LG2 refreshed the Zellers brand and digital experience for the Canadian legacy’s relaunch.
There aren’t many certainties in life, but one is that LG2 will continue to be independent 50 years from now, predicts Jeremy Gayton, partner and president of the Toronto office.
“Our founders created a model designed to exist in perpetuity,” he says. “We’re not getting camera-ready for sale. Controlling our own destiny is a priority for us.”
LG2 created the whimsical “Catelli Pastaland,” a farm made up of fields of spaghetti, penne-shaped crops, and pasta-laden trees.
One of the longevity drivers for the more than 400-employee agency is a partnership model that is a meritocracy, says Claude Auchu, partner and CEO. “It’s accessible to anyone who has a positive impact on the business, not just the person that can afford to buy shares,” he says.
Designed by LG2, The Canadian Space Agency’s new logo communicates daring invention and sights set on the future.
LG2 has almost 40 partners, including recent additions Shelly-Ann Scott, VP of client services, and Josh Stein, chief creative officer, in Toronto. “We don’t have silent partners,” says Gayton. “Everybody’s involved with the business. Clients work with the owners of the company, and it shows in the quality of work and the strength of the relationships.”
LG2 has over 200 clients, including Chicken Farmers of Canada, which recently named LG2 as its AOR to lead a creative refresh. Recent client wins also include Ontario Northland, Nespresso, Sports Experts, People Corporation, Ocean Spray and the Ontario Cannabis Store.
Bell Let’s Talk, created by LG2, has helped the movement grow for the past 13 years supporting almost 4.4 million Canadians.
Like many agencies, LG2 started in advertising and evolved its capabilities as marketing needs changed over the years. Today the indie’s areas of expertise take the full brand experience in mind by offering digital product development,
ecommerce, employer brand, ESG consulting and architecture services as part of its advertising and design practice.
To drive more impact for clients LG2 started a joint venture with Tact: Alinea, a PR and public affairs agency. “Not only is Alinea a means to serve existing clients better, but it’s proving to be a new business pipeline,” particularly for B2B industries that wouldn’t previously have come to LG2, Auchu says.
The ability to tackle business problems from an array of angles is reflected in the eclectic range of work LG2 produced this year. For example, long-time client The Bay turned to LG2 for the relaunch of the Zellers discount brand as an ecommerce store. The agency helped the retailer refresh their brand and implement efficiencies such as combining shopping carts, user accounts and search functionality to ensure Zellers’ more than 10,000 SKUs would be easy to find on site.
LG2 took a museum-like approach for a booth for American Apparel’s classic black 2001 tee at its AArt Gallery, created for the apparel industry trade show Impressions Expo.
LG2’s architectural group created a museum-like experience for American Apparel’s installation at Impressions Expo, a large apparel trade show. Visitors followed a guided path inside a suspended 16-foot-high black box to discover seven installations featuring the brand’s classic black 2001 tee. The display focused on one iconic product was so successful that orders soared, prompting the company to reshape its global production plan and allocate more resources to the clothing line.
For Community Music Schools of Toronto’s Parkscapes Volume 3, an album intended for sampling and remixing, LG2 created a vibrant design to generate excitement around the launch.
For Community Music Schools of Toronto, LG2 created album artwork for Parkscapes Vol. 3, an album of music samples played by the students to fundraise for the non-profit organization. The royalties and sales from Parkscapes have become an enduring source of funding for youth who face financial barriers to music education. It’s a good example of the agency’s quest to “create things that are sustaining and enduring,” Gayton notes.
LG2’s design and digital work on the launch of the new Beneva national brand included a new website and mobile app to make insurance friendly and easy to understand.
LG2 was also brought in to develop the new insurance brand Beneva, an entity created out of the merger between Quebec insurers SSQ and La Capitale. With a goal to boost the company’s presence in English Canada, the campaign was a huge success, with 66% brand recall following the launch. After only two months in-market, 61% of respondents saw Beneva as a major insurance player.
LG2 is one of Canada’s most-awarded agencies. In 2023, they were seventh place on strategy’s Creative Report Card, received ADCC’s Scarlet Letter for Design Agency of the Year, and ranked among the top ten best digital agencies by Awwwards amongst other honours.
LG2 portrayed Mondoux’s flagship Sweet Sixteen candy line in an exquisite way as part of a social campaign that garnered 68 million impressions.
In addition, Gayton notes, the agency has also been recognized in successive years as one of Canada’s best managed companies, an achievement of which he is particularly proud. “Not only are we able to produce world-class creative but we’re recognized for the fact that we know how to run a company as well,” he says.
CONTACT:
Jeremy Gayton
Partner, president
jeremy.gayton@lg2.com
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