It was only about two months ago when our Monique tied the knot and already she has a new baby. And though she’s super talented and can do almost anything, sadly shortening the human gestation period from nine to two months she cannot. At a recent Honens’ fundraiser (Honens’ being one of the greatest international music competitions), Monique raised over $1,000 and was entered to win the grand prize: a baby grand piano. Which she won. Anyone who knows Monique knows that there’s no contest when she’s involved in any competition. She wins everything. Case in point: she also won the sports draw at the same competition that included free tickets to local sporting events. Now if only Honens’ were to introduce a section in their competition on annual report design. Honen’s Grand Slam contest details

WAX partnership

Whoever said “you can’t be all things to all people” has never met Michael Kochorek. Michael’s impressive career has taken him pretty much anywhere and everywhere. He started out as an Account Executive at Oglivy & Mather in Calgary, and then went client side to work at Shell Canada. From there, Michael became involved in the worldwide marketing and distribution of the IMAX film Extreme. If that weren’t extreme enough, Michael then helped establish Eminent Films – a large format production company in Montreal. After voting “no” in the referendum, Michael moved back to Calgary where he worked as a Consultant on documentaries – he involved himself in everything from shaping content, to developing communication and finance strategies for independent film producers. From there, Michael helped produce (and executive produce) a documentary feature on the history and evolution of action sports, which is titled The Next Step and scheduled for release in 2008. For his next step (got to love those transitions) Michael chose WAX. Here, Michael’s in charge of New Business Development – at least that’s what it says on his flashy new business card. Knowing how Michael operates however, we won’t be too surprised if he gets involved in a bit of design, account servicing, strategic planning, and, dare we say, copywriting along the way.

WAX Partnership

Prairie Boom Towns

Judging by its modernist lines and spacious Macintosh workstations, WAX partnership bears all the hallmarks of a top contemporary advertising agency. Through its towering north windows the view scans a leafy shopping district in downtown Calgary. Founded in 2005 by strategist Dan Wright, design director Monique Gamache and creative director Joe Hospodarec, WAX assiduously recruited top talent and now counts 25 employees.

Pointing to the oil towers, Hospodarec underscores a sad truth about the current boom. “These guys are swimming in cash, “ he says. “The trouble is, they don’t need us to keep on swimming in it.” Energy firms still tend to limit themselves to the comparatively unsexy world of stakeholder communications, from investor relations to annual reports, to employee drug and alcohol education.

WAX’s more gratifying side includes the county-fair branding of the Calgary Farmers’ Market in print, bill-board and television, plus a starkly sophisticated series of Henry Singer ads. Its own identity, featuring business cards backed by pictures of wax-museum celebrity figurines, won a One Show Gold Pencil. In a town where senior talents earn $10,000 to $20,000 less than their Toronto counterparts, peer acclaim is a welcome reward.

Another contrast between the cities, says Hospodarec, is “the high percentage of our clients who are entrepreneurs.” The upside is that guys spending their own money can help speed a complex process along, giving you the freedom to do lots of different work. The downside is that “they might not even have marketing or branding departments, so plans can change abruptly.”

Then there’s the matter of watching major clients leave the region. “Just on an image basis, in an image industry, it’s difficult for Calgary to compete with Toronto,” explains Larry Bannerman, president of Trigger Communications & Design, formerly Parallel Strategies. His agency waved goodbye to Shaw Cable, though it was a loss mitigated by Alberta’s surge in financial service, retail and real estate accounts, attracted to Trigger’s full range of services, including brand development, advertising, print and Web design, corporate videos and media planning.

WestJet and The Forzani Group of sports retailers, though headquartered in Calgary, also uprooted for Toronto – but both came back. Toronto’s Taxi commandeered the former, but now services the account from a Calgary satellite. Forzani chose local heavyweight Venture Communications, a 45-person shop that creative director Steve Williams describes as “a full-service agency on steroids,” handling everything from event management to interactive software programming. Reversing decades of tradition, Venture has subsidiary offices in Toronto and Ottawa, collectively producing national spots for the likes of Sport Chek and Subway. Then there’s AdFarm, one floor below WAX, probably Calgary’s farthest-flung agency, whose entirely agriculture-based empire includes offices in Guelph, Ont,. Kansas City and Fargo, N.D.

Meanwhile, Edmonton might not boast as many head offices as its neighbour to the south, but local agencies are bustling. “Business is phenomenal in terms of quantity and diversity,” says Gordon Gilroy, the self-described “suit” at Vision Design, a 15-year-old firm with an emphasis on B2B branding strategies. “There is an upside to the boom in that margins and business are better. The downside is stress. We’re bursting at the seams. As a salesman, I thought I would never fire a client, but we actually did that in 2006. And I say this with humility, since we’ve been fired ourselves before by clients.” A conscious effort to retrieve balance has been the agency goal for 2007. Flex hours, a casual office and team-building sessions spent hiking in the Rockies are all part of it.

Applied Arts, Vol. 22, No.5 October 2007

WAX partnership