Cossette, Inc.

Founded in 1972, Cossette Communication Inc. (Cossette) is a communications and marketing agency in Canada. Cossette provides various communications and marketing services and is headquartered in Quebec City with additional offices in Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Halifax. Cossette’s original parent company in 2010 was Vision7, which was acquired by BlueFocus in 2014. Cossette’s current parent company is Plus Company, “a spin-off of Vision7 and other agencies from its former parent company” according to Josh Kolm of Strategy.
History
The Early Days
The founder of Cossette, Claude Cossette, started his first graphic design agency out of Québec City in 1962. With business partner Jacques Dupuis, Claude Cossette created the advertising agency “Cossette & Dupuis” in 1969 which was later sold to Maclaren. After the sale of “Cossette & Dupuis,” Claude Cossette joined Laval University to teach but returned to the marketing field in 1972 with the creation of Cossette Communications. After the establishment of Cossette Communications, Claude Cossette returned to teach at Laval University, and Cossette Communications was purchased by Claude Lessard and Francois Duffar. In 2009, Cossette Communications rebranded as Cossette, Inc.
Client History and Expansion
The growth and expansion of Cossette started in the 1970s with the underwear brand Daisy Fresh. Iris Gagnon Paradise of Voir Magazine calls Daisy Fresh “one of the first big contracts that Cossette obtained” until Cossette acquired the account, Daisy Fresh “had its advertisements done in New York.”
In 1977, Cossette acquired two other large company projects; a French-Canadian McDonald’s advertising account, and a partnership with the Quebec Health Insurance Board (“a Régie de l'assurance maladie” or RAMQ). Cossette’s graphic artist in the 1970s, Louis Larivière, designed the sunset card (nicknamed “carte-soleil” or “sun card”) that was used by RAMQ until 2018. According to Peter Tardif of CBC News, Cossette’s “carte-soleil” design “has been a part of every Quebecer’s identity (literally) for some 40 years.”
After working with Daisy Fresh, McDonald’s, and RAMQ in the 1970s, Cossette continued acquiring large English-speaking clients throughout the next decade. These clients included a Bell Canada account in 1984 and a General Motors account (Saab, Isuzu, Saturn) in 1987.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Cossette continued expanding to manage other large English-speaking clients including Nike, Coca-Cola, and McDonald’s Canada. Since the early 2000s, Cossette has continued to acquire large Canadian brands and clients including General Mills (2009), The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) (2015), and the Government of Canada (2019).
Awards and Prizes
Since its creation in 1972, Cossette has won several awards and prizes, with various accolades in the past five years.
In 2017, Cossette won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the McDonald’s campaign titled “Follow the Arches.”
In 2021, Cossette won two Grand Prix awards at the Association des Agences de Communication Créative (A2C) Idéa Awards. The first Grand Prix was in “Business Results and Strategy” for the “Long Live Little Brats” campaign with Montreal Children’s Hospital, and the second Grand Prix was in the “Craft” category for an Amnesty International campaign titled “Écrire, ça libère” (“Write For Your Rights”).”
Cossette also won the 2021 Design Agency of the Year from the Art & Design Club of Canada (ADCC). ADCC awarded Cossette “Golds” in the Design category for campaigns with Keilhauer and Relief, as well as separate ADCC recognition for their work with Alloprof, SickKids, and Montreal Children’s Hospital.
In 2022, Cossette won two Clio Awards. Cossette won a Silver Clio Award in the “Film Craft (Music - Adapted)” category for their SickKids Foundation campaign “VS - Be a Light,” and a Bronze Clio Award in the “Film Craft (Music - Adapted)” category for their Nabs campaign “This Job Can Break You.”
Cossette also won a prize at the 2022 IPA Effectiveness Awards, receiving a special jury prize in the “Best Demonstration of Purpose (Not-For-Profit)” category for their work on “VS.” for SickKids. This earned Cossette a Gold award in the “non-profit” category.
Cossette has won various yearly awards from The Marketing Awards, most recently including three Golds for the McDonald’s “Grand Openings” (2022) campaign, one Gold for “SickKids Moms VS: Hard Days” (2022), and two Silvers, one Bronze, and a Merit for “SickKids VS The Unknown: Be A Light” (2022), among others.
Cossette Today
In 2022, Cossette is headquartered in Québec and led by Melanie Dunn, Chief Executive Officer. Melanie Dunn is also the President of Plus Company Canada, Cossette’s parent company.
Cossette’s most recent campaigns in 2022 include “House of Legends” with the SickKids Foundation and “Two Little Brats for Life” with The Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation (The Children’s). Josh Neufeldt of Little Black Book describes “House of Legends” as “the final occasion on which SickKids will be publicly raising money for the new building,” with the campaign “ as a bookend to ‘VS: Undeniable.’”
The Children’s “Two Little Brats for Life” is a short film, deemed “a sequel to the “Long Live Little Brats” fundraising campaign from 2020” by David Brown of themessage. “Long Live Little Brats” is part of an “ongoing effort to raise $200 million for innovation in research and pediatric healthcare” for The Children’s, says David Brown of themessage., spreading awareness that “healthy kids can be a handful…and when they’re not getting into trouble, that can be a bad sign.”

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