This story was originally published in the Fall issue of Strategy Magazine

By Will Novosedlik

From launching a global platform that provides employees with access to cutting-edge AI tools, to working with Acxiom to target addressable audiences across media and creative, FCB takes future-proofing seriously.

But what is FCB? A digital shop? A CRM company? A shopper marketing firm? “We refer to ourselves as a creative agency,” says CEO Bryan Kane. “To be honest, I cringe when clients call us their advertising partner. It’s too limiting. It’s better to tell us what problem you’re trying to solve and let us come back with ways to solve it. That could be a product innovation or an experience, or something that doesn’t look like an ad at all.”

Semantics aside, FCB continues to do work that gets the attention of major brands, including SickKids Foundation, Scotties and Mazda, all of which began working with FCB in the last year. But it could also be a result of the agency’s knack for connecting with Gen Z and millennials via creative commerce.

For instance, take BMO’s much-celebrated “NXT NXT LVL” campaign, which won a Grand Prix at this year’s Strategy Awards. Gaming, for some, is replacing traditional advertising media as it becomes a significant entertainment channel for millennials and Gen Z. BMO’s approach was to use gaming as a portal to authentically connect with the young adult community.

So, in 2022, it set up a Twitch channel and found an employee who happened to be a skilled gamer to discuss financial topics with users. This year, FCB expanded the campaign to introduce gamer handles, so that younger users – who have shown to be more hesitant when it comes to talking about money for fear of looking uninformed – could bank anonymously on the channel.

And for Lotto Max, FCB created “The Lotto Max Thrift Drop” (in partnership with Kevin Leonel who specializes in designing upcycled clothing) to encourage a more digitally native audience to engage with OLG. The designer helped create a selection of $200 hoodies, jackets and shirts, with each piece containing seven numbers that double as lottery numbers.

To generate ideas that bridge online and offline commerce, FCB borrows from practices normally associated with the tech world. One example is its hackathons. As part of a global collaboration between IPG’s Creative Commerce Labs and Amazon Ads’ Brand Innovation Labs, FCB hosted a two-day hackathon designed to deliver transformative ideas to their shared clients – including Burt’s Bees, BMO, and Aeroplan – who are looking to succeed in creative commerce.

It’s why FCB Canada has won more Creative Commerce Lions than any other agency globally. BMO’s “NXT LVL” and “Gear Up,” as well as Lotto Max’s “Dream Drop” and “Dream Bars” have all landed on shortlists and in medal counts at Cannes over the last three years.

“Commerce used to be synonymous with shopper, and it was focused on a very specific stage of the journey,” explains Kane. “We’ve seen the gap between brand and buy basically disappear now that everything is shoppable. So we’re trying to think about commerce as not necessarily being a stage of a journey, but a consumer behaviour.” FCB CCO Nancy Crimi-Lamanna agrees: “If I’m on Instagram and I’m being inspired, I can buy it in one click. Brand and buy are literally the same moment now.”

An example is Voilà’s “Trending 2 Table” campaign, which capitalized on viral TikTok food trends that were causing grocery stores to sell out of ingredients. FCB built a bespoke Trend Index that digests data from TikTok, Google, Pinterest and Voilà’s first-party search and sales data. Each data source was assigned a value based on its level of influence. These data points were filtered through FCB’s index to generate “trend energy” predictions, shortening the path-to-purchase by making TikTok content shoppable.

Embracing the link between creative and commerce, and demonstrating a knack for meeting consumers where they are – especially Gen Z and millennials – is why FCB Canada has enjoyed industry acclaim in competitions like Cannes, CMA Awards, Marketing Awards, the MIAs, SIAs, Effies, and the One Show.

“I think the ideas that we get most excited about are the ones that are impossible to categorize,” says Kane. “There may be debate as to what category an idea belongs in, but for us, that just means we’re redefining the formats and their conventions and connecting with people in new ways. Which, given how people are consuming media, is critical, right?”

New Business
Hershey U.S., Mazda, Kimberly Clark, Northeastern University, Saputo, Quickbooks, Scene+, Rensa, Milestones, Kruger (Scotties)

New Hires
Ravi Singh, VP, content lead; Kawal Singh, VP, technology; Coleman Mallery, ACD; Bobby Martiniello and Gaby Makarewicz, CDs; Katy Holden, senior strategist; Jacob Pacey, Brendan McMullen, ACDs

Offices
Toronto, Montreal

Staff
254

Cases

For BMO, FCB’s “Bills Paid on Time” targeted Gen Z by working with a TikTok influencer to promote the benefits of timely payments. The campaign, featuring a catchy track and personalized reminders, achieved 30 million views, a 129% increase in sign-ups and significant engagement on social.

For GE Appliances, FCB created a digital hub to spotlight and rally support for gender equality. By engaging fans through online submissions and social media, the “On The Line” campaign generated 64.6 million impressions and pushed Canada Soccer to equalize pay for women’s and men’s teams.

For Fountain Tire, the agency created “Rainfall Warnings” that featured rain-activated OOH murals in Vancouver to highlight tire safety in wet conditions. The murals, featuring skid marks from accidents, directed drivers to a QR code and website for tire checks. The approach boosted brand favourability by 21% and appointment bookings by 33%.