McCann has become all about tearing down boundaries, whether they happen to be geographic or philosophical.

Says Ryan Timms, president of McCann Canada, “We’ve fully embraced our remote business transformation, being able to leverage some of the more sustainable practices that the pandemic thrust upon everybody and make them part of the future going forward – and there’s no reason to go back.”

The agency has forged a high degree of connectivity across its Montreal, Toronto and Calgary offices – thinking of them as a cohesive team rather than Toronto being the hub for the agency – and is thinking even more about how it can bring more value by working with the McCann team internationally. It’s bigger-picture thinking spurred on by a combination of recent world events, changes in consumer behaviour and the demands of ever-evolving technology (consider the deprecation of the cookie).

Says Timms, going forward there needs to be more consideration placed on how brands are interacting with consumers in their day-to-day lives – and agencies need to think more holistically. “We simply can’t be overly reliant on standard paid media channels,” he says. “We need to keep finding ways to help our clients break the mold when it comes to what their audiences are accustomed to.”