategies for its CropSciences business.
“Our scope with Bayer is marketing to Canadian farmers about their crop protection products and seed,” Timms explains. “One of the things this media team does particularly well is highly surgical, highly targeted media strategy and execution.”
The point isn’t to compete with large media agencies – “we don’t have the scale to do that.” Instead, McCann is looking at “how media can further enhance our creative efforts and help clients who are interested in those highly surgical, highly targeted or even niche media requirements that just don’t make sense for the bigger media players to take on,” says Timms.
It’s all part of the agency’s strategy for developing those key areas of expertise in Calgary, to support the network as a whole.
“You often hear the term ‘centre of excellence,’ but for McCann, it’s just about building up key areas of talent and expertise to be able to support the network outside the region, while also benefiting the clients we service there directly,” he adds.
The agency has also made a number of other hires in its Calgary office recently, including Ben Archer as VP and director of business leadership, and Justin Tabakian as senior art director, Jordan Finlayson as senior writer and Ana Maria Triana as senior designer.
