Central Station turned a footwear store into an award-winning sneaker heaven in honour of International Air Max Day. With custom in-store displays featuring three of Nike’s designers, kinetic elements and multiple layers to create 3D experiences.
Central Station tells clients that it likes to travel light, enjoy the ride and create things that move people.
Specializing in branding, innovations, physical experiences, and digital marketing, the 50-employee Toronto agency is rooted in the mantra that “we’ll get you to great work and you’ll enjoy the journey,” says John Boniface, executive partner and a founder of the agency. This mantra is supported by the agency’s Arrive Together philosophy. Taking the approach of working with not for clients, the team avoids big reveals and shares work early and often.
The new logo and packaging developed by Central Station for cold-brew coffee company Two Bears is fun, furry, and a little bit ferocious.
Traveling light is a testament to its moderate size which “allows us to be extremely smart, nimble, and agile,” says Ryan Walker, president and partner. “We think clients these days are really looking for hands-on, senior people with no unnecessary layers and that’s what we give them.”
Boniface says Central Station has a history of building, designing and managing websites and that connected services such as SEO, SEM, Paid Media and Social Media now represent about 20% of its business. Digital will always be part of Central Station’s DNA – the agency has several developers, coders and digital project managers on staff.
Designing retail windows, in-store merchanding and other physical installations for brands are strong suits for Central Station. It offers capabilities such as 3D rendering, which it has found is an important service that can bring ideas to life for clients. “It’s an in-house skill that a lot of our competitors do not have,” Boniface says. It also takes care of building, installing and dismantling its installations.
One of those installations was for Toronto-based skincare brand Deciem, which asked Central Station to help with the launch of its The Ordinary brand in Dubai. The activation in the Sephora store window in Dubai Mall, “crushed the results that they were hoping to achieve, not just on brand awareness but also for sales,” Walker says.
Launching The Ordinary in Sephora at The Dubai Mall, the largest window in one of the largest malls in the world (no pressure). Central created a lab-inspired window display and in-store gondola in honour of Deciem’s ethos of ‘Science-backed skincare.’
Not only that, but the agency was able to turn its “travel light” philosophy into reality, says Rocco Pelle, associate creative director. “None of our creative team members stepped foot in Dubai. We designed, built and had the window installed remotely.” Deciem, now an Estée Lauder subsidiary, has recruited Central Station to repeat the Dubai experience in Japan.
To support Dior’s commitment to sustainability, Central sources eco-friendly materials and reduces their carbon footprint, proving that low environmental impact can still be high fashion.
Another client, luxury brand Dior approached Central Station during the pandemic when the borders were closed, and displays couldn’t be shipped into Canada, Walker says.
Since then, the brand has called upon the agency to fabricate several retail windows across the GTA, he says. Dior places a huge focus on sustainability and Central Station can provide work that is environmentally friendly but looks ultra luxurious, adds associate creative director Alex Davies.
Other recent client gains include the Montreal-based global pharmaceutical compounding firm Medisca, global toy maker Spin Master and project work for the University of Toronto.
Walker says much of the agency’s business stems from organic growth from existing clients and referrals from existing and former clients. It takes pride in having major clients that have been with the agency for more than 20 years, like Nike and The Bay. For Nike, Central Station does almost all of the company’s in-store marketing in Canada, including window and store displays, activations and new store openings.
An online and print campaign positioned KPMG as a consultancy with a unique POV, starring real employees with extraordinary hobbies. With creative juxtaposing work with play, the campaign involved cross- country photoshoots and hoisting the occasional kayak.
Of course, Central Station’s standout work isn’t limited to physical experiences. For KPMG, Central Station created the Storytelling Campaign, which did double duty as a brand building and recruitment effort for the consulting giant, says Davies. Employees with cool hobbies and interesting outside-of-work passions – including professional white water kayakers and a former band frontwoman – were interviewed on camera and became stars of the campaign created by KPMG’s Canadian AOR.
Aimed at showing the company’s breadth, the campaign has received “a lot of traction internally and has really helped with recruitment,” Boniface says.
The Central Station team trying to nail the ‘casually leaning against a wall because we work in an ad agency’ pose. L-R: Rocco Pelle (associate creative director), John Boniface (executive partner), Alex Davies (associate creative director), Ryan Walker (president, partner).
Central Station also recently completed a full rebrand of longtime client Humber River Hospital that required “intense” presentations to hundreds of hospital employees before getting the go-ahead, Davies says. The campaign was rooted in a new brand proposition and included a new logo design, and the tagline, “Lighting New Ways in Healthcare,” which was created to speak to the institution’s innovative spirit and leadership in healthcare.
Boniface says the work Central Station does is really indicative of its name which alludes to a busy train station and indicates the “with us you can travel to different places from a marketing standpoint.”
CONTACT:
Ryan Walker
President, partner
ryan@centralstationto.com
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