It’s toast-raising time for Open as the Toronto-based creative agency was recently selected by Bier Markt as its advertising AOR.
The European-influenced restaurant offers more than 145 beer brands and has three Toronto locations; it will soon open a fourth in the city’s west end.
Open is creating a marketing communications strategy for Bier Markt including advertising and in-restaurant materials. Bier Markt had handled much of the work in-house previously.
Open’s partner of strategy Christian Mathieu (pictured, on right, with Open’s partner of creative, Martin Beauvais) said in a release that the agency is excited to “develop a new generation of creative for the brand across all touch points,” which will include a review of all of its communications, from design to strategy.
After an RFP process that lasted just over a month, Open was chosen as advertising AOR. Mathieu said the process didn’t include any spec work; it was purely meetings about Bier Markt’s business.
Robert Medal, operating partner of Bier Markt, said given Bier Markt’s recent debut at Shops at Don Mills and the upcoming west-end location opening, the company is “on the cusp of an exciting growth strategy.”
Mathieu said “a big part of [winning the account] was track record and chemistry.”
This isn’t the first time Open has worked on an alcohol-related brand. Last year, it managed a digital/outdoor brand awareness campaign for Lucky Penny, a wine by Australia’s Casella Wines.
Bier Markt’s media is still handled by Wills & Co, and Cowan & Company remains its PR agency.
