As trust becomes harder to earn and easier to lose, Elemental is sharpening its focus on what clients should expect from agency partnerships – and what agencies should be accountable for delivering.
As it marks its 25th year in business, Elemental used its recent rebrand to clarify the belief that has guided the agency for decades. Rather than repositioning the brand or adopting the latest industry language, the process was about articulating what truly differentiates it.
The new tagline, “Expect More,” serves as both a promise and a provocation, defining how Elemental works, while challenging clients to demand greatness from their agency relationships.
For partner and CSO Dustin Brown, the anniversary was an opportunity to articulate something Elemental has long prioritized but had never stated outright. “When we went through the [rebranding] process, we turned inward to try and understand how we’ve gotten to where we’ve gotten over these 25 years,” he says. “We really wanted to focus on the amazing service and the experience we provide to our clients.”
And that focus isn’t abstract. At Elemental, it shows up from the start. It begins with a “Briefstorm,” a collaborative working session that brings together creative, media, strategy and social leads alongside the client at the outset of an assignment. Instead of treating the brief as a handoff, the agency uses it as a shared moment, ensuring every discipline hears the challenge directly and understands how the work will ultimately need to perform.
The result is clarity and momentum. With senior media and creative leaders involved from the start, ideas are designed with real-world execution in mind – reducing silos, minimizing rework and aligning expectations early.
As trust becomes harder to earn and easier to lose, Elemental is sharpening its focus on what clients should expect from agency partnerships – and what agencies should be accountable for delivering.
As it marks its 25th year in business, Elemental used its recent rebrand to clarify the belief that has guided the agency for decades. Rather than repositioning the brand or adopting the latest industry language, the process was about articulating what truly differentiates it.
The model works, says partner and CCO Brent Wardrop, because everyone plays to their strengths. The agency focuses on how to engage people and move ideas forward, while clients contribute the insight that only comes from knowing their business inside out.
That’s one reason why Elemental focuses on how clients experience the relationship, not just the work. “We hope that every meeting, every call, every touchpoint between us and a client,” says Wardrop, “helps them get one step closer to achieving their goal by delivering work that actually makes a difference.”
That philosophy has helped Elemental build unusually durable partnerships in an industry defined by churn. Several client relationships now span nearly a decade, evolving as brands, platforms and mandates change.
Over the past year, Elemental has expanded its relationship with insurer Canada Life, partnering on a creative platform designed to reflect the different paths Canadians take through life. The work emphasized flexibility, acknowledging that milestones, challenges and achievements look different for everyone, and positioning the brand as a constant source of support. Elemental manages strategy, creative and media, delivering across connected TV, social and digital. The campaign led to an increase in aided awareness, familiarity and consideration, and ultimately delivered on the goals for the brand.
The agency also added new clients, including retailer Leon’s, for which it developed multiple broadcast TV campaigns for Canada Day, Leon’s Services and MLSE for the brand’s “That’s Comfortable” platform. Most recently, Leon’s partnered with MLSE, featuring work with hockey legend Wendel Clark alongside Maple Leafs broadcaster Joe Bowen and longtime Raptors voice Jack Armstrong. Launched at the end of November, the campaign leaned on familiarity, humour and trust. By placing well-known Canadian sports figures in everyday, relatable moments, the campaign – which is still in market – reinforced Leon’s position as a brand Canadians turn to for furniture that feels right.
For Baffin, a relationship that has spanned more than eight years, Elemental helped introduce the Terrain Collection – the brand’s entry into performance hiking footwear. The campaign merged rugged trail footage with subtle technical overlays, including blueprints, diagrams and design cues that revealed the engineering behind the product. Elemental developed the creative platform and digital elements, and managed the media buy and performance.
With a staff of just over 20, Elemental is a full-service agency built for deep partnership and high-impact work. Brown says the agency’s model ensures close collaboration, senior leadership on the work and an uncommon level of commitment to client success. “We’re designed to be deeply involved,” he says. “That’s where we do our best work, and how we punch above our weight.”
Strategy Magazine – https://strategyonline.ca/2026/03/17/raising-expectations-elemental-puts-delivering-greatness-at-its-core/