News

Taxi Inc., one of Canada's hottest ad agencies, is revamping its operations in a bid to chase the boom in cellphone and video game advertising.

It's creating a new division, called Taxi Content, aimed at broadening its reach in producing television and movie shows, now done under its Chokolat production house. The agency also wants to grab more of the burgeoning online ad business, said Daniel Rabinowicz, who will head the new unit starting Sept. 1.

The changes come as fast-growing Taxi has faced some setbacks. A U.S. client's business collapsed recently, leaving the agency with millions of dollars of unpaid bills. And its Chokolat business hasn't performed as strongly as it may have wished.

Now it's betting that the reorganization will help strengthen the business and focus it more on emerging media opportunities.

"Content in our business is exploding," said Mr. Rabinowicz, currently president of Taxi's Montreal office.

"It's exploding online in terms of video content on websites. It's exploding on mobile platforms, in gaming, in social networking sites. There are all kinds of new forms of content. ... All these possibilities are exploding and all of them are picking up a bigger piece of the solutions that we need to deliver to our clients."

Taxi's Chokolat was started in 2003 but run separately from the agency - and probably suffered as a result of that, Mr. Rabinowicz added.

Chokolat will come under the agency's new Content division. "We feel it could have done a lot more had it been more integrated with Taxi."

Founded 15 years ago in Montreal, Taxi has enjoyed rapid growth and accolades at home and abroad.

Its client roster ranges from Pfizer (and its sexual dysfunction medication Viagra) to telecommunications giant Telus and retailer Canadian Tire Corp.

Co-founder Paul Lavoie is known by many in the sector for his outspoken disposition. He and Jane Hope based their shop on the idea that projects needed small teams of key decision makers - about the number of people that can fit into a taxi.

But the agency itself is exploding in its numbers, now boasting a staff of about 300, triple what it was just three years ago. That includes 50 people in its New York office, which it opened in late 2004 and where Mr. Lavoie is now based.

With that growth comes the restructuring, an attempt to streamline the operations and benefit from a shifting ad market.

"Our company was built to adapt to change," said Mr. Lavoie, chairman and chief creative officer.

Among the changes, Rob Guenette, 46, who currently heads the Toronto office, will expand his role to become president of Taxi Canada while Mr. Rabinowicz, 56, becomes president of the new Taxi Content.

Mr. Rabinowicz will oversee the Chokolat production house, which industry insiders said has failed to gain a big profile in Canada.

Mr. Rabinowicz, however, countered that a lot of Chokolat's work has been done in the United States and was "under the radar" of Canadian ad people. Its work has included projects for Nike, ESPN and MTV.

Nevertheless, he said Chokolat isn't doing "anywhere near what they could do." Under the new division, it will chase clients on both sides of the border.

Taxi has grappled with other disappointments. Earlier this year, its client Amp'd Mobile filed for bankruptcy protection. The Los Angeles-based cellphone provider owed Taxi more than $3.7-million, according to recent reports.

The Amp'd debacle "was a big hole" for Taxi's New York office, Mr. Rabinowicz acknowledged. But he said the ad agency has since replaced it with new revenue.

CORRECTION

Amp'd owes the Taxi ad agency $1.9-million. As well, its Chokolat production house will work closely with Daniel Rabinowicz, who will head its new Taxi Content division. But Chokolat will not come under the Content division. Incorrect information was published Aug. 27.