Canadians Create, Episode 13: Winning a Gold Effie with Rethink and TELUS

​​​​​​​​StartWell, in partnership with Little Black Book (LBB) and the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA), has launched the thirteenth episode of its original podcast series, ‘Canadians Create’. Designed to bring to life the ICA’s ‘Brands Need More Canada’ manifesto, the series focuses on highlighting conversations with agencies and marketers, showcasing best-in-class examples of Canadian creative work in the process.

This week’s edition marks the final of three special episodes, released in partnership with Effie Canada. Intended to showcase the competition’s 2025 Gold winners, here viewers can learn more about TELUS’ 'High Stakes' platform (Gold in Local Market Success), created in partnership with Rethink. A critical component in the indie’s placement as Effie Canada Agency of the Year, diving into the nature of this campaign became the perfect endeavour for podcast producer and host, Qasim Virjee.

Featuring Rethink executive creative director and partner Leia Rogers, head of strategy Elyse Sanders, as well as TELUS’ director of marketing communications, Rob Daintree, the episode explores the nuances of this agency-brand relationship, and what it takes to market home solutions in a way which truly resonates. Centred around the pair’s quest to celebrate the telco’s PureFibre offering whilst simultaneously taking the fight to cable internet, the interview probes into why – when many brands would traditionally lean into emphasising ‘technical superiority’ in the claims-based advertising space – demonstrating what ‘superiority’ means in human terms was a winning strategy.

To learn more about the campaign, and how it helped deliver 8% sales growth during its running period, watch below.