Though known for its creative brilliance, Rethink’s success is also the result of strong, longstanding client relationships, a fact not widely known in the industry. “This year is our 25th anniversary, and we’re still working with our very first client, A&W. I don’t think people understand how hard we work on the relationship.” In fact, the average length of a client relationship at Rethink is eight years – that’s an enviable achievement.

For long-term relationships with clients like A&W, Molson Coors, IKEA, Scotiabank and Kraft Heinz, it’s a matter of mutual success. “We have a lot of relationships where we see our clients succeed and they’ve watched us succeed with them,” says McDonald. “That momentum is precious, and I think it’s something that a lot of agencies would clamor for.”

It has also allowed the agency to build a strong fullservice model, with many key clients engaging Rethink across advertising, PR and design. Late last year, the agency launched a new PR unit, headed by Meredith Burns.

McDonald points out that it wasn’t so much a launch as it was about hiring a new leader and renaming the unit Rethink PR. “PR launched several years ago under the name Brand Narrative, but not everybody understood what the service was, and so to be clear to clients, we renamed it Rethink PR. Meredith joined us from Hill & Knowlton to lead it, and it’s grown tremendously.”

In June of this year, Rethink announced the launch of a global design practice. The practice will span its North American offices in New York, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, but it is headed out of New York by managing director Larissa Marquez, who joined the agency in May after more than eight years at Brooklyn design studio Gretel, with career stops at Pentagram and 2×4. As reported earlier by strategy, its goal is to deliver end-to-end design solutions, from brand strategy and visual identities to packaging and design systems.

It’s an interesting evolution. Rethink started 25 years ago as a Vancouver-based design firm. It expanded its creative capabilities to include advertising and PR, opening offices in Toronto and Montreal, and eventually it came to be known primarily as an ad agency with support services in PR and design. With these recent announcements, McDonald believes the agency has repositioned its PR and design services from being subsidiaries of advertising to being peers.