Marie-Michèle Jacques, senior partner and president, and I, somewhere in January 2015, in our office at the time in Old Montreal:

• Why wouldn't we call the agency Rebelle Rebel, feminine and masculine, as a twist on Bowie’s world?

• I don’t know, it sounds a bit like a hair salon, doesn’t it?

• True. You’re right. It’s going to age poorly. So cheesy already.

• Okay, but what is the agency that we really want?

• It’s a vibe, a destination. Like a neighborhood… What about Camden Town in London? Diversity, all the trimmings. And it rocks, right?

• Yeah. That’s pretty good. We’ll dig deeper but that’s not bad.

• Cool

And we did dig. And the name Camden has never been supplanted.

We therefore protected it and then brought it to life. Hard to believe it’s already been ten years. Like a jump in time, so much has happened and it feels like it was just yesterday. Maybe the pandemic also played with our brains and our perception. Can you believe it, already ten years?

Café Olive and Gourmando. Back to a midday in the summer of 2014. Just the two of us again. We are thinking about what we want to build as an agency concretely, beyond the brand and theory. An integrated thing but not too heavy. Also scalable to create a collective across multiple locations. We didn’t yet have the arrogance to think internationally. That came quickly afterward, but not at the moment. So we took the placemat, flipped it over, and sketched out by hand, by services, what we wanted to build the following year. The team at the time, the one from Défi, the agency we had purchased from Claude Dutil, its founder, and where we had been working for several years, was solid. Nine or ten good, very professional people. We had the foundation. But we needed to grow. See further. How to accelerate the agency’s development, in a market already saturated at the time? Pitch every day? Not really. We rather decided to do what no one was doing at the time: combine the organic growth of our accounts with gains through strategic development, but above all, and that’s where the nuance was: focus on acquisitions. To eventually exit Quebec while remaining solid there.

A jump in time. It’s September 24, 2015. Around 5 PM.

There’s a great excitement in the brand new space at 5455 De Gaspé, in Mile-End, that the teams have only occupied for a few weeks. We worked all summer with the designers and the construction team. We love it. The space would be nominated for the Grands Prix du Design the following year. In short, we are going to officially launch our new brand this evening. There’s a sheet over the large logo at the entrance. Exit “Défi,” which we will always keep in our hearts. A huge screen will broadcast the presentation film of our new identity, filmed a few months earlier in London and Montreal. Chef Danny St-Pierre and his crew are preparing their stations for the upcoming food, inspired by West Indies cuisine. Antoine, a friend, is busy with the oysters and canapés. Karim Ouellet (we have a big thought for him, he left way too soon), is in a closed office getting ready for a performance of a few pieces a bit later. Marie-Michèle and I are welcoming guests, alongside team members. Clients, friends, families, partners, they are arriving. The cocktails are being consumed. More than 100 people. The atmosphere is super positive. Then it will be a speech from both of us to introduce our new name. Then the film. Our two boys at our sides. Applause. Chills. Music. Food. Dance. Conversations. It was launched. Our baby well born. Without forceps. The next day we would win an important pitch against a very large agency with a hangover, but with all the creativity needed. I remember mentioning during the evening a certain ambition for France after a few drinks. I shouldn’t have. I was a bit looked down upon. Like: calm down, kid. But nothing to spoil the evening. A great moment.

Then, the years flew by at breakneck speed.

The acquisition of CGCom in May 2016 in Montreal, with the integration of its teams and clients, many of whom still trust us today. The launch of our Toronto office in 2017 with two colleagues we really liked and who had a crazy drive, as our French friends say. Then in May 2018: inauguration on a rooftop in Lyon of our first office in Europe with the beautiful team from Distilleurs. The hair stands up on my arms when I think back to it, particularly to my mother who had traveled from Montreal for the occasion. Then the pandemic, bang. Remote work and all the uncertainty. But we were determined to persist. Hong Kong at the end of 2020 took off at full speed. Then quite a bit of investment in ourselves, in our cohesion, in our brand, many highs, some lows too, but a necessary period to clarify our vision and surround ourselves with the right people. And to top it all off, last year, in November, the addition of the Paris office through an agreement with the Biggerband agency that joined Camden, to go further together. An office in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Who would have thought?

The pace had been good. Quite brisk. Not enough for me, but it will never be enough for me.

Last month, we were in São Paulo to discuss the future with players there. We are not going to stop. Our plan is clear: continue to serve our local clients with tools that other agencies don’t have, and challenge the large networks on small and medium-sized global brands by embodying the agency of the future, present everywhere on the planet, sharp in understanding cultures and seasoned like a war machine in global deployment. With international caliber experts. The best of both worlds. Friendliness, accessibility, creativity anchored in meaningful insights, but also capabilities. Great capabilities. Directed by humans who pilot the technology and not by technology that pilots humans. And energy and commitment to our clients, without any restraint. Because we go to war for them. Yes, some people have left, life, the force of things, but others have stayed. Many have also chosen Camden in recent years to build the future with us and today, our model is clearer than ever. But the most important thing is that our leadership group across 3 continents (soon to be 4 if all goes decently), is united and rowing in the right direction, embodying our 4 values: humility, audacity, rigor, and solidarity. Our faith in the future is solid and tangible, as we are realizing our dreams, one step at a time, witnessing concrete results daily. And as CEO, it will be a privilege to continue serving our teams, developing winning opportunities, and ensuring that we keep the wind at our backs as we multiply our presence in major international markets.

To conclude, I sincerely want to thank all those who contributed to the growth of Camden, regardless of whether we are on less good terms today or still friends, since that evening of September 24, 2015. I sincerely repeat it. Without any ulterior motive. Because without you, we wouldn’t be here.

It’s hard to hide my genuine pride, after 10 years, tons of joy, learning experiences, and several pitfalls, in leading such a united, professional, human, and inspiring collective.

No, I won't quote Bruel. But still, shall we make this appointment in ten years?