Founder Claude Cossette Headquarters Quebec City, Canada | Founded 1972 | |
CEO Brett Marchand (Nov 2010–) Subsidiaries Cossette Communication Montreal Parent organization Vision 7 International Ulc | ||
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.
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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. The company expanded to Montreal in 1974, opened in Toronto in 1981, and by 1985 added its fourth Canadian office in Vancouver.
Clients
Cossette’s client list includes McDonald’s, General Motors, General Mills, Bank of Montreal, Procter & Gamble and Nike, Inc.
Acquisitions
Cossette went public in 1999, with shares trading on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges.
Three years later Cossette expanded to Europe with the acquisition of London-based Identica. 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.
In 2005 Cossette purchased a 51% stake in London ad agency Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy (MCBD) and its subsidiary Elvis Communications.
Two years later Cossette continued its expansion in the U.K. with the acquisition of Dare Digital. They also acquired Los Angeles based RocketXL.
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.
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.
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).