It’s been said that breaking up is hard to do, but the official word from TAXI Advertising of Toronto and YTV Canada – its client of four years – is that the two will remain good friends.

In a joint press release dated April 22, the pair announced a parting of ways, diplomatically citing differences in expectations and operating philosophies as the reason behind the breakup.

‘We had a great relationship with ytv, however, this is a mutual parting,’ says Paul Lavoie, president and creative director of TAXI Advertising. ‘I have the utmost respect for the staff there.’

Neither Lavoie nor Susan Ross, vice-president of marketing at ytv, would say what their respective expectations were. But Ross says the parting comes at a time when ytv is re-evaluating the direction it wants to take its business.

‘I think the business has evolved and we have gone through a life cycle with the product,’ she says. ‘But now we have to look at our strategy to see where we are heading.’

‘They’ve gone through four presidents in four years,’ adds taxi’s Lavoie. ‘There have been a lot of changes in that time.’

Since 1993, taxi has developed all off-air creative for the network, including print and transit advertising. ytv did its own broadcast promotion in-house.

The print and transit ads, which Lavoie says helped brand ytv, have won numerous awards.

Typical of the advertising was the ‘You Rule’ campaign, which had a youth empowerment theme. ‘Gee Mom, I’d love to take out the garbage but I’m busy altering the course of music history,’ says one ad featuring a 12-year-old Mozart.

Lavoie would not discuss what the account loss means financially to his agency. (According to ACNielsen, ytv’s ad budget last year was about $1 million.)

He says he prefers to think about his agency’s contribution to the success of ytv.

‘We helped bring ytv from a kiddie station into the lucrative tween market,’ he says. ‘ytv is now seen as a cool, hip station with young people.’ ACNielsen figures indicate that ytv has an average weekly reach of about 10 million viewers.

taxi will move forward and concentrate on other business, says Lavoie. It recently won the BiWay account and is also working on campaigns for Clearnet Communications and Royal Bank Mutual Funds.

Ross says ytv will take its time before making any decisions about its advertising strategy – or its agency.

‘We don’t want to jump into anything,’ she says. ‘We want to make sure that we are partnering with the right group.’ taxi and ytv will stay in touch over the next few weeks while they wrap up business, she adds.

Lavoie says while he has no regrets, he is saddened by the breakup, particularly since ytv was the agency’s first account in Toronto.

‘It’s been a good experience and something we are proud of.’