Canada’s oldest advertising agency rebrands as Show and Tell

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This article was published 20/09/2023 (759 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Show and tell isn’t only for preschool.

It’s a big part of Canada’s oldest advertising agency. So much so, the company has rebranded and is now called the Show and Tell Agency.

“This was the second-most challenging brand exercise that I’ve ever been through,” Peter George said.

George, the agency’s co-CEO, would not divulge what the most-challenging experience was.

The industry veteran helmed McKim Communications Group for more than a decade before its merger with Sherpa Marketing.

McKim Communications began operations in 1889. It opened its office in Winnipeg, where it’s now headquartered, in 1911.

The legacy advertising agency joined forces with Sherpa Marketing, an expert in digital marketing, two years ago.

“It became very apparent after a few months of working together that we’d created something new,” George said.

The company operated as McKim.Sherpa for two years. The name did not roll off the tongue, George said.

The amalgamated staff of roughly 55 set out to rebrand the agency, as they do for customers daily.

“It was not from the top down — that’s not the way we do business,” George said. “(And) I find, when I do this work for clients, if you don’t involve a large swath of any organization … you’re much more likely to get pushback.”

Employees were loyal to both the McKim and Sherpa brands, their respective CEOs (now co-CEOs) said.

Creatives from the newly formed company brought their rebranding ideas to a pitch night; pizza and beer circulated.

“The challenge when you’re rebranding is, notionally, all of the good names are already taken,” Marty Fisher, who was president of Sherpa, said. “Just try finding a web domain that hasn’t been taken — not easy.”

Sherpa Marketing was too popular, he noted. His company had trademarked the name in Canada. It didn’t stop businesses in the United States and the United Kingdom from using the same name.

“We decided to be deliberate and take our time about this,” Fisher said of the rebranding.

Pitches were whittled down — Fishsticks was funny, Mermaid Cheeks was memorable, George said — and ultimately, the crew decided on the Show and Tell Agency.

“At its core, I think advertising is about sharing ideas,” George said.

Show and tell at preschool is exciting, Fisher added.

“We think that marketing and advertising really has that same sort of excitement,” he said. “There’s the show up and … show off, and there’s also the telling of the story.”

The company unveiled its rebrand at a provincial leaders debate hosted by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

It also displayed its new logo — an ampersand with an ‘S’ and ‘T’ baked in.

The letters weave together “two disparate things to make a totally new … form,” he noted.

Next, the agency plans to take on more clients and expand its reach.

It’s “very committed” to Winnipeg and Kitchener, Ont., where it also has an office, George said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com