Canadian agency Rethink is opening an office in New York in response to significant demand from existing and new clients based in the U.S.

The expansion comes as Rethink, which has grown revenue by 45% in the past 12 months, has found itself increasingly approached by U.S. clients after its attention-getting campaigns for Kraft Heinz such as Heinz’s “Draw Ketchup” and all-red jigsaw puzzle, and Kraft's Pumpkin Spice Mac & Cheese, which rolled out in the U.S. after huge demand when the agency introduced it first in Canada.

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The agency, which was awarded Ad Age’s Creative Agency of the Year in 2021, is joining the Dawn Marketing collective of independent agencies, founded by former MDC Partners Chief Marketing Officer Bob Kantor in 2019. Its new office, on 7th Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, brings it together with other agencies in the Dawn group.

The agency's managing partners, Chief Operating Officer Caleb Goodman, Chief Strategy Officer Sean McDonald and Chief Creative Officer Aaron Starkman will oversee the U.S. expansion. The trio will spend half their time in New York, while the agency is currently recruiting for at least 12 positions based in the U.S. office. Approximately 50 people in the agency overall are also currently working on global business.

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Rethink is already working with two new U.S. clients, tea brand Tazo and protein snack brand RXBar, and will also work on U.S. business with existing clients Kraft Heinz and Molson Coors; on the last, it is currently working on U.S. briefs for the Arnold Palmer and Vizzy brands.

“We have been working with U.S. and global briefs with increasingly regularity to the point where we just have organically become a North American agency,” Starkman told Ad Age.

 “We've been working on the global stage for years now but with a lot more velocity of late,” added McDonald. “It feels most real when you have an address.”

At present, Rethink staffers are still mostly working from home but the agency has taken client meetings in the New York office and anticipates more in-person working next year. “With New York we'll be ready in the new year to be there physically,” said Goodman. 

Rethink was founded in Vancouver in 1999 and already has offices in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. The agency is built around a partnership model that includes 21 partners and a share structure designed to ensure that it will remain independent and never sell.

On the decision to join the Dawn Marketing collective, whose other members include Pereira O’Dell, Barkley, RedBox, Co: Collective, the Bleacher Report and CrossMedia, Goodman added: “We’re excited to arrive with some friends in this country. It’s a really fresh collection of marketing services businesses that are complementary.”

Dawn founder Bob Kantor added, in a statement:  “Rethink is one of the most talented and creatively celebrated agencies in the world. We are proud to support their continued global expansion."