Founded by head of productions and operations director Lauren Brown, managing director Kaitlin Doherty, and president and chief creative officer Matthew Litzinger, Toronto-based ad agency The Local Collective believes in the impactful power in creative that stays, well, local. This creed has emerged from the trio’s backgrounds as leaders in big ad agencies. “[While] those experiences were incredible [and introduced us to] a lot of smart people we’ve been able to work alongside, a side effect of working inside multinational [agencies] is the job eventually pulls you further and further away from the work,” they say. “We got into this crazy business because of the work, and we wanted to put our skillsets back into the solutions, campaigns, design and craft of what we fell in love with at the start of our careers.” And the best way to make sure the craft remains elevated and the work remains relevant is to keep things small. Inspired by the surprises they discover in fine art, street art and cinema, The Local Collective always seeks to contribute to ongoing cultural conversations in its work. “At our core, we believe in the strength of local,” the trio says, “the power of approaching things from the perspective of ‘looking up’ versus ‘looking down.’ We like to say ‘be the graffiti, not the advertising,’ and you can’t think that way unless you stay small.”

thelocalcollective.com