Touche named strategy’s Media Agency of the Year

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Touche named strategy’s Media Agency of the Year

OMD and Mindshare shared the podium, while Alain Desormiers was named Media Agency Leader of the Year at the annual event.

November 10, 2017

Touché was named Media Agency of the Year by strategy magazine Thursday night at an industry gala in Toronto.

The Omnicom-owned agency earned a gold-place finish in a field of 10 shortlisted media shops (see below) for the honour. The silver trophy went to its sister agency OMD Canada, while WPP’s Mindshare Canada rounded off the podium finishes with bronze.

Touché was further honoured when its founder, Alain Desormier, was named Media Agency Leader of the Year. The Media Agency jury that assessed each agency for the awards chose Desormier for leading his agency as though it were a startup, said Fiona Stevenson, the president of The Idea Suite who co-hosted Thursday’s event. It’s an approach “that fueled a year of big wins from new clients to awards like this one.”

Touché’s gold came down to case studies that demonstrated its recent rebranding under the “Fuelled by data. Driven by creativity” strapline was more than just a saying. For client Via, for example, the agency matched data sets from the rail company and The Weather Network and saw increased traffic to Via’s websites in the days leading up to snow storms. The resulting campaign targeted business travellers during weather alerts, increasing Toronto-to-Montreal sales by 43%.

OMD’s work for the award-winning “VS” campaign for SickKids impressed the jury members with the sheer volume of placements it negotiated, but it was equally impressed with a Play-Doh-scultped cover of Today’s Parent it arranged as part of a back-to-school execution.

Mindshare’s mobile tech savvy contributed to its bronze award. The agency created a chat bot on Facebook Messenger for Ben & Jerry’s that allowed consumers to order their favourite flavour and track its delivery to their door in real time. It also worked with Snapchat to circumvent its “beauty” photo filter, turning it off to provide women a moment to reflect on their own natural beauty.

Media In Canada will publish profiles of each winning agency starting Monday. However, to see case studies for each winning agency, visit the winners site.