Joseph Bonnici, creative director and partner at Bensimon Byrne.
In an industry where working relationships can sometimes be measured in months, Joseph Bonnici and Bensimon Byrne have made a long-term commitment to each other.
Two years after joining Bensimon Byrne as creative director, Bonnici has acquired an ownership stake in the Toronto shop. He joins president Jack Bensimon, Colleen Peddie, David Rosenberg and Amin Todai as a partner in the independent agency.
Original partners Peter Byrne and Carol Fox have both retired, though Fox will continue as the agency’s chief operating officer through the end of the year.
While the ownership structure is private, Bensimon said each partner maintains a “meaningful stake” in the agency. “There are no partners who own a marginal stake,” he said.
The possibility of acquiring an equity stake in the agency down the road is often discussed when Bensimon Byrne recruits senior talent, said Bensimon, though both parties typically wait to ensure there is a “good fit” before making a financial commitment.
“You just reach a point where it feels like the obvious next step; from there it doesn’t take that long – it’s just a question of trying to figure out a mechanism to make it happen,” said Bensimon, who called Bonnici “the hardest working man in advertising.”
Bonnici’s career has included stints at several prominent independent shops including Zulu Alpha Kilo and Taxi, but he felt Bensimon Byrne was unique almost immediately upon his arrival in December 2011.
“The sense of integrity that this place is run with, the care they have for every person who works at the agency and the drive to do amazing work is a combination I haven’t really seen at other agencies.
“It was pretty clear early on that I wanted this to be home for me for a very long time,” said Bonnici.
While the owner-operator structure used to be commonplace in the advertising world, it is increasingly rare in an advertising world dominated by New York or London based multinationals.
“In the past this was the only ownership structure in the advertising business,” said Bensimon, part of a management group that oversaw the buyback of Bensimon Byrne from French multinational Publicis SA in 2006. “We’ve gone through many decades of companies becoming public and holding companies coming into existence and privately held companies selling as part of an exit strategy.
“In Canada we’ve seen a whole number of prominent agencies that were owner-operated (including Taxi and John St.) move through that process.”
Bonnici said the company’s decision to buy itself back seven years ago factored into his decision to acquire an equity stake.
“That for me just showed the independent, entrepreneurial spirit of this place.”
Bensimon said bringing in new partners also addresses the tricky issue of succession planning, which he called one of the most difficult challenges for independent agencies as their principals get older.
“The reason most agencies sell is that the owners reach a certain age and decide that the only way they can monetize their investment is to simply turn the reins over to another company,” he said. “The only way to avoid that is to have the next generation of leadership invest in the company and assume ownership.
“The thing that would make me happiest when I finally decide to retire is to see a completely different group of people own the business.”
The new structure won’t impact the agency’s day-to-day operation, said Bonnici, who remains as “hands-on as it gets” with a client roster that includes Scotiabank, Loblaw, Constellation Brands, Workopolis and Google.
