Giants & Gentlemen

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I worked with Giants & Gentlemen, I was the director of marketing & communications at Enercare.

What challenge were you trying to address with Giants & Gentlemen?

In general terms, we were looking for communication positioning and strategy that would have longevity for our brand.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were in a place where we were running the business from campaign to campaign. Since we had three campaigns a year, our positioning was becoming inconsistent for customers. We needed the strategic support to look at what we were trying to say and figure out what our unique selling proposition was and then how we could communicate in that way for years to come.

After finalizing the plan, they started building out the creative and finding areas to challenge our thinking. They then led the management of the campaign, creative development, and the production of the campaign. Their work included a video spot for social media, digital billboards, and banner advertising.

They also did email setup and extended that messaging across all of our communication channels. They led the creative with our digital agency and PR partners.

The final creative was used in out-of-home, print, in office, social, web site, and digital video; but it was rooted really in a video creative that could have just as easily been on TV - we strategically chose to use digital video to maximize our ROI.

What is the team composition?

The account team would’ve had two to three people. Their creative team had different roles, including a copywriter and creative director. We also had a lot of exposure to their leadership. In total, we probably worked with 7–10 people at any point in time.

How did you come to work with Giants & Gentlemen?

I actually started my career at Colgate-Palmolive, where I briefly worked with Gino (Co-Founder & COO). I had known of his work and kept an eye on its presence in the media. I ended up bumping into Gino at an award show. We reacquainted, and that allowed me to connect with them. We went through a formal RFP process between them and other agencies.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $500,000– $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with Giants & Gentlemen in February 2019. While I’m no longer working there, the engagement is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Through strategic thinking, Giants & Gentlemen was successful at landing at the right positioning for our business. It was always clear that our account was a priority. We saw record traffic to our online media. We also saw record sales behind the campaign.

Although this is harder to attribute, there was a whole new energy and excitement internally. The campaign itself involved creating a hero out of our technicians, one of them being Carl. We had employees dressing up like Carl during Halloween. If your employees feel good about what you’re doing, then they just feel better about the company they work for.

We saw positive comments in our Google reviews. A lot of customers, probably the first time ever, were recalling and referencing our advertising. I don’t think there was a single negative comment.

Since we were leveraging and building on the same creative, we were able to save time and resources as well.

How did Giants & Gentlemen perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they were extremely strong. They leveraged simple and valuable tools to keep us on track and in line with our budget. Their team was also very open and communicative, giving us frequent updates through the project. We generally communicated through in-person meetings or over the phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at Giants & Gentlemen exhibits an exciting passion. I think what distinguishes them is that passion for uncovering a rich insight and bringing that back to life in a compelling way. That’s amazing for a creative agency to do. Their desire to succeed was welcomed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing pops out of me.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Open up and share your challenges with them. Have a strong brief. Take the time to brief them properly and help them understand your problems. Engage them in the process of solving them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the head of marketing at Dr Oetker Canada Ltd.  We're the largest manufacturer of pizza in Canada.

What challenge were you trying to address with Giants & Gentlemen?

We were looking for an agency that would help us take a new perspective on our business and develop a brand strategy.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Originally, we wanted Giants & Gentlemen to help us with one of our brands. They came up with a great creative campaign, so we asked them to take on other creative and strategic challenges.

What is the team composition?

They bring in as many resources as they need for any given project.

How did you come to work with Giants & Gentlemen?

We were looking for a smaller agency. We found Giants & Gentlemen's approach very appealing, so we decided to choose them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2018, and the relationship is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They disproportionately helped our business. We're very happy with their work.

How did Giants & Gentlemen perform from a project management standpoint?

We're a very demanding client. We often have to get approval from our internal stakeholders and our parent company, so we were clear from the beginning about our expectations and the timeline. Giants & Gentlemen has been very good about adhering to our requirements.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They challenge and push us, but at the same time, they’re very respectful of our opinions. It is the balance between those two factors that make them a great agency.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We’ve had a great experience with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They have a unique approach, so give them creative freedom. You're not going to maximize the benefit you get from them if you're too prescriptive about what you're looking for.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing and communications coordinator for Global Pet Foods, a franchise chain of specialty retail stores all across Canada.

What challenge were you trying to address with Giants & Gentlemen?

We had one person in-house who was managing all of our marketing initiatives from local store events to national campaigns. It was a lot of work for one person, so we needed a marketing company to help manage the projects.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Giants & Gentlemen is currently working on a few projects, one of them being a national scratch-and-win promotion that’ll be implemented across local stores. They’re also revising our entire website and managing our social media. I oversee all the comments and customer questions, and they come up with stories and write the copy for our posts.

The first project we worked on was our national Show Us Your Heart campaign, which is a fundraiser to raise awareness and donations for local animal shelters and charities. They managed all the creative aspects and worked directly with the printer to get all the point-of-purchase material kits shipped directly to our stores.

Since then, we’ve done a brand relaunch, changing our name, logo and tagline, and they took care of all the creative. We also do a few smaller in-store promotions, and Giants & Gentlemen helps brainstorm some of those.

What is the team composition?

We normally work with three people, but sometimes people from other departments will jump in. For example, I’ve been working closely with their developer because of the website project.

How did you come to work with Giants & Gentlemen?

Their presentation and pitch for our brand redesign stood out from all the others, so we hired them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in September 2017, and the work is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve been doing the Show Us Your Heart campaign for almost 10 years, and this year we had Giants & Gentlemen put together Facebook, Instagram, and digital ads. Their work resulted in our digital donations increasing by 10 times from the previous year.

How did Giants & Gentlemen perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always available if we have questions and maintain quick and open communication. They manage the projects well and are highly organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There’s a large learning curve when you begin working with a new partner, but Giants & Gentlemen understands our business incredibly well. They picked things up quickly and are incredibly easy to work with. I enjoy our daily conversations because their team is so personable and friendly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t say enough good things about them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be honest and open about what you want and your limitations. Keep your instructions clear, and they’ll do great work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are the master franchisor for the Days Inn, Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands in Canada, and I am the senior director of marketing. All of our hotels are independently owned and operated. There are over 110 Days Inns across the country, and over 30 Motel 6 and Studio 6 locations across the country. We have about 25 employees that are part of our corporate team.

What challenge were you trying to address with Giants & Gentlemen?

We approached them several years ago for our Days Inn brand. We were really looking for a unique agency that could break through the clutter of hotel ads that were already in the market. At the end of the day, we always want to put heads in beds.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have completed two different campaigns with them so far. Days Inn is part of the Wyndham Hotel Group’s (WHG) portfolio of brands. WHG has also worked with Giants & Gentlemen on their own campaign for Days Inn locations in the United States. Both of our projects were included creative development for TV.

The first campaign we did was called Dad Pad Thai, and we were really looking to target the business traveler—not necessarily just the suits and ties, but trade professionals, small business owners, basically anyone who travels for work. The second campaign was for the same audience. Giants & Gentlemen did everything, from concept creation all the way through to filming. There were multiple Gents on site every step of the way, and they run a very detailed briefing process. They came back to us with several ideas. We liked a lot of them and worked together to find the best solution to meet our goals.

How did you come to work with Giants & Gentlemen?

There’s a magazine in Canada called Marketing Magazine. The magazine published an article on new, emerging agencies that were unique and up and coming. We were in the process of selecting a new agency to work with and brought Giants & Gentlemen in for a meeting. We brought in several agencies, and in the end of our process, we knew Giants & Gentlemen were the best fit for us. They have this great slogan of, "Be brave, be decent," and the really spoke to us. 

How much have you invested with Giants & Gentlemen?

I’d leave that one off the table. I will say that their pricing is very reasonable.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them on the first campaign in January of 2014. The second campaign ran from February to mid-April of 2016.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We got a lot of coverage on the first campaign, and it really did move the needle as far as room nights. We were very happy with the results. That campaign also won several awards for Giants & Gentlemen. The second campaign also did very well. It was a little less edgy than the first one, but it still performed really well. We received a lot of feedback from our franchisees, and generally they liked the campaign.

They’re a fantastic agency, and they really are more about client service. They’re constantly answering questions, bringing you into detailed meetings. It’s a step-by-step process with them, and they are very good about taking their clients through every process.

How did Giants & Gentlemen perform from a project management standpoint?

This is where they really excel. One of the things I like about them is that they are a really hands-on agency. They involve their clients every step of the way. With the ideation and presenting their ideas, they handle feedback very well. On the execution front of project management, they are highly organized. We have multiple agency representatives at each step, whether we’re recording the sound, on set, or actually shooting and testing. It’s a very hands-on process.

They respond well to feedback, and that’s part of why we like them so much. They live their slogan of ‘be brave, be decent’ well and fully, and they are a decent agency to work with. When we give feedback, they give us several options of how they interpreted our feedback and suggestions on how they can follow through with it.

What did you find most impressive about Giants & Gentlemen?

They are highly creative, and the ideas they come up with are things you never would’ve thought about, but they’re based on great brand insights.

Are there any areas Giants & Gentlemen could improve?

No. We’re really happy with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for Mac’s Convenience Stores. My role encompasses all marketing activities to support various brands within our company. Not only do I handle the branding components of Mac’s, but also a lot of proprietary brands, which encompass frozen beverages, fountain beverages, dairy, private brand, confectionaries, salty snacks, and vendor partnerships.

What challenge were you trying to address with Giants & Gentlemen?

I was reviewing a few different agencies to find the right partner for our Froster brand, which is a frozen beverage program catering to a millennial audience with a big focus on the 17-year-old male. We wanted to increase transaction count for that brand.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with reinvigorating the Froster brand, and that had to do with our in-store execution as well as anything from a traditional and digital media perspective. We worked a lot on the theater of the program in the store, and we developed radio, out of home, and social campaigns, with a big focus on Snapchat, and different digital tactics. We also delved into Instagram and Facebook. Giants & Gentlemen did both strategy and creative on 6 or 7 different campaigns.

How did you come to work with Giants & Gentlemen?

We considered several agencies, and we chose them after looking at the creative work they had done prior to that. I think the team dynamics of their leadership were also a factor. I thought they were the right fit for a brand like Froster based on what I was looking at from a creative talent perspective and the other work they had done.

How much have you invested with Giants & Gentlemen?

I’m guessing we’ve spent over $600,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started working together in 2014, and our relationship is ongoing. We are currently working through another Froster program for the year.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

When I partnered with them, we looked at rebranding the Froster program within Ontario, which was received very successfully in year one. By year three, we had the best Froster year that we’ve had in over 5 years. We outpaced benchmarks with our Snapchat campaign. We also saw a lift in sales during that campaign of about 11% that was specifically attributed to that. We’ve seen an increase of over 40% in sales.

I think they understand the target audience and deliver on-target with an engaging campaign that has viral components to it. They can deliver something interesting that drives interest and engagement for that target. So, it was received very well both internally and by our customers.

How did Giants & Gentlemen perform from a project management standpoint?

So far, so good. We have weekly calls, and the account coordinator really manages every project, making sure to keep me abreast of the status of everything. They’ve always delivered on time and within budget.

What did you find most impressive about Giants & Gentlemen?

I think the creativity they bring to the table really makes them stand out. Considering the budget and some of our tight timelines, they got a good understanding of the target and then delivered on something incredibly creative.

Are there any areas Giants & Gentlemen could improve?

Nothing comes to mind right now.