The award-winning “Magic Duos,” out of home campaign reminded people that the combination of their favourite food and an ice-cold Coca-Cola is magic.
When CEO Rob Guénette stood at the helm of a newly merged VML Canada, bringing Taxi and Wunderman Thompson together, he knew the easiest route would be the wrong one. Simply fusing old cultures from the separate firms – Taxi having made its mark with influential creative and Wunderman building its reputation on CRM, commerce, data and tech – wasn’t going to be enough. He wanted to build something entirely new: a fresh company that could, from day one, be a serious contender on the national stage.
OLG Ontario Racing Unfiltered, a gripping docuseries, brought the raw, behind-the-scenes world of horse racing to life, helping a new audience fall in love with the sport.
And in just over a year, with over 500 employees across Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver offices, the agency has done just that through deliberate leadership choices, an ambitious vision and a culture that prioritizes creativity and connection.
“We established the leadership very quickly, so that set the tone,” Guénette says. And then he and Graham Lang, CCO, set one clear goal: “We have to come out of this, not only with a successful merger, but also to land in the top five most creative agencies in Canada with a body of work that represents the totality of our capabilities.” Lang highlights that VML Canada ranked fourth in the Strategy 2025 Creative Report Card.
The agency now consistently tops creative industry benchmarks. But behind those wins lies a deliberate philosophy that Guénette and his team installed from the very start: a culture of creativity, connection and integration.
At the heart of VML Canada’s approach is the philosophy of creating “Connected Brands” – brands that meet customers with the right mix of humanity, persuasion and commerce at every stage of their journey. VML’s integrated structure flows across three pillars, with Brand Experience, Customer Experience and Commerce under one roof. The company sees itself as a band of doers, innovators and believers in humanity. And for Guénette, those words are more than branding – they are the spirit behind every piece of work, whether it’s a simple in-store shelf talker or a national television spot, the commitment to high creativity remains the same.
“Pride Unravelled,” transformed data into a powerful visual statement and turned complex truths into an unforgettable celebration of identity and impact.
VML’s geographic reach is key to their success in a multicultural country like Canada. Québec isn’t an afterthought, for example, it’s built into every national campaign from the start. In fact, some national accounts are run entirely out of Montréal or Vancouver, reflecting the agency’s inclusive model.
Improv star Pier-Luc Funk electrified the screen in San Émission, the award-winning comedy special that transformed a TV station’s dead airtime into a four-hour overnight hit powered by the all-electric Volkswagen.
This approach has paid off, with standout campaigns like Volkswagen’s “Sans Émissions” emerging from the Montréal office, which won a Grand Clio for Media. A simple but powerful double entendre, the campaign transformed Québec’s TV “off-air” screens into a metaphor for Volkswagen’s zero-emission vehicles, earning top global recognition and helping the automaker’s electrification efforts resonate in a culturally authentic way. Other major accounts like Coca-Cola, Mazda, Fido, OLG, Vancity, Colgate and Kruger have also benefited from VML’s distinctly Canadian storytelling. Guénette also explains that VML Canada negotiated significant local autonomy despite being part of the world’s largest agency network, with over 30,000 employees globally.
Technological innovation is also playing a part in the agency’s future. Through VML’s access to WPP Open, a proprietary AI-powered platform, the team can accelerate research and production without sacrificing creative quality. Though AI isn’t a replacement for human insight, Guénette sees it as a powerful enabler.
VML helped Coca-Cola Fuze make its Canadian debut with a bold launch campaign and introduced a fresh new brand with a familiar flavour to audiences across the country.
Looking ahead, VML Canada’s focus is on smart, sustainable growth. With a challenging economic landscape and uncertain global tensions, the agency is doubling down on deepening relationships with existing clients, strengthening their customer experience and commerce capabilities and applying their full creative force across every touchpoint.
Ultimately, Guénette believes the balance between deep national pride and global connectedness is what sets VML Canada apart. That’s why VML Canada’s mantra is “Fiercely local. Proudly global.”
CONTACT:
Matt Shoom-Kirsch
Chief operating officer
matt.shoom-kirsch@vml.com
The 2025 A-Listers:
Zulu Alpha Kilo: Connecting creativity and impact
Mosaic: An era where anything’s possible
Agnostic: Rewriting narratives in service of the work
Weber Shandwick: Where culture, creativity and tech collide
Dentsu: Humanity in the age of algorithms
Lifelong Crush: Sparking long-term devotion
C&B Advertising: Leading with emotion
PHD Canada: An intelligent transformation
The Hive: Doubling down on beating boring
