There’s a new energy at MacLaren McCann. Marta Cutler and Dave Kelso, newly appointed co-national creative directors, are thrilled to be working together again and to have the chance

to bring their entrepreneurial creative approach to Canada’s third largest agency.

Along with Dom Caruso, managing director, and Doug Turney, director of client services, and under the leadership of chairman Tony Miller, Cutler and Kelso pick up the reins at MacLaren McCann at somewhat of a turning point for the agency. In March, Rick Davis, the agency’s former creative head, left. Then in May, the agency lost the Molson business, a disappointment given their long-standing relationship. But recent wins at the Extra Awards (the agency was tied for second in the overall number of awards won), a couple of Bessies, as well as strong results on clients like General Motors, the National Post and Durex signal a return to the agency’s strong roots.

‘We were obviously very sad about the decision on Molson’, Cutler says, ‘But Dave and I also see it as a wonderful opportunity, sort of the start of a new era. The philosophy that we want to instill throughout the agency, not just in the creative department, is that good isn’t good enough. And we’re encouraging each team to be entrepreneurs on their own business. As an

entrepreneur, you take risks. And it means you’re more proactive in spotting opportunities that the client may not necessarily see.’ She adds that the entrepreneurial approach goes beyond merely looking at what makes a great ad; it involves looking at what is truly beneficial for the business and where the interesting opportunities are to reach the consumer.

We all know that great creative doesn’t just happen. Kelso says that one of the things that differentiates MacLaren McCann is that developing ‘creative for creative’s sake’ is not an option. ‘We spend an awful lot of time understanding who we’re taking to, to make sure that we’re not just doing advertising for ourselves or just to be popular.’ He cites the agency’s life stage conference rooms as one example of the ways in which MacLaren McCann will ‘dig’ to get to the bottom of the consumer’s needs and wants. Reflecting various stages in a consumer’s life, the rooms which include a rec room, a living room, a romper room, and a young guy’s first apartment — effectively place participants into the consumer’s headspace, ‘And that frees them to engage in a true dialogue with the consumer,’ he says.

When asked what drew them back to MacLaren McCann, both Cutler and Kelso refer to the agency’s strong track record of creating consistently fresh, smart advertising for some of Canada’s largest advertisers. Cutler explains, ‘MacLaren has this really fantastic history of doing incredibly smart work on some very challenging clients. To me, that’s always been the mark of a truly great agency – when you can do that kind of work on clients like General Motors, Lipton and McNeil (Immodium, Motrin). On top of that, there’s always been this great energy to the place, a strong spirit and humanity that’s just made it plain fun to work there.’

Describing the secret ingredient that distinguishes good from great, Kelso says that while ‘risk’ is a frequently used word, ‘courage’ may be the more appropriate term. Courage to go where no one else has gone, courage to take the consumer someplace new. ‘That’s when you see fresh creative and fresh marketing,’ he says. He cites the agency’s work for the National Post as a case in point. According to Kelso, one true measure of courageous advertising is seeing that it raises the bar for the entire category, as illustrated by recent efforts by Post competitors The Globe & Mail and The Toronto Star.

Echoing his colleague, Caruso sums up the agency’s point of difference: ‘Our brand,

MacLaren McCann, stands for outstanding creative thinking in any medium.’ He adds, ‘We may be a creative agency, but the emphasis is there for very hard-nosed business reasons. We fundamentally believe that without great creative, you can’t achieve great results.’

Results like taking a brand with 8% awareness all the way to 36% awareness in six months. That’s what happened to the Durex brand after a multi-media campaign that ran from June ’97 to October ’98. Cutler explains that the multiple award-winning campaign (pictured above/below/at left/at right) was courageous because it was a departure from traditional category advertising. ‘Most condom advertising focuses on what would happen if you didn’t wear a condom. What this campaign did was take the opposite position by saying ‘sex is fun’,’ she says.

You can’t get your message to consumers unless you entertain them. Everyone knows that, right? ‘I think sometimes agencies think advertising is brain surgery. So often, there’s a tendency to over-complicate things,’ counters Cutler, who chaired this year’s Bessie awards. She cites MacLaren McCann’s recent newspaper campaign for RBC Insurance (pictured right/left/above) as an example of not taking advertising too seriously.

The humorous ads were also recently honored at the Extra’s with two Bronze awards. Cutler comments, ‘People think of insurance as boring, boring, boring. So we decided to have some fun with the ads and convey a simple message that says ‘Anything can happen, but not just anyone can help.’

Caruso says that what it all adds up to is that MacLaren McCann is really about outstanding effectiveness. ‘Our track record demonstrates it. We’ve won Gold Cassies for effectiveness, we’ve won AME awards for effectiveness, we’ve won top client awards for effectiveness. Plus, we’ve created some of Canada’s most successful #1 brands like Pontiac, Chevrolet and Durex. These effectiveness stories happened for one reason. There was great strategic thinking at the heart of every one of them. But it was great creative thinking that made the difference.’

MacLaren Mccann

Marta Cutler/Dave Kelso

Co-national creative directors

10 Bay Street

Toronto, Ontario

M5J 2T3

Tel: 416 594-6000

Fax: 416 643-7027

Also in this sponsored supplement:

– Telling tales and driving sales p.CA1

– Ambrose Carr Linton Carroll: A culture that sparks creativity p.CA2

– Harrod & Mirlin/FCB: Not just an agency with strong creative. A strong creative agency. p.CA3

– To Cundari Group, creative is currency p.CA4

– Encore Encore: The small big idea agency p.CA5

– Communiqué: What’s the big idea? p.CA6

– Capital C: Big ideas that work p.CA8

– J. Walter Thompson: Back on the radar screen p.CA11

– Young & Rubicam: Make the brand relevant; make the brand famous p.CA13

– Rapp Collins Communicaide: Using data to build brands with individual customers p.CA15

– Ogilvy & Mather: Risky business p.CA16