News & Views

Fresh off the presses!

Take a moment to read up on the latest exciting news from McLellan Group, and hear what some of our talented team have to say on whatever topic may strike their fancy. We invite you to share in our successes, and find out what inspires us.

McLellan Group

George Hull Centre, “Laugh Out Loud” gala

May 20, 2010

Toronto’s George Hull Centre is one of Canada’s leading and most innovative mental health centres focused on helping children and their families. 5 years ago, we began offering our expertise in on-line marketing and communication, to help them reach out to their supporters and tell their incredible story.

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McLellan Group

Trillium announcement

May 20, 2010

McLellan Group is pleased to announce that following a 3 month RFP with dozens of respondents, we have been awarded Lead Agency of Record status (AOR) for Trillium Health Centre & the Trillium Health Centre Foundation.

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McLellan Group

City of Toronto's web animation tells the story

January 15, 2010

Flooded streets, closed roads and wet basements are an ugly reality during winter in Toronto. Some of the city’s water lines are 100 years old and despite an aggressive plan to update them, thousands of citizens feel the pain whenever one breaks.

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McLellan Group

Are You Benefiting from Video on Your Website?

July 7, 2009

Twenty years following it’s inception, the Internet has become a permanent and important part of our lives. If you don’t believe this, try turning off the broadband to your home for a day and see what happens. Over the last couple of years Internet adoption rates have stabilized but how people use and interact with the web is anything but stable. One of today’s most important online trends is how users choose to get their information. In just the last year, online video viewing grew by 73% and there is every indication it will continue to grow.

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McLellan Group

A Room with a (Virtual) View

July 7, 2009

When we began the journey to our new home in Toronto’s Historic Distillery District early last year, one of the biggest challenges we faced was the lack of windows in our soon-to-be boardroom. The space itself is spectacular but at about 178 years of age and only 3 stories tall, it lacked the vista views we had grown to love. (Our previous home was on the top floor of a beautiful Art Deco building overlooking the city’s core). So, rather than surrender to the inevitability of a cave-like boardroom, we decided to take some of the creativity and ingenuity that we normally save for our clients and put it to use within our own four walls. We also thought, “If we’re going to create a view … why just one?”

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McLellan Group

Budgets Slashed? No Problem!

July 7, 2009

17 years into our relationship with RBC’s International Wealth Management division, the worst recession since World War 2 slammed into all of us. That didn’t change the need to provide effective communications --- just the way to approach, manage and create them.

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McLellan Group

Web 2.0: I hear I want it. I guess I need it. Now what is it?

April 9, 2009

For many, the rise of the internet has brought with it an entirely new way of thinking and speaking. Our expanded vocabulary now allows us to form sentences resembling: "After googling your blog, I poked you and wrote on your wall". Now comes Web 2.0 to further complicate what we already know.

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McLellan Group

Changes at the Top

March 23, 2009

“Today marks one of the most important moments in our continuing evolution”, says Founder and CEO Doug McLellan.

“Craig Backman, most recently with RBC as Vice-President Marketing Strategy, has joined McLellan Group as a Partner and President. I have known Craig for 10 years through our preferred supplier relationship with RBC, and together we have created innovative on-line strategies and unique storytelling solutions … many which are still in use today. Craig brings very strong strategic thinking skills to our team (he’s both a left brain and right brain guy!) and hugely strengthens our value proposition with clients looking for maximum returns in these challenging economic times.”

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McLellan Group

An Alternative View on the Economy & Retirement

March 19, 2008

There’s no question, this is a very challenging time. Thousands of people are losing their jobs and by most estimates, it’ll be years before we return to what was. For those in the prime of their working years, there is significant impact and hardship to be endured. But there is another group, those who have worked all their lives and are about to, or have just retired, who face a different problem. With the crash of the markets, their purchasing power has dissolved. Some have to go back to work, others can’t … the jobs aren’t there.

Those dreams of retiring in “paradise” are now too costly. Or are they? 

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McLellan Group

Integrated Communications? Strategic Communications? Creative Communications?

What’s the Difference?

November 13, 2008

I’ve been asked many times. McLellan Group is integrated but we’re also very much strategic and creative. The same cannot always be said for the others. A solely strategic agency might help you map out a particular business strategy but they’ll pass on the tactical execution, often to a number of agencies ie: web, video, print, direct mail etc. The same limitations can exist with a solely “creative” agency. We do it all. The benefits are not just in the cost savings associated with just one account team, but also in the reuse and integration of creative elements and the speed of project turnaround.

Here’s an example. Conundrum Capital is a private equity fund management firm focused on delivering innovative real estate investments. As their agency, they approached us for a solution to support a major presentation happening on the other side of the world. They needed to sell Canada, real estate investments and themselves, Conundrum Capital, all in 30 minutes. In less than 30 days, we delivered an integrated solution that was highly successful: a 90 second commercial, a secure micro-site, print collateral and speaker support.

Click here to view the commercial »

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McLellan Group

FTP Security

October 29, 2008

Digital communication between a corporation and its agencies is essential for sharing strategy, concepts, timelines, proofs and even final work. Recently, concerns have been raised by a number of corporations about just how secure some "secure" sites really are. We’ve all heard reports about companies whose former employees and associates have accessed file repositories full of sensitive information, long after they have left their respective organizations. A common reason for this happening is the practice of many agencies to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) systems to share large files between themselves, their clients and suppliers.

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McLellan Group

McLellan Group

June 19, 2008

McLellan Group is pleased to announce that we have moved into our new office space, located in Toronto's Historic Distillery District.

Over our 20-year history, we have called several places "home". In the late eighties we resided at St. Nicholas Street in the Yonge & Wellesley area, which in just a few quick months, unfortunately became known as "The Murder District". From there we moved in 1991 to Spadina Avenue's “Fashion District”, where we remained until a potent mixture of sub-zero temperatures and an uninsulated sprinkler pipe sent us packing. So why now the Distillery Distict?  Well, with a good Gaelic name like McLellan Group, we felt a stronger kinship with a building that once produced whisky than one that once produced overcoats.

Our new offices are on the second floor of what was once known as "The Smoke House" in the Gooderham and Worts Distillery complex, a building constructed in 1863. This is where they would hang the freshly harvested bottles of whisky from the rafters and fill the rooms with smoke, similar to the method used to cure tobacco. This is what would give the whisky its distinctive smoky flavour. (At least we're pretty sure that's the way it worked.)

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McLellan Group helps "Jays Care" tell their story

McLellan Group helps “Jays Care” tell their story

June 11, 2008

The Toronto Blue Jays foundation, Jays Care, ensures that children who are in need, have the opportunity to make positive choices in life. Jays Care does this by supporting numerous programs that provide physical activity, education and life-skill development. Jays Care asked us to help tell their story in an effective and compelling way. The video  we produced was part of the big screen messaging at the fundraising gala held at the ROM. It will now be integrated into their website and repositioned for the Jumbotron at Rogers Centre. Many thanks to the kids from Rookie League and Hospital for Sick Children as well as the Blue Jays players for making this a success.

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