This campaign for Go RVing positioned exploring Canada as a gift – one taken away by the pandemic but which now can be gifted back to travelers.
Toronto-based strategic communications agency Agnostic is built on the principle that better thinking drives better results. “Clients and brands want to talk about one thing, while the media wants to talk about another,” says president Sarah Crabbe. “Our job is to find that ‘Trojan horse’ insight that allows us to either start a conversation or insert ourselves into a conversation on behalf of our clients.”
To do that, the agency needed to change how it looked at storytelling and messaging. Last fall it hired Amit Shilton, formerly of the Toronto Star, layering a journalistic lens on its process. “We understand how to drive conversation and build awareness, but he understands how to make that travel in terms of the current hybrid news world that we inhabit and how we make it even more relevant,” Crabbe says.
For the launch of Truss Beverages’ THC-SAR – Canada’s first cannabis-infused Caesar – Agnostic tapped into media conversations around National Caesar Day and delivered Caesar-inspired “wake and bake” kits to Budtenders, helping Truss to continue dominating the CIB category.
Case in point, for retailer Metro, the team questioned the definition of “local” – an area of focus for every brand in the grocery space. It also sought to determine what issues are affecting the farming space.
The objective to increase brand awareness of the “Locally Sourced” program and drive consideration for Metro grew to include the promotion of diversity in agriculture and the goal of fostering Ontario’s next generation of farmers.
Cheyenne Sundance, a 25-year-old self-taught urban farmer (pictured), helped educate students from underserved communities at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, helping Metro foster the next generation of urban farmers.
Metro’s Locally Sourced campaign with the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (RAWF) – where BIPOC farmers spoke to attendees about urban farming – surpassed the 60% brand awareness goal, hitting 72% among RAWF attendees. Metro saw a 49% net increase in consideration and the impressions goal was surpassed by 148% with 130 traditional and social coverage pieces and 50 million impressions.
Since its inception in 2019, Agnostic has transitioned from start-up to scale-up, delivering impact-driven work for other brands including Truss Beverages, Go RVing, Goodfood, Cisco, and consulting firm BCG. In the past two years, Agnostic has ranked in the top five for PR Agency of the Year. And its year-old focus on health is helping it make waves.
Cisco’s Fast Future Innovation Awards look to foster a Canadian innovation culture by providing up to $200K to solve companies’ greatest business challenges. LinkedIn was a top-performing channel for driving awareness and registration for the contest through sponsored and organic content.
Last year it brought on Nancy Dale as SVP in charge of the agency’s burgeoning health practice. “Nancy spent 16 years with the Ontario Medical Association, and she is here because she believes there’s something different needed in the healthcare space,” Crabbe explains.
“COVID-19 changed healthcare communications forever,” she says, noting that the explosion of medical voices on digital channels is the future of that space, further cementing Agnostic’s focus on the vertical.
Crabbe attributes Agnostic’s success to talent, methodology, and its clients.
The campaign video for the Fast Future Innovation Awards highlights Cisco’s role in driving innovation in Canada and introduced the contest to viewers in a dynamic way.
Many on Agnostic’s team – which has blossomed from two to 30 – came from larger global agencies and bring considerable experience. Climbing the ladder at multinational firms meant getting away from what they loved about the industry in the first place.
“To be back with a senior team and able to deliver counsel one-on-one, to build trust and be able to move fast with very few constraints is the beauty of being independent,” Crabbe says.
Quality versus quantity is a big part of the agency’s model as well as a strategic shift brands need to make to maximize communication plans. “Earned media has never been more coveted or more valuable,” Crabbe notes, so efforts are highly targeted. “We may tell a client we’ll get them 10 pieces of coverage that will move the needle and make a business impact, rather than 10,000 pieces of coverage just for a volume of press clippings.”
Menu items from Aloette Restaurant, which partnered with Goodfood on Aloette Go meal kits. Agnostic drove demand via food influencers.
She values client trust as integral to success. “Brave clients mean brave work,” she says. She notes that successful brand building amid a shifting market reality entails an appetite for different approaches. Marketers looking to drive change benefit from the reality check and creative alternatives that come from partnering with agencies that are agile and unafraid to challenge the brief, the budget, and expected results.
“We don’t sell services, we solve problems,” Crabbe says. The agency’s approach is right there in its name: Crabbe underlines the importance of the shop not siloing itself into particular tactics, such as either earned or paid. It must remain truly agnostic.
“We identify what our clients need from a communications program: will it drive conversation, and is it the right spend in the right place at the right time? We root ourselves in strategy, build off human truths and bring work to market that drives business impact.”
CONTACT:
Sarah Crabbe
President
scrabbe@thinkagnostic.com
The 2023 A-Listers:
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Daughter: Designing with purpose
Zerotrillion: Crafting cultural connections
Havas: Harnessing the power of meaningful media
Arrivals + Departures: Bold moves bolster offering and drive scale
Mint: Culture-mining to underpin brand relevance
Berners Bowie Lee: Stepping outside the advertising bubble
Initiative: Marketing for good
