Cossette, Inc.

Cossette is a Canadian marketing communications company that provides integrated communications services. Headquartered in Quebec City, the company has offices across Canada in Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver and a full-time staff of approximately 650 people.

History

Cossette was launched as a graphic design firm by Claude Cossette in June 1964 and relaunched in May 1972 by Claude Lessard along with five partners (including Claude Cossette himself) under the name Cossette Communication-Marketing in Quebec City.[1] The company expanded to Montreal in 1974, opened in Toronto in 1981, and by 1985 added its fourth Canadian office in Vancouver.[2]

Clients

Throughout these years Cossette’s reputation grew in Canada along with a client list made up of many leading brand names, including such companies as McDonald’s,[3] General Motors,[4] General Mills,[5] Bank of Montreal,[6] Procter & Gamble[7] and Nike, Inc.[8]

Acquisitions

Cossette went public in 1999, with shares trading on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges.[9]

Three years later Cossette established a foothold in Europe with the acquisition of London-based Identica, a world leader in design and brand management. Within the same year, Cossette added public relations to its European portfolio with the acquisition of the Band and Brown Communications, also a London-based company that services clients across Europe.[10]

In 2005 Cossette purchased a 51% stake in London ad agency Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy (MCBD) and its subsidiary Elvis Communications.[11]

Cossette continued its expansion in the U.K., two years later with the acquisition of Dare Digital, a leading digital agency based in London as well as RocketXL, a social marketing agency based in Los Angeles.[12]

In 2009 Cossette returned to private ownership when Connecticut-based private equity firm Mill Road Capital purchased all outstanding shares of Cossette. Cossette is majority-owned by Mill Road Capital, with management also owning a significant share.[13]

In 2010 the original Cossette organization was reorganized under a holding company structure. The new holding company, Vision7 International, has three operating companies: Cossette, the Canadian integrated marketing communications company; Vision7 Media, a media planning and buying company; and EdC, a group of discipline-specific agencies operating in Canada, the U.K. and U.S.[14]

Industry Rankings

Cossette was named “Agency of the Year” in 1988 and 1991, and Newsmaker of the Year in 1986 by Canadian advertising and marketing trade publication Marketing (magazine).[15]

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Claude Lessard Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vision 7 International".
  2. ↑ "Post & Partners of New York Joins Cossette Communication Group.".
  3. ↑ "McDonald's Operators of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Hire Cossette as New Lead Advertising".
  4. ↑ "WHERE GM SITS IN CANADA'S MEDIA LANDSCAPE".
  5. ↑ "GENERAL MILLS CONSOLIDATES DIGITAL WITH COSSETTE".
  6. ↑ "BMO's 'great feelings'".
  7. ↑ "P&G TO GIVE MOMS AN OLYMPIC SALUTE".
  8. ↑ "Cossette Media nabs Nike".
  9. ↑ "Cossette Communication-Marketing".
  10. ↑ "En bref - Cossette acquiert Identica".
  11. ↑ "Cossette pays £7.8m for MCBD".
  12. ↑ "Cossette buys Dare Digital".
  13. ↑ "Vision7 International (formerly known as Cossette Inc.)".
  14. ↑ "Cossette Vision7 (Canada)".
  15. ↑ "Marketing Agency of the Year" (PDF).
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