How Rethink Brought Home Canada’s First Immortal Award

With The Immortal Awards being such a selective competition, statistically, it wasn’t surprising that in the show’s six-year run, no Canadian agency had ever taken home the grand prize. 

However, that all changed this month when Rethink made history, grabbing a trophy in Little Black Book’s global award show for its work with Kraft Heinz North America on ‘Ketchup Fraud’. It also won a Commendation for Decathlon’s ‘Ability Signs’, marking a rare double appearance from a company on the annual Immortal Awards reel of work.

“[This feeling] - it’s fantastic,” says Mike Dubrick, the agency’s chief creative officer. “If you looked at the quality of the jury, it really was a who’s who - so to be recognised by that group is really humbling.”

Specifically referring to the assembled team of David Lubars, Harjot Singh, Susan Credle, Neil Heymann, Nic Taylor, Natalie Lam, Joel Simon, Alexis Ospina, and Tania Sethi, for Mike and the others at Rethink, this win meant the agency’s work for Heinz was selected alongside two other ads from an already heavily-honed 32 piece shortlist, truly making it one of the best of the best. 

“We’re really pleased to stand out amongst such a strong list of creative,” he continues. “Not only that, the list of winners is a fantastic body of work, AND, it’s always great to see Canada winning on the global stage. (Shoutout to the pride of Fort Erie, Ontario, Matty Matheson, for accepting the Best Comedy Emmy for ‘The Bear’ last week.)”   

So, to what does Mike attribute this success? And what does it take to create winning work? For a start, the work ethic of the team. As he puts it, “We have a phenomenal group at Rethink who work their butts off and love creativity. There’s an infectious enthusiasm about ideas, matched with a really high ambition to get things done.”

This sentiment was well-reflected in both of Rethink’s awarded campaigns. In the case of ‘Ketchup Fraud’, what began as photos of people using Heinz bottles to hold other brands of ketchup led to the brand ultimately reclaiming the Fenway Park account. And, for Ability Signs’, work that started with the goal of changing outlooks on disabilities would be pushed to the point of reaching 73 countries, being adopted by rival brands, and will now even be used at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

“Great ideas always have a certain energy - they leap off the page. So, I think there was certainly always a belief that core ideas could be massive,” Mike adds. “But then, the task became how to protect, craft, and articulate those ideas in the most powerful way possible.”

And to this end, Mike notes that the high level of respect within the group and with the partners - which leads to what he calls “some of the strongest relationships in the industry” - was a pivotal factor in creating greatness. 

“We all know you can’t get to great work without great relationships,” he says. “And, seeing as we’re in the business of driving our clients' business, our belief is that that, alongside creativity, are the most powerful tools to do so.”

So, moving forward, with a new win notched into the agency’s belt, what will be coming down the pipeline for Rethink? According to Mike, much of the same, although they’ll leave whether or not another Immortal win is in the cards up to the jury. 

“Our goal is always to relentlessly pursue creative ideas that the world talks about - to set a high standard, not only for ourselves, but hopefully to help set a standard for the industry as a whole,” he finishes. “And, as far as a strategy that we use that makes a difference… it’s all in our name.”