It was during one of Anomaly Toronto’s recent “Thirsty Thursday” all-agency meetings, which require new staff members to introduce themselves to their co-workers, that partner and CEO Franke Rodriguez realized just how much the three-year-old shop has grown in recent weeks.
Fueled by a combination of growth from existing clients and some new assignments, including the Responsible Gambling Council and what Rodriguez describes only as a a “significant” win (industry sources have told Marketing it‘s Hershey, but Rodriguez wouldn’t confirm) the agency has been on a hiring spree in the past 6-8 weeks.
Anomaly has added 11 new staff members in multiple disciplines, including account management, creative, strategy, technology, social media, production and design, pushing its total staff count to between 70-75.
It also recently added another 5,000 square feet of production and studio space to its office on Toronto’s Spadina Ave., pushing its total footprint to around 19,000 square feet (up from 7,000 square feet when it first opened in 2012).
The new hires come from a variety of non-agency backgrounds, which Rodriguez said is important in underscoring Anomaly’s position as an agency that does things differently.
“When you’re an agency that calls yourself an Anomaly and constantly champions a different way of doing things, it’s hard to do that and support that positioning if your entire employee base is [comprised of] advertising professionals,” said Rodriguez.
The new hires also hail from all over the world, including a producer from Trinidad, account reps from Mexico, Venezuela, Spain and Barbados, and an ex-architect turned art director from the United Kingdom.
Rodriguez estimates that as much as 20% of Anomaly’s staff hails from outside Canada, “We are not [dismissing] local talent, but it’s about bringing in fresh talent,” he said.
The new hires include senior designer Andy Slater, and the creative team of copywriter Ryan Chiasson and art director Jordan Dunlop, previously of Sid Lee.
The agency has also added Adam Brandejs in a new, as yet-untitled role focused on creative innovation and technology, and in February welcomed Bryan Espiritu – who founded the streetwear brand The Legends League – in the non-traditional role of “creative catalyst.”
Rodriguez described Brandejs, whose portfolio includes the first working prototype of the wildly successful Budweiser Red Light, as well as a gummi Blundstone boot and the Matterform 3D Scanner, as a “gears and gadgets tinkerer.”
The agency has also inked its first two joint-venture intellectual property deals – one in Canada and one in the U.S. – in which it acquires a stake in a company in exchange for building the brand by developing the packaging, marketing strategy, etc.
While this represents a new model for Canada, Anomaly’s New York office took a similar approach with the lip balm brand EOS, which stands out from competitors like Chapstick because of its distinctive egg-shaped dispenser.
Rodriguez said additional details on the JV deals will be forthcoming in the next two weeks, but told Marketing one is operating in a vertical that “represents a really important passion point” for millennial males.
