The Importance of Staying in Motion with TAXI Montreal
Leading a company is not an easy job. Leading a company during the pandemic is especially difficult. And taking up a brand new leadership position in the middle of the pandemic? Incredibly difficult. But this is exactly what TAXI Montreal creative directors Alexis Caron Côté and Alexandre Béland, and managing director Marie-Josée Bourque did - joining up with TAXI Montreal between the period of December 2020 and January 2021.
Working together since, the trio have been fighting hard to reestablish TAXI Montreal as a top agency in Quebec, winning businesses like Couche-Tard and Circle K, while also securing a few awards along the way.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt had the opportunity to chat with Marie-Josée, Alexis and Alex about lessons learned from the pandemic, working with smaller budgets and the overarching importance of relevancy.
LBB> On the website, it’s mentioned that TAXI emphasises the values of ‘strategy’, ‘creativity’, and ‘experiences’. How do these values inform your approach to work in Montreal and affect the way you work?
TAXI> Those are really strong values. We believe in them, yes, but also, we might have a more honed-in approach. Strategy has to be insightful and truth-driven. That’s why we’re always looking for the angle that will be true to everyone, from our mothers to our peers. Creativity is a wide-ranging term. For us, relevancy might be the overarching idea. We’re able to be relevant by using cultural reference, and we’re able to be topical by being surprising. That’s how we approach every brief.
LBB> How long have you been working together? And how does that play into how you work as a team? Did you all join at different times? Tell us the story of how you became a team!
Alex> We were meant to be. We were almost a creative team 10 years ago, when Alexis was an intern at Sid Lee. Two years later, we met again in another agency, and haven’t been apart since. Every challenge, we take together. Glad to have found Marie-Josée along the way. Thanks to Rafik Belmesk, our VP strategy, for having introduced her to the TAXI Team.
LBB> Following up on that, Alexis and Alex, I noticed that both of you joined TAXI in December 2020, when you came over from Sid Lee. What was the jump like, and did the arrival of covid-19 shortly thereafter add any challenges?
Alex & Alexis> To be honest, being in the middle of covid-19 made the jump kind of brutal. All meetings were on Teams. Doing stuff like shooting in Vancouver from our bedrooms on a Sunday afternoon – not that fun. But then we started to meet people, hire new faces, and bring back a bit of the local culture.
LBB> Marie-Josée, you also joined roughly around the same time, in January 2021. Can you tell me about how the experience starting at TAXI was? And what led to you joining TAXI?
Marie-Josée> TAXI is an iconic brand in the advertising world. I’ve been a fan forever. I was presented the opportunity to join the team on a one-year contract, to replace someone who was going on maternity leave. The timing of the offer was perfect, and I jumped in. Fun thing is, I feel the temporary status allowed me to join the team without the pressure of the permanent, full-time role. I now realise this was helpful and allowed me to figure out the role, the organisation, and the team in a fully remote fashion. Technically not the ideal context, but somehow it worked out – and TAXI is keeping me a little bit longer!
LBB> Where are you trying to take TAXI Montreal? What is the vision and how does it tap into the wider TAXI North American strategy?
TAXI> Our first goal was to put TAXI Montreal back on the map, and to bring TAXI Montreal back to where it once was in Quebec: a top agency that will attract new business and new talent.
The vision is simple, and we’re never in neutral. We’re always in motion and never sit on the fence - infinitely curious, fearless, and provocative. We’re constantly searching for ways to be better. We always show up with a clear point of view about what a brand should stand for and how it should appear in the world, which is something we really embody in Montreal.
Our first year behind the wheel was a good one. We won the Couche-Tard and Circle K business while securing a few awards on the way – 17 trophies at IDEA (a local award show).
LBB> What makes TAXI Montreal unique compared to other TAXI offices?
TAXI> TAXI was born and raised in Montreal, so clearly, we have a sense of responsibility for what’s coming out of the office. We don’t want to say that we care more, but we care a lot. Then, there’s the fact that we can work in two languages, that’s kind of unique in the network. We can tackle briefs from coast to coast in a cool ‘Frenglish’ kind of way. C’est bon?
LBB> How does creativity and advertising differ in Montreal compared to other parts of Canada?
Alex & Alexis> We have a small but important market in Quebec. As we said, we’re proud of the unique way we talk and think, and we like to put emphasis on our culture, our star system, and what makes us different.
Marie-Josée> It seems that in both Montreal and the province of Quebec, there is an appetite for creativity at large. This creates fertile ground for our teams. We have access to many very talented folks that are willing to jump into the craziness and contribute to doing things differently, but always with relevance (to reference Alex and Alexis’ earlier point). The recent content series we developed for VW featuring their new spokesperson is a great example of that. We really pushed the envelope there. What was supposed to be a simple series of static posts became a full-blown production!
LBB> What clients do you work with at TAXI Montreal? Are these clients quite specific, or do you work collectively with your clients across the network?
TAXI> We do national and local work. For example, all the Circle K and Couche-Tard business is driven by the Montreal office, but we use talent from all of our Canadian offices. We also have more Quebec-focused work, with Amnesty International, a small microbrewery called Ras L’Bock, Volkswagen, Ungava Gin, Fido (with Laurent Prud’homme as CD), and many more.
LBB> Is there a piece of work from the past year that sticks out as being particularly important for you as an agency?
TAXI> The work that gets picked up by the people online is always our favourite. In particular, Amnesty International’s latest campaign against systemic racism and the ‘End of Beer Puns’ for Ras L’Bock.
LBB> Alex and Alexis, you’re two creatives who run the office. How does this work in practice? Do you work as a partnership all the time? Or is it more about dividing and conquering?
Alex & Alexis> To give you an idea, we’re answering all these questions together at the moment, with a beer, on a patio. We’re like an old couple, well-geared to work together. We don’t need to talk a lot to understand each other. So yes, there’s some dividing and conquering, but since we complete each other, there isn’t a brief that we don’t ask each other’s opinion on.
LBB> Marie-Josée, how would you define your leadership style as managing director? And what factors have played the biggest influence on this style?
Marie-Josée> I am all about people. That is what I care the most about. It has always been at the core of who I am. I see my role as a ‘Master Troubleshooter’! Internally, that means I try to clear the way so the teams can always do their best work. For our clients, that means ensuring they feel they are getting the best work in an effective, collaborative, and fun way. The biggest influence comes from my upbringing and from a real desire to be of service.
LBB> How has the way you work changed from prior to the pandemic to today? What lessons have you learned?
Alex & Alexis> We now value balance a bit more than before. We prefer the in-person day to day, but advertising is an ideas business, and good ideas can be shared from anywhere. If you have a great idea at home, we’re still gonna listen.
Marie-Josée> The most significant change comes from working at home. Working remotely obviously created a physical distance between the team members, but technology allowed us to overcome this shift very efficiently. Some might say too efficiently! Working from home also created a distance from the daily challenges. Personally, I feel this was very beneficial, as it allowed more clarity and focus throughout an intensive period of change.
LBB> I noticed a dedicated spot on the website for Black TAXI – an initiative to recruit and retain Black talent. While I know the Black TAXI program originated from the Toronto office, how has the experience of running it in Montreal been? Have you learned any interesting or important lessons from the experience?
TAXI> The Black TAXI program is administered across all offices. It’s proven to be a very successful initiative, including for the Montreal office. We’ve been able to welcome talent from the Black community every year in Montreal. This really is all about practising what you preach. We know we have a lot to do still to reach our DE&I goals, but this is taking us one step closer.
LBB> What are your thoughts on the Canadian ad industry in general at the moment?
TAXI> We’re really proud of the local stuff that is coming out of Quebec and being showcased on a global stage; work precisely crafted for our market, but that is so insightful that it will get people’s attention everywhere. You know who you are. Kudos.
LBB> I love seeing all the new work coming out of Canada. As a Canadian, it brings me a lot of joy to see us represented on the global stage of advertising. But often, we’re forced to contend with smaller budgets than, say, the US. How does that factor into the way you work?
TAXI> Since we can’t rely on production value with our small budget for our small market, Canadian agencies, especially in Quebec, need to be a bit more clever. It’s a bummer that we can’t hire Snoop Dogg to sell milk in a 30-second commercial, but I think it helps us to get stronger insights and human truths that will be understood by everyone.
LBB> What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in the past two years, and how did you go about overcoming them?
Alex & Alexis> Culture is a big challenge nowadays. The sense of belonging can feel blurry at times. We just got a brand new office, so people are pumped to come and work there, especially with the beer kegs.
Marie-Josée> Two things come to mind. The first is ensuring proper support to the teams - from onboarding new employees to the day-to-day operations. Pre covid-19, you’d be able to diffuse so many potential issues ahead of time, just by catching hallway conversations or sensing that something needed your attention. Working from home made this impossible, especially with new employees who might not have had the reflex to reach out proactively. As it is often the case, the solution for that came via communicating. Daily scrums and impromptu check-ins allowed us to close the gap that working from home created.
The second-biggest challenge was pitching to new clients. The in-room chemistry between our team and the clients is such an intrinsic part of that process. Being able to really engage with your audience and ensure they truly get what you can bring to the table was very hard to do through a screen. Everyone played along, and we made it work. But if I am honest, I don’t think we were able to fully overcome this one!
LBB> What do the coming months hold for you all and the agency?
TAXI> Tons and tons of great briefs on the table – and the same hunger to do our best to craft them. Additionally, Graham Lang, our new CCO, brings a new way of thinking that will help us be where we want to be – a local player with global ambitions.
LBB> Is there anything you’d like to add?
TAXI> Non, c’est good! ;)
