From dotting the streets of Toronto with frozen mannequins for Coors Light to curating a gallery of enlarged – though elegantly photographed – buttholes for Tushy, Citizen Relations is more than blurring the line between traditional PR and creative advertising. It’s erasing it.

Much of the agency’s creative strength comes down to CCO Josh Budd, who was hired three years ago to build Citizen’s advertising capabilities. “It was a struggle at first to attract good talent because, at the time, Citizen didn’t have much of a creative portfolio. But Josh has really proven himself and brought our reputation along with him,” says CEO Nick Cowling. And now Citizen Relations has a couple Cannes Lions to prove it – the agency picked up two Bronze wins this year for “Cheetle in Cheadle” and was also shortlisted for #Elimin8Hate’s “Reclaim My Name” and Duracell’s “Buy My Own Batteries.”

Hiring Budd was part of the agency’s deliberate shift from being seen as PR specialists to more of a multidisciplinary shop. The evolution began back in 2014 when Cowling added strategic planning to the toolbox. And while PR firms moving into creative agency territory is not new, Cowling insists that Citizen has no interest in competing with traditional advertising agencies. “When we add a new capability, it’s not about mowing creative agencies’ lawns. We just want to enrich and improve our own core offering.”

For example, Citizen has been experimenting with tools that bring together earned media and search in an effort to ensure that everything is performance-driven, at some level. “We have something called ‘Performfluence,’ which… focuses on leveraging influencers not just for brand awareness, but for driving measurable actions such as conversions and sales,” says Cowling.