Overview of
2020-2021

Several steps were undertaken to raise awareness about the challenges and financial hardships facing agencies during the pandemic. Meetings were held with:

• the Ministry of Culture and Communications
• the Secrétariat à la communication gouvernementale
• the Ministry of Economy and Innovation
• the Ministry of Finances
• the Government of Canada

Issues:

• Presentation of a brief as part of the review of the Status of the Artist Act in collaboration with the Association des producteurs publicitaires (APP) and the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA).
• Efforts to make sure that governmental assistance programs during the pandemic met the needs of member agencies.

Collaboration with key organizations to raise awareness about the economic impact of our industry. Partnerships with:

• the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) to organize a panel for Le pouvoir économique de la créativité (September 2020)
• Montreal International to raise awareness about its service offering promoting recruitment abroad
• the Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ) to develop and share remote working tools and prevent workplace harassment

Involvement within various committees and advisory services:

• Ad Standards
• Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada (DAAC)
• Bénévolat d’entraide aux communicateurs (bec)

Following the presentation of the action plan in the fall of 2020, the A2C surveyed its member agencies in spring (in collaboration with Concilium Capital Humain) in order to assess the state of equity, diversity, and inclusion in our industry. The results were presented at the Leaders’ Summit which also featured a presentation and a training activity on unconscious biases for agency employees.

A DEI advisory committee was also created to support initiatives and to help implement the A2C’s action plan.

The A2C’s DEI policy is another step in the right direction. This policy is proof of the commitment to promoting a culture of inclusion and its pledge to align its actions with its values.

A policy template was shared with member agencies to allow them to create or bolster their own internal policy.

Read the A2C’s DEI policy

As part of the Mouvement média d’ici launched in the spring of 2020, the A2C and the Conseil des directeurs médias du Québec created the Guide to Responsible Media Practices and the Local Media Index. These new tools will be used with the aim of doubling the amount of money invested in local media by 2023. This would result in more than $200 million per year invested in Quebec’s ecosystem.

Guide to Responsible Media Practices
Designed by and for media professionals, this tool is intended to serve as a guideline to responsible media approaches for supporting local media while benefiting advertisers and consumers in a socially, culturally, and economically positive way.

Local Media Index
This tool was designed to showcase the proportion of digital and total investments dedicated to local media. It is intended to help industry players take tangible actions to meet the goals outlined in the Guide to Responsible Media Practices.

Launch of the Guide and the Index

• Two informative webinars led by a committee of experts who helped develop the tools
  • +125 total participants
  • +75 views online
• Approximately 15 mentions in media outlets, including an article on the Panier bleu website.

Find out more

• Supporting clients of all sizes and in a variety of sectors to prepare their agency selection process and help them adopt the best practices to this effect. Fewer interventions took place this past year but most of them led to improvements in the process.
• Consultation with member agencies to make recommendations to the Centre d’acquisitions gouvernementales in response to its call for tenders for advertising mandates of over $500,000.
• Ongoing review of the Agency Selection Guide to update and simplify the process.

Over the past two years, the A2C and the CDMQ have been closely collaborating to improve their outreach and raise even more awareness about the media industry. A pilot project was successfully carried out to assess the possibility of merging both organizations. The integration agreement was officialised in June 2021.

Next steps:

• Create a permanent media committee to oversee projects that are specific to this field
• Quarterly meetings with media agencies to discuss specific projects and challenges
• Quarterly newsletter about media issues
• Collaboration for the 2022 Idéa Awards (Media discipline)
• Pursuit of initiatives in line with the Mouvement média d’ici

Collective agreements with the Union des artistes (UDA):

INM negotiations and the bipartisan committee for the TV/radio agreement were suspended due to the pandemic. The Association des producteurs conjoints (APC) expects work to resume in the fall of 2021.

Meanwhile, an agreement was reached with the UDA for the implementation of an official process for waivers when artists take part in pro bono projects.

Free interpretation services about collective agreements for producers remain available.

COVID-19 :

Ongoing collaboration with the APP and the UDA to share regulations and recommendations related to health and safety measures for ad shoots.

• 33% increase in mentions about the A2C and its initiatives in media outlets compared to last year
• Public stances in several industry and business media outlets
• Presentation during Le pouvoir de la créativité event (CCMM)
• Presentation of the Guide to Responsible Media Practices and the Local Media Index in collaboration with the CDMQ during the Sommet 100 % local (Infopresse)
• Collaboration with bicom for press relations
• Participation in the Jeux de la communication as a discipline sponsor

The A2C began a strategic approach to recommend solutions to the challenges of hiring and retaining agency employees. Its goal is to develop an employer brand position for the entire industry in order to reach out to more potential candidates and improve engagement with current employees.

An action plan is currently being implemented to recommend solutions and address the issue of labour shortage. Promoting the notion of hiring abroad and showcasing the possibility of agency careers in schools are part of the A2C’s short-term solutions.

The 2^nd edition of this initiative created by the A2C, in collaboration with the Société des designers graphiques du Québec (SDGQ) and the CDMQ, celebrated the talent of our industry’s professionals, artists, and clients after a difficult year. Due to the pandemic, the health measures and the requirement of social distancing, each step of the contest took place virtually this year.

New this year:

• Change to the Digital products and experiences and Business results and strategy categories
• Webinars to help candidates prepare their applications (description of categories and case studies)
• Preliminary jury for Business results and strategy
• Video excerpts showcasing the winning projects during the awards ceremony
• Virtual event to foster discussion between representatives of companies who won major awards (in french).

• 1,200
  projects submitted
• 384
  winners
  including 172 brands from here and abroad
• 8
  preparatory webinars
• 6
  Grands Prix
• 1
  special edition of Grenier Magazine
  (in french)

Collaborators:

• Promotional campaign: Publicis Montréal
• Awards ceremony
  • Production: Gabriel Poirier-Galarneau (Champagne Club Sandwich)
  • Editing: Chop Chop
  • Sound design: Supersavant
  • Visual design: Gimmick

Watch the awards ceremony that took place on June 16^th, 2021 (in french)

Opening video | 2021 Idéa Award ceremony (in french)

The Association will pay tribute to the extraordinary careers of Jacques Dorion (Builder), Thérèse Paquet-Sévigny (Beacon), and Robert Ayotte (Ally) in the fall of 2021. A video revealed the names of the nominees to the Hall of Fame during the Idéa Awards in June.

Relève Communication

• Team: Debout from ESG at UQAM, in collaboration with UQAM’s faculty of communications
• Client : IGA (Sobeys)
• Volunteer coordinators: Jean-Hugo Filion (Cossette) and Pascal Routhier (Rethink)

Relève Marketing

• Team: HEXAltant from HEC Montréal
• Client : BRP
• Volunteer coordinators: Joanne Nantel and France Wong (Bleublancrouge)

• 487
  students
• 35
  agencies
• 8
  grants
  awarded

• Partnership with the Alliance des cabinets de relations publiques du Québec (ACRPQ) and Grenier recrutement
• Event entirely online for the first time
• New: Opening panel featuring young professionals in agencies and the first 100 people to register gained access to a webinar where a professional recruiter shared tips.

New! A series of virtual conferences took place to help students discover various careers within the creative communications industry and to provide guidance for their academic journey. These took place from October 26^th to November 4^th, 2020. The goal was to reach a younger audience who was not necessarily familiar with our field.

• 900
  students
  reached
• 34
  conference speakers
  and panelists
• 8
  virtual
  conferences

Watch the conferences (in french)