Harley-Davidson, Michaels choose Calgary-based agency that’s still looking to expand
It takes a cult-like obsession for someone to get a brand’s name tattooed on them—and that’s just the type of uber-fan that a new Canadian agency aims to earn for its clients.
Cult Collective, which is headquartered in Calgary and also has an office in Kingston, Ont., is hosting its official launch party on Friday night in Calgary.
A merger of two Calgary groups – ad agency Watermark Advertising and digital shop Suitcase Interactive – that formally united back in October, Cult is all about helping brands form cult-like followings with consumers, as well as talk about them to other people.
The name Cult is intentionally provocative, said Chris Kneeland, the agency’s founder and CEO. “We’re trying to attract courageous CMOs – people that are tired with the status quo and want to do something a little bit more bold and non-traditional,” he said.
Kneeland (pictured, at far left) said the agency felt passionately about going beyond the traditional ad agency format with this new venture. And it didn’t want to be just a digital shop, either, “because we didn’t want Cult to be defined by the tactics,” said Kneeland. Instead, Cult has dubbed itself an “engagement agency.” As Kneeland points out, the challenge for successful businesses today isn’t about getting customers, it’s about achieving the point where fans are truly obsessed with your brand. Achieving that means using tactics “that are far more substantive than clever ads,” said Kneeland. It goes beyond that to include everything from a brand’s culture and customer service to its operations and the shopping experience it provides.
Cult operates with several partnership, which is where the “collective” part of Cult Collective comes from. Ryan Gill, company president and a partner, said the agency is building a network of professionals and other agencies across Canada and the U.S. that are experts in areas including media buying, PR, research and back-end development. These partners are officially, legally part of the shop’s collective, said Gill (pictured, centre).
“When somebody hires Cult, they hire the entirety of the collective and we play general contractor for different tasks,” added Kneeland.
Who has hired the agency so far? One of the biggest wins has been Harley-Davidson Canada. Coincidentally enough, Cult mentioned Harley in its manifesto – citing it as a company that already has a powerful brand – and later received an unsolicited call from Harley-Davidson Canada since the company was looking for help with some regional business challenges in Western Canada. A one-hour meeting in an airport conference room later, Cult had won the account.
The specific project Cult is working on for Harley involves activities in Alberta, and shortly British Columbia as well. Cult is trying to attract first-time motorcycle riders to the brand with a multichannel campaign that includes TV, billboard, in-store events and retail. There’s also a social media campaign that will involve a guy driving across the province doing stunts suggested from social media users in what Gill described as “Jack Ass meets ‘Subservient Chicken.’”
Another client that Cult won early on was arts and crafts specialty retailer, Michaels Canada. The Dallas-based company, which has its own Canadian entity, hired Cult to help understand Canadian customers. Rob Howard, senior strategist at Cult’s Kingston office, said Michaels considers Canada as a “huge, untapped market.”
The goal was to create a customized presence for Canada, where Michaels has 80 stores. “Canada has a huge French Canadian culture that Michaels didn’t know an awful lot about, so we helped them understand Canadian customers and define the customer journey for Canadians,” said Howard (pictured, at right). Cult focused on Michaels website for Canada—which has English and French version—and built it from the ground up to be distinct from the U.S. site.
Other clients Cult is working with include accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny, U.S. lawn and garden manufacturer Schiller Grounds Care, and Creemore Springs (which is a client of Toronto’s Cleansheet Communications; Cult is helping with its social media strategy).
At this point, the Calgary shop has 20 full-time staff and the Kingston office has two. There are also 15 additional individuals or agencies that are part of the collective.
And, added Gill, Cult is “on the prowl for new other agencies that can complement us, whether it’s acquisition or mergers; we’re in heavy growth mode right now so it’s going to be a crazy six to 12 months for us.”
In the immediate future, the agency’s launch party on Friday night will involve 150 guests – from staff and partners to current and potential clients–partying with food and drinks at the Art Gallery of Calgary.
