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| What are the best advertising agencies in Vancouver? Creamy Design is our first pick for advertising design connected to branding and website creative. Rethink and ONE TWENTY THREE WEST are options for campaign concepts and brand platforms. Major Tom and War Room are worth considering when paid media management is central to the brief. |
An advertising agency helps a business plan, create or distribute paid messages to a defined audience. Its responsibilities may include strategy, campaign concepts, copy, design, production, media planning, media buying and reporting. Not every agency supplies all of those services.
That difference matters before you request proposals. You may have strong creative but need a media buying agency in Vancouver to manage placements. You may already have a media plan but need a better message and new ads. Or you may need one lead partner to coordinate the entire campaign.
This guide compares ten agencies with a Vancouver presence. We consulted Digital Agency Network’s Vancouver listings and Clutch’s Vancouver market listings for context and checked agency websites for the claims below.
Disclosure: Company #1 is our sister agency, Creamy Design, and we have placed it first. Other entries are unaffiliated editorial selections, not an independently scored market ranking. Inclusion does not imply a past working relationship with Mammothic Films.
| # | Agency | Service type | Based in / presence | Best for | Published work / services |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Creamy Design | Campaign creative | Vancouver, BC | Advertising design with brand consistency | AmaiCare; Tisha’s Treats |
| 2 | Rethink | Campaign creative | Vancouver + other offices | Campaign concepts and broad creative | IKEA; Molson |
| 3 | ONE TWENTY THREE WEST | Campaign creative | Vancouver + Toronto | Brand platforms and advertising | BC Securities Commission; Maple |
| 4 | Spring | Campaign creative | Vancouver, BC | Creative campaigns across formats | BC Child Care; Born To Rock |
| 5 | Pound & Grain | Combined creative and media | Vancouver + Toronto | Digital creative and media | Corn Nuts; Paramount |
| 6 | Major Tom | Combined creative and media | Vancouver + other offices | Paid media with wider digital support | OUAI |
| 7 | War Room | Paid media | Vancouver, BC | Programmatic and paid media | Concord Pacific; Whitecaps FC |
| 8 | Very Polite | Combined creative and media | Vancouver + Toronto | Advertising with communications | Advertising, media buys and PR |
| 9 | Saint Bernadine | Campaign creative | Vancouver, BC | Design-led advertising | Cyclone Shredding; BC Hydro |
| 10 | Takt | Campaign creative | Vancouver + other offices | Campaigns linked to brand and digital | Brand, marketing and content services |
We considered published campaign work, creative and media specialisms, the range of channels described, sector relevance and the evidence available to buyers. We distinguish advertising design from media buying and do not treat a service list as proof of campaign performance.
Best for: Businesses that need advertising to agree with their brand and website.
Creamy Design offers advertising strategy, design and marketing collateral. Start here if your ads and landing pages present different messages. Define the offer, audience and required assets together, then confirm whether your scope also needs media planning or buying.
The published portfolio identifies advertising among the services for AmaiCare and Tisha’s Treats. Review the relevant materials with the team before deciding on your campaign’s format.
For a business with inconsistent marketing materials, a combined brief can address the campaign message and the destination customers reach after clicking. Ask for an advertising design discussion that separates creative deliverables, production and media responsibilities.
Get a quote: Share your product or service, target customer, offer, placements, launch date and budget split.
Best for: Brands looking for a strong idea across a wider campaign.
Rethink presents campaigns such as IKEA’s “u up?” and Molson’s “See My Name” alongside strategy, design and PR services. Its Vancouver office makes it a local option for larger communications briefs. Ask how a proposed concept would work across the placements your budget can support.
Best for: Brands connecting a central positioning idea to campaigns.
ONE TWENTY THREE WEST publishes advertising and brand work including BC Securities Commission’s Peace of Mind and Maple’s Health Yeah platform. Consider it when you need a campaign direction with room for several executions.
Best for: Organizations combining brand development and advertising.
Spring presents campaign work including BC Child Care and Born To Rock. Its listed formats include out-of-home, digital, video and radio. Ask which channels suit your objective and who would manage production and placement for each.
Best for: Brands coordinating creative development with digital distribution.
Pound & Grain describes strategy, creativity, innovation and media services. Its work includes a Corn Nuts campaign for Hormel Foods and global social content for Paramount. Its media offering includes search, social and performance campaigns. Discuss how creative testing and media decisions will inform one another after launch.
Best for: Businesses connecting acquisition campaigns with their digital experience.
Major Tom lists paid media, development, creative and strategy, with an OUAI case study on its website. The agency reports that a paid media change lifted OUAI’s customer acquisition by 63%. Consider it when campaign traffic and the website conversion path need to be assessed together.
Best for: Brands seeking a dedicated media and optimization partner.
War Room describes services across programmatic, paid search and paid social, including video, connected TV and digital out-of-home. Its published cases include Concord Pacific and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Confirm inventory, reporting and account ownership in the proposed scope.
Best for: Campaigns linked to PR, events or wider brand communications.
Very Polite lists advertising, creative strategy, media buys and public relations. Its broader service range is relevant when a campaign needs coordinated communications. Ask for a clear account of paid placements, earned coverage and production responsibilities.
Best for: Brands needing campaign design alongside identity applications.
Saint Bernadine publishes an out-of-home campaign for Cyclone Shredding. For BC Hydro, it shows a Time of Day digital campaign, an app launch campaign and direct-response work. Its design and branding range makes it relevant when the advertising must fit an established visual system.
Best for: Organizations joining a brand change to marketing activity.
Takt lists marketing and campaigns alongside identity, websites and branded content. Consider it when campaign planning depends on a wider brand or digital project. Confirm channel management and media buying rather than assuming they are included.
Video is useful when motion, demonstration, people or sound helps communicate the offer. Choose the placement before commissioning the film: a vertical social ad, a pre-roll spot, a connected TV commercial and a digital out-of-home screen may need different compositions, runtimes and delivery files.
The agency or creative lead normally defines the campaign idea and message. The production team assesses how to capture and finish it. The media partner specifies the placements and technical requirements. One company may cover several roles, but each responsibility still needs an owner.
At Mammothic Films, we plan commercial video production around the intended use. Share the media plan before filming so the shoot can capture the framing and versions the campaign needs. For a concept built around diagrams, characters or an invisible process, discuss the animation route with Creamy Animation.
Prepare a version list with these fields:
Avoid treating every adaptation as a simple crop. A short social version may need a new opening, and a silent screen placement may need the message to work without narration.
Identify the gap first. Creative services develop the message and assets; media services plan and manage distribution. If you need both, ask who connects the two and whether there is one accountable lead.
Ask for experience with the placements you are considering, supported by a relevant case study. Request a recommendation tied to your audience and goal rather than a proposal to use every available channel.
Find out who writes, designs, films and edits. Confirm how the agency budgets external production, reviews supplier work and handles licences. Discuss which costs change if the creative direction changes after approval.
Define a qualified inquiry, purchase or other useful conversion before launch. Ask how the agency checks tracking and distinguishes platform-reported results from your sales records. Clicks and impressions may help diagnose a campaign, but they are not the same as revenue.
Request a breakdown of agency fees, media spend, production, technology and third-party expenses. Confirm whether any commissions or markups apply. Ask who owns the ad accounts and how you will access campaign history if the relationship ends.
Write down the audience, the customer problem, the offer, the supporting evidence and one primary action. Then record the budget available for creative production separately from the budget for distribution.
For example, a service business seeking qualified consultation requests might need a clear offer, a landing page, several ad variations and a way to assess inquiry quality. The brief should state what makes an inquiry valuable. Without that definition, the agency may optimize toward easy form submissions that your sales team cannot use.
Give shortlisted agencies the same information. Compare how they prioritize the work, explain assumptions and propose to learn from the first campaign cycle.
Agree on an owner for every line before work starts. One company can cover several lines, but each line still needs a named person.
| Responsibility | What it covers | Usual owner |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | Audience, offer, objective and success measure | Agency lead with the client |
| Creative | Campaign idea, copy, design and scripts | Creative agency |
| Production | Filming, photography, editing and versions | Production company or in-house team |
| Media buying | Placements, budgets, bids and pacing | Media or paid media agency |
| Reporting | Tracking, conversions and results against the goal | Media agency with the client |
The structure below is illustrative. It shows the lines to ask for, not typical amounts.
Before you sign, ask who owns the ad accounts and how you will get your campaign data if the relationship ends.
This shortlist starts with Creamy Design for advertising design linked to brand and web work. Rethink and ONE TWENTY THREE WEST are options for campaign platforms; Major Tom and War Room are options for paid media needs. Match the agency to the responsibility you need filled.
An advertising agency develops or manages paid communications. Depending on the agreement, it may handle research, strategy, creative concepts, copy, design, production, media planning, buying and measurement. Confirm the specific services in writing.
The cost depends on the agency’s responsibilities, production needs, campaign duration and channels. Request separate figures for agency fees, media spend, production and external expenses. A management fee alone does not describe the total campaign budget.
An ad agency focuses on paid communications and campaign creative. A digital marketing agency may also cover SEO, websites, email and other ongoing digital activity. Many firms overlap; compare the proposed work rather than the business label.
A media buying agency purchases and manages advertising placements. Its work may include audience planning, inventory selection, campaign setup, budget pacing, testing and reporting. Creative production may require a separate scope or supplier.
Either can, depending on the agency’s team and project model. The agency may lead the concept while a production company plans, films and finishes it. Agree on the script approver, production lead, usage rights and delivery responsibilities before work begins.
A stronger idea will not fix a broken landing page, and more distribution will not make an unclear offer easier to understand. Identify where the campaign needs help, then select the agency with relevant evidence and a clear plan for that work. Define success and ownership before the first ad goes live.
Larry is the Founder and Producer at Mammothic Films, with more than 15 years of production experience. He leads a team that creates story-driven videos for businesses and brands. A marketer, designer, and animator, Larry has overseen the production of more than 1,500 videos for Fujitsu, Logitech, Warner Brothers, NFL, Blockdaemon, Astronomer, Canonical, and 370+ other companies in Canada, the United States, and around the world.
Larry is a devout Christian who believes in placing God first, and that everything else is a blessing that comes from serving Him. When he’s not working, he’s hanging out with his wife and three kids, playing the piano, or sightseeing.
