Independent agencies Cundari and LP/AD are merging under the Cundari brand. The move, announced Monday, represents the next chapter for Cundari and a new platform for growth that combines its creative legacy with LP/AD’s international client roster and strategic planning strength.

Alex Shifrin, founder and managing partner of LP/AD, will step into the role of president, while Aldo Cundari, the agency’s founder, will continue to play an active leadership role as founder and chair.

Why keep the Cundari name? Simple. “No one puts their name on the door anymore,” says the agency’s namesake. “I stand by my name to keep its reputation. I’ve done that for 46 years.”

Both Shifrin and Cundari agreed the merger is in response to an “existential inflection point” in the industry.

“Technology and tech stacks have forced us to have a proper look in the mirror,” Shifrin tells strategy. “We finally needed to make a decision to be the kind of thing that we need to be, which is something between a creative hothouse and a management consultancy. It’s time now.”

Founded in 1980, Cundari has produced work across sectors including automotive, healthcare, finance and public service, with campaigns that have earned global recognition at Cannes Lions, The One Show, The Clios and Effie Awards.

LP/AD, meanwhile, was founded in 2014 and has developed a strong international footprint, working with clients across Europe, Asia and North America. In fact, roughly 95% of its revenue comes from outside of Canada, Shirfin says. Its focus on uncovering growth opportunities through strategic alignment and targeted creative has included partnerships with global and Canadian brands such as Amdocs, Tabasco, Maserati, MLSE and Pernod-Ricard.

The agency’s emphasis on strategy-first thinking and cross-market experience positions it as a natural complement to Cundari’s creative foundation, Cundari says.

“Alex will bring the strategic direction,” he tells strategy. “A lot of things that we talk about is where the industry is going, and we’re agile enough and independent enough that we can do that on a dime. We can change course. The key is really to build a platform that clients can count on. It isn’t our job to say, ‘hey, we’re the best at digital’; it’s our job to actually deliver sales or services for them. That’s the kind of world that we want to create, and we don’t want any hindrance in any other way of doing that.”

The new shop’s team consists of 24 – 19 from the Cundari side and five from LP/AD – a reduction Shifrin says happened over the longer term. “The changes at Cundari weren’t sudden, they’ve been happening organically over the past couple of years as the agency evolved. What we have now is a tighter, more focused team, built for what the industry demands today. This merger isn’t about looking back at that organic change, it’s about looking forward at the kind of strategic growth we can now build together.”

He adds the integration started earlier this year but officially launches this week with a shared vision of connecting the craft and heritage of advertising with the intelligence and innovation shaping today’s communications landscape. “The agency of the future isn’t the 200-person shop; it’s the 30-, 40-, maybe 50-person shop who works with fewer clients, that does a different kind of billing, a higher billing, but truly builds a partnership. How do we solve these business problems vs. how do we do some sort of stunt that gets attention.”

Cundari agreed. “It’s a retooling of the industry as a whole, the way we look at it,” he says. “Doesn’t mean we had all the answers in the past, but what it does mean is that we’re going to build the agency based on our terms. And also, from that, generate better results from our clients by building in that brand connection.”