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Rethink brings the best from the West to its Toronto digs
Rethink first opened in a small office on Spadina Ave. in Toronto in the fall of 2010 but didn’t stay there long. By last summer the agency had moved one building south into a much larger space with plenty of room to grow. It’s only about half-filled by Rethinkers for the moment, but take it as a sign of Rethink’s intentions that they took on so much square footage.
The office is not unlike that chosen by many creative companies: lots of open space, hardwood floors and exposed duct work. There are no offices at all, with break-out rooms and “phone booths” available when quieter conversations are in order and a room for bikes (half of the 30 staff cycle to work regularly).
But Rethink bosses have been so determined to transplant the culture that made the Vancouver office consistently one of the top agencies in Canada, that many West Coast elements have been reproduced in Toronto.
1. Ping pong tables. There are two. Aside from just being fun to have around, the tables serve as the meeting tables. Ping pong is actually a guiding metaphor for communications at Rethink: if you bounce one ping pong ball at someone they can catch it. If you bounce five, they can’t catch them all. So too with ideas in ads. One clear idea is better than many. (Above: Dré Labre, left, and Caleb Goodman)
2. Soccer ball. There’s a bunch of footie fans in the office and one brought the ball in during the World Cup. It does get used from time to time.
3. Molson Canadian keg fridge. A trophy unique to the Toronto office, the fridge was delivered by Molson soon after Rethink won the Canadian and Rickard’s Red accounts. .
4. The “Rethink Lights” are made from pylons and found in a few places around the office. These, too, are a transplant from Vancouver and designed by agency founding partner Ian Grais.
5. Turf, just like in Vancouver (though the Toronto team insists theirs is slightly more plush); drum kits and a small stage that get used fairly frequently. Rethinkers have composed more than one song for a pitch.
6. Office furniture is, um… let’s call if affordable. (Yeah, it’s from IKEA.) Also a trademark of Vancouver. This, the agency says, delivers a message to clients that “we spend less on furniture and pass the savings onto you.”
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