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 1998 and 1991, and Newsmaker of the Year in 1986 by Canadian advertising and marketing trade publication Marketing (magazine).^[15]

External links

• Cossette's Origins
• Official website
• Cossette Twitter
• Cossette Facebook
• Cossette Linkedin

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).