Toronto, May 14, 2015: Creator. Designer. Entrepreneur. Flag-waver. Mentor. Pioneer. These words just begin to describe Paul Lavoie. Perhaps that’s fitting for a man who has been doing business to the mantra “Doubt the conventional” throughout his more than 30-year advertising career.
Now, Lavoie can add ACA Gold Medal Award winner to that list. The Association of Canadian Advertisers today announced Lavoie as the recipient of the award, first presented in 1941 to recognize individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of marketing communications in Canada.
“Not only has Paul had a great impact on marketing communications in Canada, he has given a lot of himself too,” said Ron Lund, President and CEO of the ACA. “He’s been as passionate about fostering the next generation of marketers as he is about the power of combining the principles of design and advertising.”
“I love this business. It’s been good to me,” said Lavoie, Chief Creative Officer and Chairman at Taxi. “And if this award means that I’ve had a positive impact – then I couldn’t ask for more.”
In 1992, Lavoie founded marketing agency Taxi in Montreal with his partner Jane Hope and has since guided it to be a perennial awards contender with offices in Montreal, Toronto, New York and Vancouver.
Lavoie has been honoured with multiple awards and is the youngest person to be inducted into the Marketing Hall of Legends. In 2008, Marketing Magazine named him as one of the 10 most influential pioneers in Canadian marketing over the past century. He is the co-founder of Leadership Nouveau, an annual conference on the management of arts and culture held in New York City, is the only Canadian to have served as president of the Art Directors Club of New York and a past member of the Museum of Modern Art’s marketing board.
Lavoie has been instrumental in advancing Canada’s advertising community on the global stage. In 1994, after observing that Canada was poorly represented at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, he co-created “Canada Cannes,” a campaign to lobby for change and inspire Canadian creatives to participate. In 2009, Lavoie became the first Canadian jury president at Cannes.
Lavoie will receive the Gold Medal Award at this year’s Marketing Awards Gala, June 4 at the Carlu in Toronto.
About the ACA Gold Medal Award
The ACA Gold Medal Award is:
- Open to all individuals in activities that have an impact on marketing communications in Canada (client marketers, agencies, media, researchers, academics, associations, etc.)
- Awarded for a single achievement, or for accomplishments over time
- Awarded to a candidate whose contribution represents a measurable, distinctive advancement in the practice of marketing communications in Canada
Since its inception, the ACA Gold Medal Award has been presented to a distinguished list of industry leaders and visionaries. View the full list of past honorees.