The agency is recognized for its work with SickKids Foundation and Leger Marketing and will be awarded at the ceremony in New York on September 27, 2017. 

• Gold,Integrated Campaign: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS
• Bronze, Film Short form: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS MomStrong
• Bronze, Film Short form: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS DadStrong
• Bronze, Film Technique, Music, Licensed: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS Undeniable
• Bronze, Film Technique, Music, Licensed: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS MomStrong
• Bronze, Public Relations, Brand Development: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS
• Bronze, Brand Design, Corporate Identity: Léger Marketing and Cossette, Ovation

Along with agency partner Skin and Bones Film, Cossette picked up an additional five awards for SickKids VS: 

• Bronze, Film Technique, Cinematography: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS MomStrong
• Silver, Film Technique, Cinematography: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS Undeniable
• Bronze, Film Technique, Direction: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS Undeniable
• Bronze, Film Technique, Direction: SickKids Foundation SickKids VS MomStrong
• Bronze, Film Technique, Editing: SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS Undeniable

Founded in 1959, the Clio Awards are an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design and communications, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals.

Toronto — September 13, 2017: Following a strong period of sustained growth, Cossette Media has hired Wes Wolch as Chief Strategy Officer, rounding out a series of executive hires and promotions to complete the agency’s new leadership team.

Wolch will lead Cossette Media’s national strategy practice and partner with regional General Manager, Brooke Leland to lead the Ontario & West business. He will report to Joseph Leon, President Vision7 Media.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Wes to the Cossette Media family. With experience spanning media, content, creative and client, he brings a unique lens to our strategic capabilities, one that is directly aligned with our ‘strategy without silos’ vision”, says Joseph Leon.

Wolch joins the agency from Vice Media in Toronto where he was VP, Strategy and Creative. Prior to his role at Vice, he was VP Content and Connection Planning at GroupM’s MEC, where he led the Molson, Netflix and GE businesses.

Wolch adds: "I'm incredibly excited about joining Cossette Media. Being a part of an iconic locally grown group with a sharp, talented and digitally fluent executive team, as well as our extensive data & technology resources, gives us a strong advantage. It is a tremendous opportunity to evolve our clients’ focus beyond pure media to an overarching communications approach that delivers results."

The arrival of Wolch is the final step in the evolution of the agency’s leadership team which started with new regional General Managers, Brooke Leland (SVP, General Manager, Ontario & West) and Claude Lamoureux (SVP, General Manager, Quebec & East).

Other key moves in the Toronto office include:

• Brian Cuddy, formerly Director Performance, has been promoted to VP Performance and Programmatic, expanding Cossette Media’s excellence in programmatic performance to broader programmatic operations.
• Diane Devries, one of Cossette Media’s long-standing leaders, has been promoted to SVP Investments, where she will oversee the region’s evolved buying model. She will also join Cossette Media’s Executive.
•  Janice Liu, who joined the agency last year, has been named VP Digital Solutions, leading Cossette Media’s custom data and tech solutions, advisory services and general technology investments and partnerships.
•  Charlaine St-Amant, formerly Planning Director, has been promoted to VP Planning and will lead partner engagement, media services delivery and 360 planning.

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For more information :

Roxanne Chaudier
514 827-8315
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

Canadian entrepreneurs take centre stage in the Business Development Bank of Canada’s (BDC) most recent ad campaign, which highlights relatable moments in the lives of entrepreneurs. 

BDC’s agency of record, Cossette, created three 30-second TV spots, three 15-second pre-roll videos, radio spots, as well as out-of-home and digital ads. The campaign will run nationwide in English and French starting today.

“Building on the success of our last campaign, we continue to illustrate BDC’s understanding of entrepreneurs, as the only bank exclusively devoted to them,” said Michel Bergeron, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Public Affairs at BDC. 

“Each ad takes place in a setting that entrepreneurs can relate to. We are glimpsing into their inner thoughts, underlining the challenges they often face, and showcasing the determination by which they overcome them,” added Bergeron. “BDC is there to accompany them along their business journey so they never feel as though they’re alone.” 

“We wanted to demonstrate the close connection between BDC and entrepreneurs, and the bank’s deep understanding of their reality. The cinematographic look we chose for the spots makes them feel almost like movie trailers,” said Antoine Bécotte, Chief Creative Officer at Cossette.

In addition to the ad campaign and to further connect with Canadian entrepreneurs, BDC will once again partner with CBC’s Dragons’ Den, a big favourite amongst Canadians and the entrepreneur community. Each week, one of BDC’s experts will comment on pitches and provide advice to entrepreneurs in a 30-second segment. A 90-second version of the video will also be made available online and on BDC’s social media channels for those who wish to find out more.

Credits

Advertiser – Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
Michel Bergeron
Annie Marsolais
Pierre Ménard
Roxanne Romani

Agency – Cossette
Media agency – Cossette Media  
Production house - 4ZERO1
Recording studio - La Majeure

About BDC

BDC is the only bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs. It promotes Canadian entrepreneurship with a focus on small and medium-sized businesses. With its 118 business centres from coast to coast, BDC provides businesses in all industries with financing and advisory services. Its investment arm, BDC Capital, offers equity, venture capital and flexible growth and transition capital solutions. To find out more, visit bdc.ca.

About Cossette

Cossette is a fully integrated marketing communications agency that offers a full range of avant-garde communications services. Cossette is a community of talents, a unique gathering of expertise and creativity that builds strong brands for its clients and maintains a dialogue with consumers.

Cossette has been named Agency of the Year by Strategy magazine and is listed as a Platinum Employer by Aon Hewitt. It is also one of Advertising Age’s Best Places to Work. The agency currently has offices in Halifax, Québec City, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Chicago, and strives to become a major player in the global advertising community. For more information, please visit cossette.com.

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For more information :

Roxanne Chaudier
514 827-8315
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

Produced by Cossette, the three 15-second spots show The Rooster—who proudly touts the freshness and quality of Exceldor products—in another series of comical situations.

The spots, which premiered at the Gémeaux Awards gala in Québec, will appear on television and online until October 29.

Credits

Advertiser – Exceldor 
Agency – Cossette
Media agency – Cossette Media
Production house – Morrison Films
Post production – Studio Élément
Music – Les Productions du Gros Cornet Inc.

About Cossette

Cossette is a fully integrated marketing communications agency offering a complete range of cutting-edge communications services. Cossette is a community of talents, a unique gathering of expertise and creativity that builds strong brands for its clients and maintains a dialogue with consumers.

Cossette was named Agency of the Year by Strategy magazine, is a Platinum-level Aon Hewitt Best Employer, and is on Ad Age magazine’s list of Best Places to Work. The agency has offices in Halifax, Québec City, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Chicago, and has been making strides to become a major player among global agencies. To learn more, visit cossette.com.

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For more information:

Roxanne Chaudier
514 827-8315
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

NEW YORK, September 7, 2017 BlueFocus International Limited (‘BlueFocus’), a wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary of BlueFocus Communications Group Co. Ltd (publicly traded Chinese Company SHE: 300058), and Cogint, Inc. (NASDAQ: COGT), today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement by which they will combine assets to form a new global marketing services organization.

BlueFocus is contributing its largest international assets including Vision7 International – which holds the agencies Cossette, Vision7 Media, Citizen Relations and The Camps Collective – in addition to the global socially-led creative agency, We Are Social.

Cogint is adding its U.S.-based performance marketing platform business Fluent, which brings a unique data-driven and performance-based approach that is increasingly in demand by CMOs and business leaders.

BlueFocus will own 63% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. Existing Cogint shareholders will own 37% of the combined company on a fully-diluted basis. In addition, BlueFocus, Vision 7 International and We Are Social will contribute $100 million in cash to fund a special dividend to pre-closing stockholders; the amount of the cash dividend is subject to reduction for transaction expenses and other amounts under the terms of the deal and will be paid contingent on closing of the transaction. 

When the deal is closed, each of the brands will continue to operate as separate entities with their own management teams under the existing Cogint legal entity, which will be renamed. This newly combined company is expected to be listed on NASDAQ and its name and ticker symbol will be announced before closing.

The combined revenue is in excess of $400 million and the combined EBITDA is in excess of $50 million for the combined business over the past 12 months.

Fluent’s digital performance marketing platform and insight engine are expected to bolster the already strong North American capabilities of Vision7 International agencies and We Are Social, which achieved solid revenue and EBITDA growth in the past year.

In turn, the combination of capabilities with Vision7 International and We Are Social will accelerate the expansion of Fluent’s business into new areas and geographies throughout North America and overseas, particularly Europe, and other international markets. There is also the opportunity to leverage Fluent’s platform to drive campaign planning, creative and targeting for virtually every marketing channel, extending beyond digital to TV, radio, print and outdoor.

As part of the transaction, but not involving BlueFocus, immediately prior to the closing, Cogint will spin-off IDI, its data and analytics operations and assets into a public company, expected to be listed on NASDAQ, named Red Violet, Inc. (“Red Violet”). 

The shares of Red Violet will be distributed to Cogint’s pre-closing shareholders as of a record date to be determined as a stock dividend, contingent upon closing of the transaction. 

BlueFocus Communications Group Co. Ltd is not a party to the transaction and its listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange will be unaffected.

Holly Zheng, CEO and President of BlueFocus International, based in Mountain View, CA, said: 

“In today’s world our clients require more transparency, accuracy and clear-measured ROI when carrying out marketing. Fluent is exceptionally positioned with a proven track record.  Its performance-based approach and digital-driven capability will continuously generate insights in demand by CMOs and business leaders.  

“This remarkable partnership with Fluent will accelerate the great progress of the BlueFocus agency brands such as Cossette, Citizen, Vision 7 Media, The Camps Collective, and We Are Social, all of which have been growing their businesses and reputations tremendously.   

“We are confident that the combination businesses announced today will create a new kind of marketing services company, in line with BlueFocus’ overall vision of building an intelligent branding communication group globally.”

Ryan Schulke, CEO and co-Founder of Fluent, added:

 “We could not be more excited about the opportunity that lies ahead to bring new capabilities and innovation to our clients and partners on a global basis. Our soon-to-be sister companies are award-winning firms with blue-chip rosters, which offer best-in-class services spanning branding and creative, CRM, digital production, social media, influencer marketing, public relations and more. Paired with Fluent’s industry-leading performance marketing platform and expertise, we are poised to create one of the world’s largest marketing services organizations with a truly differentiated and powerful offering.”

The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals.

Cogint was advised in connection with the transaction by Petsky Prunier, Roth Capital (fairness opinion) and Akerman LLP.  BlueFocus was advised by PJT Partners and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

About BlueFocus International Limited

BlueFocus International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlueFocus Communication Group (publicly traded Chinese company SHE: 300058), leads international strategy, M&A and cross-border initiatives for the group and manages an international portfolio of award winning digital marketing, PR, communications and advertising agencies including We Are Social, Cossette, Citizen Relations and The Camps Collective. Also part of the BlueFocus International portfolio is fuseproject, a highly esteemed industrial design firm behind consumer technology and lifestyle product hits such as Jawbone, Movado and the August Lock. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, BlueFocus International and its portfolio companies employ over 1,500 professionals across the spectrum of marketing and advertising disciplines worldwide. It serves hundreds of the world's best-known brands from major consumer goods manufacturers to cutting-edge technology companies by providing global intelligent marketing solutions in brand strategy, digital creative production, ecommerce enablement, cloud based CRM, big data analytics, digital and traditional media buying, and social media insights & marketing. 

About Fluent

Fluent LLC, a cogint company, is an industry leader in people-based digital marketing and customer acquisition, serving over 500 leading consumer brands and direct marketers.  Leveraging a unique data-driven platform, Fluent enables advertisers to more effectively target and acquire their most valuable customers, with precision, at a massive scale.  The company is headquartered in New York City. For more information visit www.fluentco.com.

About cogint™

At cogint, we believe that time is your most valuable asset. Through powerful analytics, we transform data into intelligence, in a fast and efficient manner, so that our clients can spend their time on what matters most – running their organizations with confidence. Through leading-edge, proprietary technology and a massive data repository, our data and analytical solutions harness the power of data fusion, uncovering the relevance of disparate data points and converting them into comprehensive and insightful views of people, businesses, assets and their interrelationships. We empower clients across markets and industries to better execute all aspects of their business, from managing risk, conducting investigations, identifying fraud and abuse, and collecting debts, to identifying and acquiring new customers. At cogint, we are dedicated to making the world a safer place, to reducing the cost of doing business, and to enhancing the consumer experience.

NOTE TO INVESTORS CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as “expects,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “may,” “anticipate,” “believes,” “should,” “intends,” “estimates,” and other words of similar meaning. Such forward looking statements include statements relating to the transaction between cogint and BlueFocus, expected annual revenues and EBITDA of the combined company, the expected benefits of the transaction to cogint shareholders, the spin-off of cogint’s data and analytics operations and assets into a new public company, and the expected benefits of the separation of such operations and assets.  Additional risks may include the risk that a condition to closing of the proposed transaction may not be satisfied or that the closing of the proposed transaction and spin-off might otherwise not occur or be delayed; the risk that a regulatory approval that may be required for the proposed transaction is not obtained or is obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated; the diversion of management time on transaction-related issues; the ability to successfully integrate the businesses to be contributed by BlueFocus with the Fluent business; the ability to successfully separate cogint’s data and analytics operations and assets; the risk that the common stock of Red Violet is not listed on NASDAQ; the risk that the transaction and its announcement could have an adverse effect on cogint’s and BlueFocus’s ability to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel; the risk that any potential synergies from the transaction may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected, as well as other non-historical statements about our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business, technologies and products, financial condition, strategies or prospects. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are based on our expectations as of the date of this press release and speak only as of the date of this press release and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other SEC filings. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 

Contacts:

FOR MEDIA QUESTIONS:
Erin Dupree, Citizen Relations (a subsidiary of BlueFocus)
Phone: 212-613-4902
erin.dupree@citizenrelations.com

FOR INVESTOR QUESTIONS:
Jordyn Kopin, (Cogint investors see also investor website)
Phone: 646-356-8469
JKopin@cogint.com

As the official coffee sponsor of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), McCafé is really into coffee and film. To celebrate this love for cinema and the brewed bean, McCafé is launching ‘Employee Commentary’ – an entertaining behind-the-scenes look at unique specialty coffee experiences from a McCafé Crew Member’s perspective, all in the spirit of a director’s commentary.

The campaign, developed by creative agency Cossette, was made to treat the coffee experience with the same respect as the film experience. As does the director’s commentary in film, the campaign demonstrates exclusive access to film experiences, while emphasizing McCafé’s passion for coffee as well.

Two 50-second videos were developed with a McCafé Crew Member commenting on the scene at the restaurant, with the comment having double meaning towards film and the specialty beverage being featured. Each video starts on the menu screen (similar to a DVD’s ‘special features’ section) and celebrates beloved film genres, like French Romantic Comedy and Film Noir.

The films will run on YouTube as long-form content and pre-roll with shorter versions of these filmic scenes will be featured on Facebook and Instagram.

The campaign will launch on September 5, 2017 and the videos will be played for the duration of the festival, until September 17th.

Developed by Cossette, the Light It Up campaign features Domi running through a dark street while passing by a series of scenes, each representing a challenge to a person managing diabetes. Each scene is also illuminated in a single colour light that represents the corresponding light that would appear on the CONTOUR® NEXT ONE meter. Yellow is high, red is low and green is right on target.

“I have been living with diabetes for almost my entire life and thanks to my family, healthcare professionals and the right tools, I have never let diabetes stand in the way of crushing my goals, says Domi. “I want all Canadians - adults and kids – living with diabetes to feel empowered to take control and not let diabetes be a barrier to their success. Partnering with Ascensia has given me the opportunity to share my story and connect with individuals from all walks of life to make a difference.”

About Cossette
Cossette is a fully integrated marketing communications agency offering a full range of cutting-edge communications services. Cossette is a community of specialized talents, a unique gathering of expertise and creativity that builds strong brands for its clients and maintains a dialogue with consumers.

Cossette was named Agency of the Year by Strategy Magazine, is a Platinum-Level Aon Hewitt Best Employer, and is on Ad Age Magazine’s list of Best Places to Work. The agency has offices in Halifax, Québec City, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Chicago, and has been making strides to become a major player amongst global agencies. To learn more, visit cossette.com.

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This campagn, created by the agencies Cossette and Touché!, launches during Canadians post-vacation, back-to-work period to zero in on drivers’ eternal pet peeve: traffic.

The goal is to reach people at the exact moment when they’re caught in heavy traffic through dynamic and static billboards along major highways and radio spots after traffic reports, as well as web targeting and retargeting on mobile.

In this campaign, dynamic billboards will be used to display the current traffic situation along the main highways. Thus, messages from VIA Rail will appear when traffic is extremely heavy and when the estimated travel time for a trip along the highway (e.g. Montréal to Toronto) by car is much longer than the same trip by train. 

Meanwhile, the web targeting strategy will also reach people who plan to travel through an area where traffic is particularly bad, and retarget those who have been caught in a traffic jam in the past few hours via mobile.

The campaign consists of two 15-second videos presenting everyday situations with the tagline “Why don’t you take the train?”. These videos will play online through pre-roll. An additional four videos will be shared on social media. 

The campaign also includes three six-second videos in YouTube’s “bumper ad” format that target people who have already seen the brand’s ads. These messages highlight the benefits of taking the train.

Credits
Advertiser – VIA Rail Canada
Agency – Cossette
Media agency – Touché!
Digital agency – Tink

About Cossette

Cossette is a fully integrated marketing communications agency that offers a full range of avant-garde communications services. Cossette is a community of talents, a unique gathering of expertise and creativity that builds strong brands for its clients and maintains a dialogue with consumers. 

Cossette has been named Agency of the Year by Strategy magazine and listed as a platinum employer by Aon Hewitt. It is also one of Advertising Age’s Best Places to Work. The agency currently has offices in Halifax, Québec, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Chicago, and strives to become a major player in the global advertising community. For more information, please visit cossette.com.

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For more information:
Roxanne Chaudier
514 827-8315
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

Over the years, Francine has distinguished herself through her work on major accounts like McDonald’s Canada, Bell, General Motors, the Government of Quebec (CSPQ), Loto-Québec, Radio-Canada and, more recently, the Society for the Celebration of Montreal’s 375th Anniversary.

As a member of Cossette Media’s national executive committee, Francine heads a team of media planning and buying experts at the Montreal and Quebec City offices. 

“Francine has earned the confidence of both media suppliers and the members of Cossette senior management, who readily seek her views and opinions on media-related issues,” said Claude Lamoureux, Vice-President and General Manager of Cossette Media in Quebec. “She’s a true pioneer, and we’re delighted to have had her on our team all these years.”

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For more information :

Roxanne Chaudier
514-827-8315
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

James Alexander Dunphy (formerly of Sid Lee), Julie Trudeau (formerly of bleublancrouge and Substances Stratégies), Martina Djogo (formerly of Elle Québec and Châtelaine) and Youri Hollier (formerly of Lightspeed and David’s Tea) have joined Experience and Content VP Chris Bergeron’s team as content strategists, along with Elsa Moufarege (formerly of Moment Factory and BAM Strategy) as community manager. The team also includes content strategist Mikael Lebleu (formerly of Sid Lee and Le Journal de Montréal, and co-founder of Petit Petit Gamin), who arrived at Cossette last fall.

To respond to its clients’ increasingly complex content needs, Cossette has put together a team of experts with extensive, perhaps even unconventional, experience. 

“We chose candidates who have had success in a variety of content-related areas, whether their expertise involves platforms and formats, campaign ecosystems, or content creation,” said Chris Bergeron, the agency’s chief specialist in this field.

These new strategists—hailing from the business, agency and media worlds—will add to Cossette’s content creation and strategy know-how, and help tackle the agency’s latest mandates, in collaboration with the teams already in place.

“Content is no longer an isolated, emerging discipline. Today all projects—from brand experience to CRM and advertising campaigns—have to incorporate a content strategy,” concluded Chris Bergeron.

About Cossette

Cossette is a fully integrated marketing communications agency offering a full range of cutting-edge communications services. Cossette is a community of specialized talents, a unique gathering of expertise and creativity that builds strong brands for its clients and maintains a dialogue with consumers.

Cossette was named Agency of the Year by Strategy Magazine, is a Platinum-Level Aon Hewitt Best Employer, and is on Ad Age Magazine’s list of Best Places to Work. The agency has offices in Halifax, Québec City, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Chicago, and has been making strides to become a major player amongst global agencies. To learn more, visit cossette.com.

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For more information:

Roxanne Chaudier
514-827-8315
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

“We chose Cossette because their team offers the perfect balance we’re looking for in terms of creative and strategic expertise. They are both highly qualified and able to adapt to our needs, on a human scale, which is vital for a major pan-Canadian brand relaunch. Plus, their enthusiasm to work with us was contagious,” explained Janick Parent, Director of Marketing and Innovation at Vachon.

The Vachon brand, acquired by Mexican firm Grupo Bimbo in 2015, is well loved by Canadians, especially Quebecers, who have been loyal to the brand since it was founded in 1923.

“Professionally, it’s a dream come true for us to work with such an influential brand. We all have an emotional attachment to Vachon cakes, and having the opportunity to collaborate on the brand’s relaunch is a real treat,” added Cossette’s Michel-Alex Lessard, VP of Strategy, and Anne-Claude Chénier, Creative Director, who will jointly lead the project.

Cossette and Vachon have already begun whipping up a new campaign, set to debut in time for back to school in September.

About Cossette
Cossette is a fully integrated marketing communications agency offering a full range of cutting-edge communications services. Cossette is a community of specialized talents, a unique gathering of expertise and creativity that builds strong brands for its clients and maintains a dialogue with consumers.

Cossette was named Agency of the Year by Strategy Magazine, is a Platinum-Level Aon Hewitt Best Employer, and is on Ad Age Magazine’s list of Best Places to Work. The agency has offices in Halifax, Québec City, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Chicago, and has been making strides to become a major player amongst global agencies. To learn more, visit cossette.com.

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For more information:
Roxanne Chaudier
514-827-8315
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

Reporting directly to Mélanie Dunn, Cossette’s President and CEO, Stacey will define and implement the agency’s integrated communications strategy, internally and externally, nationally and internationally. She will work closely with Executive Vice-Presidents and General Managers Louis Duchesne and Daniel Shearer.

“Stacey’s talent is undeniable. Her natural leadership, strategic thinking and entrepreneurial spirit will be valuable assets for Cossette during this exciting period of growth,” said President and CEO Mélanie Dunn. “By creating this position, we are highlighting the importance we attach to communicating our corporate culture and to our clients’ success.”

Stacey possesses solid experience in corporate communications, marketing communications, public relations, and issues management, gained during her years with prominent national brands including TELUS, Le Germain Hotels, and Alt Hotels.

“The desire to build has always been a part of me. It’s a real pleasure to be able to put my expertise to use to help an innovative, homegrown company assert its position, here and abroad,” said Stacey Masson, Senior Director, Corporate Communications.

Stacey has harnessed that drive not only in her professional life, but also by supporting causes she cares about, such as improving the status of women, and promoting entrepreneurship and the visual arts.

About Cossette
Cossette is a fully integrated marketing communications agency offering a full range of cutting-edge communications services. Cossette is a community of specialized talents, a unique gathering of expertise and creativity that builds strong brands for its clients and maintains a dialogue with consumers.

Cossette was named Agency of the Year by Strategy Magazine, is a Platinum-Level Aon Hewitt Best Employer, and is on Ad Age Magazine’s list of Best Places to Work. The agency has offices in Halifax, Québec City, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Chicago, and has been making strides to become a major player amongst global agencies. To learn more, visit cossette.com.

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For more information:
Roxanne Chaudier
514-827-8315
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

Developed by creative agency Cossette, the new brand platform aims to inspire its millennial consumer audience to stop overlooking the imperfections that make them awesome. Instead of trying too hard to be perfect and keep up with lifestyle expectations often portrayed through social media, Pizza Pops wants to highlight weirdness as something to be celebrated.

In a series of online videos, Pizza Pops takes the viewer through “weird good” scenarios shining a spotlight on the weirdness that makes individuals so awesome – from ‘Introverted Pizza’ and ‘Hand Dance’ to ‘Pizza Face’ and ‘Pizza Flirting’.

The videos will run online as YouTube pre-roll and on Pizza Pop’s social media channels for eight weeks.

“We were looking for a partner that was both creative and strategic, given the challenges today’s retailers are faced with,” explained Sandrine Bourlet, Director of Experiential Marketing at the SAQ. “Following a rigorous selection process, Cossette distinguished itself by its understanding of the consumer data, and showed us it has both the approach and expertise to support us in developing our customer experience, most notably in the shift towards relationship marketing.”

As a major retailer and leader in customer experience and marketing innovation, the SAQ has clearly demonstrated its desire to place the customer at the heart of the retail experience, specifically through its SAQ Inspire relationship program and its transition to an omnichannel distribution model.

“Working with the SAQ means being a part of the lives of millions of Quebecers, which is something our team takes great pride in. The SAQ’s aspirations are strong and engaging, presenting challenges for us that are as diverse as they are exciting,” said Louis Duchesne, Executive Vice-President and General Manager at Cossette. “This new mandate is perfectly in keeping with Cossette’s positioning, which is based on our unparalleled expertise ranging from creativity to technology, and everything in between.”

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“We are thrilled to see our work recognized among the best of the best. These wins demonstrate the strength of our craft,” said Daniel Shearer, Executive Vice-President and General Manager at Cossette.

Cossette took home awards in the following categories:

• Entire Design Program—Campaign: Léger and Cossette, Ovation
• Identity—Series: Léger and Cossette, Ovation
• Logo/Wordmark/Brand Identity—Series: Léger and Cossette, Ovation
• Public Service/Charity Design—Series: Garde-Manger Pour Tous, Help Us Fill The Emptiness
• Poster—Single: Ronald McDonald House BC, Moguls to Meals
• Poster—Single: Ronald McDonald House BC, Sights to Sweets

The Applied Arts Awards is the only competition in Canada that celebrates the creative work of professionals across the visual communications sector, from image-makers to advertising executives and designers. The Design category spans disciplines, touching on typography, packaging, web and app development, print, and out-of-home applications, to name but a few.

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Inspired by GMPT’s mission to provide 3,000 meals for schoolchildren at lunchtime in disadvantaged Montreal neighbourhoods, Cossette designed the visual identity for the organization’s annual fundraiser.

The new identity included a font created especially for the event to effectively communicate the connection between attending the fundraiser and helping underprivileged kids.

The campaign includes a series of promotional videos for social media, signage, print and decor for the event.

Credits:
Client – Garde-Manger Pour Tous
Agency – Cossette
Sound – Lamajeure – Mathieu Morin

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For more information:
Roxanne Chaudier
514-985-8255
roxanne.chaudier@cossette.com

Developed by creative agency Cossette, the integrated campaign promotes the underground and independent comedy festival with an edgier style of humour than what’s typically shown at large scale comedy events.  The No Refunds Comedy Festival doesn’t offer family-friendly acts like Just For Laughs and so they turned the old expression "laughter is the best medicine" on its head with "It's Not Medicine. It's Comedy."

An online video, directed by Tim Godsall, opens in a hectic emergency room where a nurse and doctor urgently run through a series of jokes in order to save a critically injured patient, since laughter is the only form of medicine. From observational and standup to topical and one-liners, they desperately try every style of humour to keep the patient from flatlining.

Additionally, out of home posters further promote “It’s not medicine. It’s Comedy.” by displaying pieces of prescription paper with handwritten jokes as a doctor’s prescribed dose of medication.

Developed by creative agency Cossette, the tongue-in-cheek campaign shines a spotlight on the unnecessary extras Public Mobile doesn’t offer to show how they keep their rates so low. Instead of providing stores, kiosks, call centres and big budget advertising campaigns, Public Mobile would rather operate with fewer frills and keep costs low for their customers.

Since Public Mobile has trimmed its advertising budget, shooting a commercial would have been too expensive. Instead, four online videos were created using only the audition tapes of actors hilariously acting out scenes – from paragliding to rock climbing – in an empty casting room.

Additionally, a single billboard is setup in downtown Toronto with “This is our only billboard. We need it to say a lot.” as the headline. Long and condensed copy follows to squeeze in descriptions of all the benefits Public Mobile offers.

Public transit ads, wild postings and digital banners are also posted in Toronto, using an antagonist manner that advocates for the brand’s offerings. For example: “Con: No call centres. Pro: No call centres.” and “Con: No stores. Pro: You don’t pay for our stores.”

“We do wireless differently – no stores, no call centres, no overages, simple and straightforward plans, and loyalty rewards to earn even more savings. Consumers are looking for the best phone plans on the market without having to compromise on network quality.  With less frills, they can have their cake and eat it too,” says David MacLean, Head of Public Mobile.

“Public Mobile champions the wireless consumer and Cossette wanted to showcase its values in a thoughtful manner. ‘Less for Less’ demonstrates how the brand truly challenges the norm to keep rates so low,” says Carlos Moreno, Chief Creative Officer at Cossette.

The out-of-home campaign will run for nine weeks, with online videos running until the end of August. 

PFLAG Canada, Canada’s largest national non-profit peer-to-peer support organization founded by parents who wished to help themselves and their family members understand and accept their non-heterosexual children, has unveiled a new brand positioning and identity.

The new position marks a new era for PFLAG, one that not only includes the families of gays and lesbians, but anyone affected by the challenges of the coming-out journey.  

“The definition of families has changed so much since PFLAG began in 1972 and we needed to craft a new positioning, unifying the organization around ‘Family for All’ because of the increased complexity of identity and family” Says Louis Duncan-He, PFLAG Canada’s National Director of Marketing. “We’re thrilled with our new strategic positioning because PFLAG has always been about family, and by re-examining how the word family has evolved since our inception, we were able to seamlessly position ourselves as a group that aims to help everyone in the LGBTQ+ community.”

Today, PFLAG is a collective of parents, families, friends, advocates and allies united to support each other.  As the PFLAG audience becomes more complex, the need for a simplified beacon of support is more important than ever.

Alongside the positioning, a new identity, developed with creative agency Cossette Vancouver, was designed to visually communicate PFLAG as a ‘Family for All’ with support, love, acceptance and inclusivity. It looks at all existing gender symbols and removes everything but what’s at the core of each: the circle. By removing the gender attributes, a simple symbol representing all humanity together is left.

“This simple, easy to understand logo mark strengthens PFLAG’s position as a ‘Family for All’ and represents a close-knit group of individuals from all walks of life,” says Michael Milardo, Executive Creative Director at Cossette Vancouver.

To kick-off the launch of the new identity, a toolkit was created for those marching with PFLAG during the 37^th annual Pride Parade in Toronto. T-shirts, banners, signs and postcards all presenting the new visual were on display as members joined the huge crowds who walked in the largest Pride celebration in North America.

The new identity will be used for 53 PFLAG chapters across Canada, in English and French.

About PFLAG:

PFLAG Canada is proud to be Canada’s only national organization that offers peer-to- peer support striving to help all Canadians with issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

We support, educate and provide resources to anyone with questions or concerns. We promise to offer local, practical, and emotional peer-to- peer family support for individuals and their loved ones challenged by gender/sexual identity. http://pflagcanada.ca

SickKids VS, developed to tell a different side of the SickKids story, represents a revolutionary shift in tone and approach in the hospital’s marketing, highlighting the fierce side of the patients, families and staff at SickKids and the fight that occurs at the hospital each day.

The campaign won two gold and two silver Lions during the opening weekend at Health Lions, a ceremony dedicated to life-changing creativity, showcasing inspiring ideas that transcend especially challenging boundaries in global healthcare.

Cossette and associated agency producers also picked up three bronze Lions for SickKids VS in the ‘Film Craft’ category and an additional silver in ‘Film’ during the closing ceremony.

Overall Cossette received 14 shortlists for work with SickKids Foundation, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Ronald McDonald House Charities and General Motors Canada from offices across the country. SickKids VS also received a nod in the ‘Integrated’ shortlist, one of the festival’s most competitive categories.

SickKids, Cossette and associated agency and production partners* picked up the following awards:

Gold, Lions Health Fundraising & Advocacy: Film – SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS: Undeniable
Gold, Lions Health Fundraising & Advocacy: PR – SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS
Silver, Lions Health  Fundraising & Advocacy: Film – SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS: MomStrong
Silver, Lions Health Fundraising & Advocacy: Integrated – SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS
Silver, Fundraising & Advocacy: Film – SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS
Bronze, Editing: Film Craft –  SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS: MomStrong
Bronze, Editing: Film Craft –  SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS: Undeniable
Bronze, Direction: Film Craft –  SickKids Foundation, SickKids VS: Undeniable

In it’s 64th year, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a seven day festival bringing the world’s most inventive, talented and creative people in the communications industry together in Cannes to learn, network and celebrate.

*The SickKids VS platform was created with production partners Jam3 Toronto, Skin & Bones Toronto, The Mill New York, Westside Studio Toronto, A52 Santa Monica, SNDWRX, Pirate Toronto, OMD Canada and The Vanity Toronto.