This year marks Sims Advertising’s 30th anniversary, and it’s cause for celebration. Since its inception in 1991, Sims has encompassed what it means to be a family-owned and operated business. On the first of November, Sims is celebrating 30 years of seamless execution and strategy founded on integrity, innovation and a passion for home improvement marketing.
The Start of Sims
In their early years, brothers Gary and Randy Sims studied Fine Arts at university and worked in advertising for their father who was an architect for Halliday Homes in the ‘50s and a founder of Wentworth Beaver Lumber. At the time, they were hand-drawing flyers and traditional marketing pieces for the six-store chain. When Beaver Lumber bought out Wentworth, Gary and Randy decided to branch off and start their own company with a focus on their niche – home building and improvement.
In the early ‘90s, Sims Advertising set up shop in a small office in a century-old house in downtown Hamilton with just enough room for a stat camera, four workstations, and the first colour printer in the region. Sims used this state-of-the-art printer to secure one of their first few clients, but that’s another story (meet us for a coffee, and we may tell you the tale).
The brothers’ first client was Lansing Buildall, a large nine-chain store serving all of metro Toronto. Their second client, Homecare Building Centres, now known as TIMBER MART, is still to this day the marketing agency’s largest client with over 500 stores nationwide. For nearly 30 years, Sims Advertising has helped plan, design, build and print the national flyer program and recently expanded to support the traditional and digital marketing needs of independent TIMBER MART Dealers across Canada.
In 2007, after growing up ‘at the office’, Ryan Sims joined the team, inspired by his father, Gary, to follow in his footsteps. As a child, Ryan spent hours watching Gary hand-draw products for flyers and create layouts on a drafting table in their basement. Alongside helping his grandfather on house job-sites, a natural interest in advertising, tools and lumber ensued. Therefore, carrying on the family legacy was a no-brainer for Ryan, who is committed to the same level of service, integrity and trust that clients have come to know and expect from Sims Advertising.
Achievements and Milestones
For almost 20 years, Sims Advertising produced Enersmart magazine for Union Gas, designed entirely in-house and distributed to over 1 million Ontario homes twice a year. Another notable achievement is Maytag’s May is Maytag Month campaign, developed by the Sims creative team 15 years ago and is still going strong today. However, the boys agree that their greatest achievement is making it to 30 years and creating long-standing friendships and partnerships along the way.
Gary and Randy have built a family legacy that has seen the evolution of traditional print advertising and the rise of the digital realms. Over the years, Sims Advertising has adapted to the times with advances in technology, from paste-up boards and film houses in a ‘90s print-only world to websites and social media-first focus in the 21st Century. The shift from predominantly print to digital has seen the Sims team and business grow together to drive success and consistently go above and beyond to deliver results.
Over the past ten years, Sims has enjoyed working with big and small brands on digital marketing initiatives such as website builds that integrate with inventory and product management solutions, complex digital marketing programs that create an omnichannel presence from web to social, and creating B2B media libraries where manufacturers can share content with their retail clients. Sims’ unique ability to see the bigger picture when dealing with any marketing or branding problem has helped create great success across all channels for them and their clients. Read about our client stories on our blog.
Nowadays at Sims Advertising
Sims’ “make it happen” attitude and team of over 25 marketing and design experts make the agency stand out from the crowd. Hundreds of happy clients would agree that Sims Advertising lives up to their open-door policy that fosters long-lasting relationships. They pride themselves on building true partnerships with clients, and their loyalty to staff and clients is unparalleled. Many clients have worked with Sims for over ten years. Others, nearly the whole 30.
Beyond the day-to-day work, Sims Advertising has also partnered with several charitable organizations. Their most significant contribution has been with Children’s Aid Society (CAS), collaborating with the charity to create the Homes 4 Kids Program that recruits foster homes in Hamilton. Sims Advertising also designed and developed the CAS Grape Expectations Gala, which has raised more than $1 million to date, providing educational opportunities for children in CAS care. Sims also works with St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas, Ontario, offering ongoing support for their marketing initiatives and helping to raise money for Margret’s Place Hospice – a newly built residence on the property. Sims has been part of the board of directors for several years now.
Since day one, Sims Advertising has offered innovative, creative and strategic solutions for their clients. Thirty years strong, and the marketing agency continues to deliver. The future of Sims Advertising is a bright one, as they continue to serve their clients in the digital and social media world as well as they did with print in the ‘90s.
Let’s talk marketing. Contact the team at Sims Advertising today to arrange a Zoom call.
