Awards gala honours 2025 Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends inductees
AMA Toronto event celebrates the power of small acts to create big change
TORONTO, May 9, 2025 – Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends welcomed five new visionaries, enablers, and mentors during a sold-out gala at Arcadian Court in downtown Toronto.
Over 200 industry executives, emerging talents, past Legends, academics and media gathered for the event, one of the biggest of the year for Canadian marketers, to recognize a group whose actions and ideas have sparked radical change, driven business growth, and empowered leadership potential.
This year’s inductees included Michael Adams, co-founder and president, Environics Research Group; Joanna Griffiths, founder and president, Knix; Mark Harrison, founder, MH3 Collective; Serge Rancourt, co-founder, The Grid; and Ted (Theo) Rosnick, former creative director, Vapor Music.
Under the theme of ‘Wings to Waves,’ the evening spoke to “the journey from vision to impact, from those first sparks of ambition to the far-reaching influence of legendary leadership,” Amy Corman, VP of Marketing, Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends told attendees.
2021 Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends inductee Sharifa Khan, president and CEO of Balmoral Multicultural Marketing, also noted that the gala stood as a testament to what makes the country’s marketing community great.
“The Legends program holds a mirror up to our industry and the mosaic of talent it has come to represent. It reflects the influence of diversity in marketing,” she said.
The 2025 gala also marked the first since AMA Toronto took title of Canada’s Marketing, Advertising, PR and Communications Hall of Fame, a similar national award show that emphasized recognizing under-represented audiences. The agreement to integrate the programs, to create one “Hall” for Canada’s marketing heroes, brought 41 new Hall of Fame alumni, representing a diverse kaleidoscope of our industry, into the Legends award program.
“The program will now be permanently honored in our shared history, bringing more voices, more stories and more inspiration to the table,” Olga Pigeon, President of AMA Toronto, said during the event.
This year’s inductees shared their stories of inspiration during a special awards presentation and panel discussion moderated by Stephan Argent, founder and CEO of Listenmore.
A uniquely exceptional country
One of the country’s most prominent thought leaders in research and communications, Adams has both impacted how marketers look at societal trends and helped Canadians better understand themselves.
“There’s more to us and our exceptionalism than was taken for granted in the past,” he said, adding he was humbled knowing that “[those] in advertising and public relations have leveraged [my work] to speak to Canadians in a way that they have not been spoken to before about their unique qualities and identity.”
Adams has also sought to draw on the voices and lived experiences of those that are often overlooked in a country populated by the entire spectrum of the human race.
“We invented multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is a good step, but then it requires empathy to understand. What is it like in Canada to be an Aboriginal person? What is it to be Black in Canada? What is it to be a Muslim? And what is it to be Jewish or Asian?” he added.
Empowering women to be unapologetically free
The founder of one of the fastest growing intimate apparel and activewear brands globally, Griffiths reflected that she set out to challenge a world obsessed with being thin, youthful and rich.
“[I] believe that the most aspirational thing in the world is to like yourself exactly as who you are. To do that, people have to see themselves. They have to feel welcomed, they have to feel included, and they have to feel respected,” she said.
In the process of transforming a taboo topic into a global conversation, she saw first-hand the power each of us has to positively impact the lives of others.
“We all have a voice, and it’s up to us what we want to do with it. When I made that connection, that there was something important I could do with mine, that was the tipping point,” Griffiths said.
The power to make the world a better place
A veteran wavemaker in marketing and sponsorships for major international brands, Harrison told the gala that his life changed in 2020 following the death of George Floyd.
“It made me realize that, despite having a great family, a great business, I was actually afraid to be black. I was afraid to stand up for my people. We had 75 employees at the time, I was the owner of the company, and I was the only black person there,” Harrison recalled.
That moment inspired Harrison to co-found the Black Talent Initiative, an organization aimed at driving positive change.
“I ask all of you to use your brand, use your Legendary powers, and let’s fix this world, because we have the power to do it,” he said.
Empowering others to be their best
Over a career that has included mentoring future marketing executives and redefining how agencies operate and thrive, Rancourt says he has learned that success is never a solo thing.
“I’ve been very lucky, and my luck has been to work alongside amazing, bright and kind people, and the most passionate people in the business. That’s what has made it the way it is today,” Rancourt said.
He emphasized that creative talent can be found throughout all organizations and that it is the responsibility of leaders to help them value themselves and be fearless.
“If you have a hockey team, if you have good players, make sure you create an environment where they can win the Stanley Cup. If you create an environment where people are afraid, you’re going to be paralyzed. So, our job is to hire great talent and create a center around which they can really be their best,” he said.
Staying true to your values
Recently retired after five decades of pushing the boundaries of music and sound for some of Canada’s most iconic brands, Rosnick shared one of the many secrets of his Legendary success.
“It’s not just making music. It’s really listening to your clients. You have to interpret what they want, because most people have their own personal preference in music, and you’ve got to find what’s right for their project, not necessarily for listening in their car,” he said.
When times are tough, he added, it is important to just “control your controllables,” block out the rest and keep doing your best.
“If we progress towards positive change and stay true to our values, we’ll find ourselves ahead, instead of going through a chapter where we look back and feel like we’re falling behind,” Rosnick said.
Inspiring joy in people’s lives
The evening also recognized Michael Forsyth, Marketing Director, Potato Brands at PepsiCo Foods Canada, as the 2025 Marketer on the Rise.
The award spotlights the next generation of marketing trailblazers who are shaping the future of the industry through innovation, community involvement, and bold, brand-driven thinking.
Forsyth is recognized for her award-winning work with food brands such as Lay’s, Ruffles, Doritos and Quaker, as well as her commitment to mentorship, inclusion and supporting female entrepreneurs.
“The role that I play [in] people’s lives, more than ever, can maybe feed a little bit more joy. We should be trying to inspire Canadians to just have a little more joy. So, cheers for that,” Forsyth said.
An on-going calendar of programming
Organized by the Toronto chapter of the American Marketing Association, the Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends gala is part of the year-round Legends series of events, blogs, and podcasts focused on mentorship, knowledge-sharing and inclusion.
This year’s Hall inductees were selected by a jury chaired by David Pullara, a marketing consultant and long-time member of AMA Toronto’s Advisory Council.
AMA Toronto would like to thank Sharifa Khan and presenting sponsor Balmoral Multicultural Marketing, as well as our partners Globe Media Group, Stonehenge Digital Studios, Orchestra Marketing, Mawg Design and Score Promotions for their support in staging this event.
About Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends
Founded in 2004, Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends honours inspiring Canadian leaders who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of excellence in the field of marketing. The award, created to spotlight the stories, people and brands behind Canada’s greatest marketing successes, recognizes a noteworthy body of work and a life-time of achievements and leadership, including contributions that have made our community a better place. Nominations for induction are held annually.
About AMA Toronto
AMA Toronto is a community of volunteer marketers who have been empowering leadership and business growth for nearly 80 years in Canada. The AMA, with more than 30,000 members and 70 chapters across North America, is the largest not-for-profit marketing association in the world serving organizations and individuals who practice, teach and study marketing.
About the author
Michael Thede is a PR manager and senior writer with AMA Toronto. Prior to relocating to Toronto, he lived and worked in Shanghai, where he led international marketing communications for China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). He has also worked with brands such as Education First, Disney and Porsche. Michael has a BA in film studies and philosophy from Western University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in marketing at Schulich School of Business (York University).
About the photographer*
Duo Ma is the director of volunteer onboarding and a photographer for AMA Toronto. Outside of AMA, she works as a Marketing and Trade Show Coordinator at Top Grade Molds. She has a master’s in marketing from Schulich School of Business. Her passion for photography has been a lifelong pursuit, stemming from her early years, and she takes joy in capturing cherished moments through her lens.
* All photos by Duo Ma, except featured image
