Tourisme Montréal has awarded its media planning and buying assignment to Touché! PHD following a review that began in August.
Touché, an Omnicom Group company, was one of seven agencies invited to pitch on the assignment, and among three agencies shortlisted – a group that also included MPG and incumbent Cossette Media, which has worked on the account for the past five years.
“We felt like we had to shake the tree a little bit and see if there was a better partner,” said Tourisme Montréal’s vice-president of marketing, Emmanuelle Legault, of the review. “Cossette has been an amazing partner, they’ve delivered on everything they’ve asked us to do, [but] we just felt it was time to maybe see if there was something else.”
Legault said that a variety of factors contributed to the final decision: Touché! PHD’s international footprint (it has 72 offices in 62 countries); its prior experience in the travel sector with clients including Via Rail (a Tourisme Montréal partner); a “real passion for Montreal” among agency staff, and the creativity it displayed in solving a case study related to increasing food tourism from the key markets of Ontario and New York.
“They don’t think media is the end-all, but more of a great opportunity to put forth a client’s objectives and creative ideas,” said Legault. “We felt they were a dynamic and very well-versed team with very impressive knowledge of new technologies and its opportunities.”
Legault said that Touché! PHD’s global footprint, which includes a “very strong” office in New York – a city that accounts for a sizable portion of Montreal’s annual tourist traffic – would enable it to create “360-degree” partnerships with media conglomerates.
While Tourisme Montréal has a web presence throughout the year, Legault said that organization’s key marketing period typically stretches from mid-April until the end of June.
While the formal handoff of the assignment from Cossette to Touché! PHD doesn’t take place until next year, Tourisme Montréal will begin the planning phase with the agency in the next couple of weeks, said Legault.
Touché! PHD will work in partnership with Tourisme Montréal’s brand agency, Sid Lee.
