Launching Our Agency’s New Brand

If ever there was a news story about this agency, it’s this one. How we developed and successfully launched our new brand: The Show and Tell Agency. 

Our official merger in 2021 turned out to be a perfect match. What McKim Communications Group didn’t have in digital prowess, it had in strategic branding and creative advertising magic. And what Sherpa Marketing didn’t have in branding or creative depth, it had in web and app development and digital marketing mastery.

Although we couldn’t have anticipated it beforehand, the benefits of 55 staff collaborating and sharing brainpower almost immediately resonated within our own agency culture and client work. Insights and client solutions were better, came faster and were more evolved; many staff felt invigorated as we discovered the agency’s expanded talent and scope; and clients were happier. And we were attracting new business that we might not have won as separate agencies.

Sharing Changes Everything

Another insight also became apparent: Through the act of sharing, we had become something entirely new.

Which is why neither McKim nor Sherpa could continue to serve as the name or names of our agency.  And why we needed a new name and brand.

Based on a creative brief for the agency’s new brand, co-CEOs Marty Fisher and Peter George challenged every employee to come up with at least one agency name. To be a contender, the name also had to be legally registrable – not an easy feat in 2023.

A pizza and beer night ensued, presentations were made from virtually every corner of the country and beyond, and votes were cast.

“Show and Tell” rose to the top. A solid case was made for it: what we do in an ad agency every day is exactly like show and tell in elementary school. We come up with ideas and stories, create compelling images, and then show them to our clients in a presentation that tells them what it all means. And then – if you’ve got a good agency that is – the reverse should happen: You show your customers instead of telling them why your business, service or product is special.

Where we’ve come. Where we’re going.

Next, our creative team got to work bringing the words Show and Tell to life. They developed a beautifully rendered logo that nods to where we’ve come from and where we’re going. It represents the weaving together of two different things to create a new expression – in this case, our two legacy agencies.

And if you look closely at the icon, you can see an S and a T coming together to create the ampersand form to blend the classic approach of the ligature with a modern look. It also captures the combination of electronic and organic. Sherpa and McKim.

And now, Show and Tell.

From there, we got developing and planning a multitude of other assets and deliverables, including a landing page and hosting sneak peeks to the whole agency, and to clients, friends and family. And schwag (more on that TBA.)

Finally, Peter and Marty announced the brand and screened our brand video at a large business event in Winnipeg in September where it was well received. The rebrand also earned media attention from The Winnipeg Free Press, Strategy and The Message.

After the launch, we celebrated as an agency. Peter and Marty shared a few words with our entire staff virtually and in person, and then we broke out the champagne, cupcakes and new Show and Tell schwag. A rebrand is a major milestone for any organization (just wait for our upcoming piece of content about that), and it was important to gel with colleagues and leadership as we officially enter this new phase.

There’s more to come but for now, we’re settling nicely into life as The Show and Tell Agency. It's been refreshing working with clients under the new brand.

And we’ve been walking our talk from day one of the merger, because sharing really does change everything.