Bob Froese
Bob Froese is the creative catalyst behind Bob’s Your Uncle and one of Canada’s most influential brand builders. A former fundamentalist Mennonite kid with no TV, radio, or movies in his house growing up, he somehow went on to reshape categories, topple giants, and build some of the most iconic food & beverage brands of the last 25 years. Go figure.
Bob co-founded the agency in 1995, left the “big dumb agency” world behind, and spent the next three decades proving that creativity — when fueled by honesty, insight, and a little mischief — can be a company’s greatest competitive advantage. He helped architect the Health Canada anti-smoking campaign that dropped national smoking rates from over 75% to under 20% — a case study later cited in Philip Kotler’s book on social marketing.
He then went on to launch Mike’s Hard Lemonade across North America, selling the counter-intuitive (and now legendary) creative platform, “Lemons were hurt real bad in the making of this product”, to a skeptical wine magnate… and turning Mike’s into the category leader it is today. He has led transformations for Calvin Klein, Canon, Popeyes, Beef Farmers of Ontario, Greens+, Second Harvest’s world-changing “Been A Slice” beer, and countless F&B challengers.
Bob recently stepped fully into the role he was always destined for: Founder & CCO. Today, he focuses entirely on big ideas, brand strategy, and turning hungry challenger brands into category kings.
He believes in blue-collar weirdness, strategic simplicity, and asking the only question that matters: Who cares?
Also: he’s a proud father of a blended family including a daughter born 34 years after his first. Life has range.
Posts
Who Cares!!?
Ads. News. Social media posts. More ads. Emails. Notifications. Even more ads. Every day, we’re bombarded with a constant cacophony of information. In...
Influencer Marketing Awards — “Best Use of a Small Budget (Gold Winner)”
Bob’s Your Uncle Wins Gold at the Global Influencer Marketing Awards The Ontario Beef Burger Battle began as a province-wide road trip. Then COVID gro...
Popeyes Launches Chicken Nuggets With a Targeted, Social-First Strategy
Popeyes Launches Chicken Nuggets With a Targeted, Social-First Strategy When Popeyes introduced its first chicken nuggets to Canada, it didn’t try to ...
How Popeyes Kept the Buzz Alive for Its Chicken Sandwich
How Popeyes Kept the Buzz Alive for Its Chicken Sandwich The most anticipated chicken sandwich in North America arrived in Canada with a strategy buil...
Gardein: “Start a Healthy Relationship” Goes Mainstream
Gardein: “Start a Healthy Relationship” Goes Mainstream Before plant-based dominated grocery aisles, Gardein and Bob’s Your Uncle were already shaping...
Iceberg Vodka Chooses Bob’s Your Uncle
Iceberg Vodka Chooses Bob’s Your Uncle A Canadian vodka brand with world-class ambition found a Canadian agency with challenger-brand instincts. Icebe...
Platinum Naturals: A New Look for a Premium Wellness Brand
Platinum Naturals: A New Look for a Premium Wellness Brand How do you transform a fragmented supplement shelf into a premium, unified brand experience...
Avril Lavigne Helps Canon Cut Through the Clutter
Avril Lavigne Helps Canon Cut Through the Clutter Before Bob’s Your Uncle became the agency it is today, its early incarnation — The BrainStorm Group ...
Raptors x Popeyes: “3 for Free”
Raptors x Popeyes: “3 for Free” A data insight, a fan truth, and a digital activation that exceeded every expectation. Years before the Toronto Raptor...
Cora Brady Named President of Bob’s Your Uncle
Campaign Canada — “Bob’s Your Uncle names Cora Brady President” URL: https://www.campaigncanada.ca/article/1853739/bobs-uncle-names-cora-brady-preside...
Been A Slice: Brewing Beer From Bread to Fight Food Waste
Been A Slice: Brewing Beer From Bread to Fight Food Waste What if Canada’s most wasted food could become a source of nourishment instead of landfill? ...
“Coal for Ford”: The Holiday Stunt Heard Across Canada
POST 16 — “Coal for Ford”: The Holiday Stunt Heard Across Canada Sometimes the best way to spread holiday cheer… is with a truckload of coal. In 2013...
Bob Froese Named AMA Toronto’s Mentor of the Year
Bob Froese Named AMA Toronto’s Mentor of the Year Mentorship isn’t just about giving advice — it’s about sharpening your own thinking. When Bob Froese...
Olivieri: “As Easy to Make as It Is to Love”
Olivieri: “As Easy to Make as It Is to Love” When a heritage pasta brand needed a modern refresh, Olivieri turned to Bob’s Your Uncle to help reclaim ...
Bob Froese Appointed to Strategy’s Agency of the Year Jury
When the industry evaluates its very best work, it calls on the people shaping it. Bob Froese, Founder & CCO of Bob’s Your Uncle, was selected to join ...
Bosch: “Nothing [Cleans/Broils/Bakes] Like a Bosch”
Bosch: “Nothing [Cleans/Broils/Bakes] Like a Bosch” Bosch already owned the dishwasher. Our job was to help it own the whole kitchen. Bob’s Your Uncl...
Zero dB: “Noise-Cancelling for Your Mind”
Zero dB: “Noise-Cancelling for Your Mind” A calming beverage that isn’t cannabis — but still uses cannabinoids. Zero dB is a pioneer in a new categor...
Rival House: “The Same Ritual. Just Alcohol-Free.”
Rival House: “The Same Ritual. Just Alcohol-Free.” Mindful drinking doesn’t have to feel like a compromise — and Rival House proves it. Rival House l...
Ontario Beef “Ask Your Butcher Anything”
Ontario Beef “Ask Your Butcher Anything” What happens when a butcher becomes your life coach, trivia expert and therapist — all before he sells you a ...
Chicken Farmers of Canada: “Raised by a Canadian Farmer
Chicken Farmers of Canada: “Raised by a Canadian Farmer” Canada’s chicken farmers have one of the strongest reputations in the grocery aisle — but rep...
Second Harvest Rebrand: “No Waste. No Hunger.”
Second Harvest Rebrand: “No Waste. No Hunger.” From GTA charity to national leader – and a brand to match. Second Harvest has grown into Canada’s lar...
Walmart’s “RomCommerce” and the Future of Shoppable Stories
Walmart’s “RomCommerce” and the Future of Shoppable Stories When your holiday rom-com is really a Walmart cart. Walmart’s 23-episode shoppable series...
Osmow’s “Hooked on the Sauce”
Osmow’s “Hooked on the Sauce” When your garlic sauce is so good it becomes the main character. For Osmow’s Shawarma, the most powerful brand asset is...
Cora Brady Appointed CEO of Bob’s Your Uncle
From partner and president to CEO – and a sharper creative focus for the agency. After years of quietly helping Bob’s Your Uncle grow its client roste...
Canadian Brands Beyond the Label
Why “Made in Canada” isn’t a story – it’s a starting point. In the middle of a Leafs–Panthers game, Bob Froese noticed something: every rink board was...
Canadian Redline: Turning Idle RVs into Wildfire Housing
A national housing idea born on the highway between Kenora and Edmonton. As wildfires displace thousands of Canadians, new non-profit Canadian Redline...
Welcoming Sandbagger — A Challenger Beverage Brand Ready to Lead North America
Welcoming Sandbagger — A Challenger Beverage Brand Ready to Lead North America We’re excited to share that Sandbagger Holdings Canada has selected Bob...
Welcome Church's Texas Chicken
Welcoming Church’s Texas Chicken — A Challenger Brand Ready to Rule We’re excited to share that Church’s Texas Chicken has selected Bob’s Your Uncle...
The Loneliness Era - Why Human Brands Win
We’re living through the loneliest moment in human history. Record levels of isolation. Record levels of disconnection. And what are people turning to...
From the Barn to the Ballroom
Last night we traded our jeans for jackets at the Canadian Agri-Marketing Awards — cheering on our client Beef Farmers of Ontario. There’s something sp...
When The Going Gets Bitter...We Get Sweeter
🍁🥞Trade policies can divide nations. Pancakes bring people together.H ere’s a novel approach to a trade dispute: Instead of fighting tariffs, let’s...
When Brands Miss the Mark
When Brands Miss the Mark: A Reflection on Consumer Disconnect We’ve witnessed some startling examples of brands seemingly losing touch with consumer ...
We Can't Call it Bourbon...But You Can
Creativity Trumps Tariffs: 'We Can't Call it Bourbon, But You Can' In the world of international trade agreements, labels matter. Under the United ...
The Power of Three in Creativity: Where Snoop's Campaign Missed the Mark
The Power of Three in Creativity: Where Snoop's Campaign Missed the Mark When it comes to crafting a successful creative campaign, there's a trifecta ...
The Power of Storytelling in Advertising: A Tale of Two Ads
The Power of Storytelling in Advertising: A Tale of Two Ads In the fast-paced world of digital advertising, wheresix-second ads and data metrics reig...
The Not-So-Obvious (but Lasting) Impact COVID Made on Canadian Food Consumption
There’s a reason you’re reading and hearing about COVID 19 at every turn; simply put, it currently affects almost every decision we make, and that incl...
The Lion Sleeps Tonight: A Branding Conundrum with the World's Oldest Unchanged Logo
The Lion Sleeps Tonight: A Branding Conundrum with the World's Oldest Unchanged Logo Well, folks, it's official: convincing clients to update their br...
The Icy Plunge to Brand Clarity: Lessons from Lake Michigan
The Icy Plunge to Brand Clarity: Lessons from Lake Michigan In the world of branding, we often talk about the big, thebold, the innovative. But someti...
The Generation Gap
Some early inspiration to start the year - this ad completely nails the 'big three' things that will make people care about your brand - emotion, relev...
The Butcher's Wisdom
The Butcher's Wisdom In a world where convenience often overshadows quality, I recently had an enlightening encounter with a self-taught butcher that ...
Tariffs Are Coming—So What Are You Going to Do About It?
Tariffs Are Coming—So What Are You Going to Do About It? The proposed 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, set to take effect on February 1, are about to ...
Taco Bell's 'Ambitious Goal...Is to Be a Brand Bully?'
Taco Bell's 'Ambitious Goal...Is to Be a Brand Bully?' Taco Bell, in its quest to "free Taco Tuesday," has successfully pressured the last holdout, Gr...
Snoop Dogg's 'Quitting Smoke' Stunt: A Leap Off the Pedestal of Trust
Snoop Dogg's 'Quitting Smoke' Stunt: A Leap Off the Pedestal of Trust Is it just me, or does Snoop Dogg's recent announcement feel like a practical jo...
Seeking Truth in a World of Manufactured Beliefs
Seeking Truth in a World of Manufactured Beliefs In a world increasingly shaped by the ambiguous nature oftruth, where facts are as malleable as clay ...
Putting Your Brand to the Ultimate Authenticity Test: Talia Pizza's Bold Move
Putting Your Brand to the Ultimate Authenticity Test: Talia Pizza's Bold Move Imagine the audacity of serving a frozen pizza at the premier pizza chef...
Miracles in a Bottle: The Divine Alchemy of Vodkow
Miracles in a Bottle: The Divine Alchemy of VodkowI In the quiet corners of my childhood, where the Mennonite ethos whispered of simplicity and miracl...
James Kang Joins Bob’s Your Uncle as Head of Business Development to Lead Expansion Efforts
James Kang Joins Bob’s Your Uncle as Head of Business Development to Lead Expansion Efforts Kang brings strategic expertise to accelerate agency and c...
Intergenerational Ingenuity: The New Creative Frontier
Intergenerational Ingenuity: The New Creative Frontier Recently, I found myself reflecting on a question posed during a podcast: "Why did you start yo...
"I'd Like to Buy the World a...GenerativeAI Ad"
"I'd Like to Buy the World a...GenerativeAI Ad" Coca-Cola, a brand synonymous with timeless advertising, is once again at the forefront of change. Fro...
Getting Personal in the Kitchen
It’s an age-old truth in marketing that consumers gravitate towards the elements that save them time, money or stress. Combine those needs with new dev...
From Playgrounds to Pixels – A Dad’s Quest for Connection
From Playgrounds to Pixels – A Dad’s Quest for Connection In a world where the ping of notifications often drowns out the sound of laughter, I find my...
From $10 Million to Half a Billion: The Art of Masterful Brand Building with Meiky Tollman
From $10 Million to Half a Billion: The Art of Masterful Brand Building with Meiky Tollman When I connected with Meiky Tollman, the genius behind tran...
Don't Just Show Up in Culture - Shape It!
Don’t just show up in culture. Shape it. Loved this insight by Jen Costello, TBWA’s new Global CSO, and her call for brands to stop mimicking cultu...
Creativity Trumps Tariffs
When tariffs go up, creativity goes on sale. When U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods hit 25%, most brands braced for impact. Bob’s Your Uncle decided to t...
Brand Disconnect: A Lesson from Wendy's and Kellogg's Missteps
Brand Disconnect: A Lesson from Wendy's and Kellogg's Missteps Recent events have spotlighted a growing issue: brands losing touch with consumer reali...
"Be the Show, Not the Commercial": Wisdom from Shawn P. Walchef of Cali BBQ
"Be the Show, Not the Commercial": Wisdom from Shawn P. Walchef of Cali BBQ When I reached out to Shawn P. Walchef, I expected insights into his thriv...
A Tale of Two Bags
The Hermès Birkin vs. Walmart’s “Wirkin” is a tale of two bags—but more importantly, it’s a tale of what truly makes something valuable. The Birkin is...
A Love Letter to Second Harvest: Champions in the Fight Against Food Waste
A Love Letter to Second Harvest: Champions in the Fight Against Food Waste Last night, as I sat in the annual general meeting of Second Harvest, I cou...
A Culture of Caring: Redefining Agency Life
Last week, as I delved into the criteria for the Ad AgeSmall Agency Awards, I was struck by the diversity of accolades—from the best campaign creativit...
Time to Welcome a New Hero!
We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Sandbagger, the ready-to-drink spirit-based beverage that’s poised to shake up the beverage aisle and d...
First-Ever “Tariff Sniffing” Dog deployed to Support Canadian Brands
Highly trained K9 now detecting non-Canadian pet food with 97.3% accuracy. TORONTO, ON — In response to increasing trade tensions and rising consumer c...
