What Substance does

Substance is an independent, full-service creative and media agency headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 2012 by Guillaume Brunet. The agency integrates brand strategy, content creation, social media management, performance media planning and buying, influencer marketing, and community management into a single 360° offering, supported by proprietary methodologies including GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) for LLM-era brand visibility, the Influence Mix Optimization Framework, and an annual Substance Lab thought leadership conference. It operates as part of Groupe 219, a strategic alliance formed in 2024 with Toronto-based Church+State, and acquired DDMG Communications in September 2025 to expand its integrated communications capabilities.

Substance serves mid-market and enterprise B2B brands in Canada, with particular depth in Quebec. Its client roster includes Metro, Saputo, DoorDash, GardaWorld, Tremblant, Jean Coutu, RE/MAX, Rona, National Bank of Canada, SICO, and the Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal, with multiple Agency of Record relationships lasting five or more years. The agency employs approximately 60 talents across Substance and its sibling agency Radiance (both under the Collectif numérique umbrella), holds Premier Google Partner status, and has been certified as a Best Workplace in Canada by Great Place to Work for four consecutive years.

The business operates as a professional services agency, earning revenue primarily through monthly retainers and project-based mandates. Public pricing for social media management ranges from $3,500 to $12,000 per month; longer engagements include multi-year AOR contracts (e.g., Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal 4-year mandate). Go-to-market is consultative and relationship-driven, combining direct outreach, competitive RFPs, referrals, and the Church+State alliance for national coverage. Substance generates thought leadership through its blog, Substance Lab conference, and active presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Name

Substance

Legal name

Substance

Website

https://agencesubstance.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Substance is a Montreal-based independent creative and media agency founded in 2012, offering integrated 360° marketing, GEO/LLM optimization, and content services to mid-market and enterprise B2B brands across Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marketing Agency Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Media Buying Agencies (541830)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

B2B Demand Generation & Lead Nurture Agencies (BPAFAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Product & Brand PR (Consumer & B2B) (BPAFADAH)

Keywords

• Integrated marketing services
• Brand strategy consulting
• Performance media planning
• Social media management
• Content creation services

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Integrated Marketing Agency Services: Substance generates revenue through professional services including brand strategy, content creation, social media management, performance media planning and buying, influencer marketing, community management, and campaign execution. Mandates range from project-based work to full-year Agency of Record retainers (e.g., SICO since 2019, Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal 4-year mandate). Revenue is earned through service fees rather than media commissions or product sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Substance is an independent, full-service marketing agency that delivers an integrated formula combining brand strategy, content creation, social media management, performance media planning and buying, influencer marketing, and community management for mid-market and enterprise B2B brands. The agency operates on Agency of Record retainers, project mandates, and multi-year contracts, serving clients such as Metro, Saputo, SICO, DoorDash, GardaWorld, Rona, RE/MAX, Jean Coutu, National Bank of Canada, and Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal. It has developed a proprietary GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) methodology to help brands appear in LLM responses (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini).

Product overview

Substance is a full-service independent marketing agency headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, operating as part of Groupe 219. Founded in 2012, the agency offers an integrated formula combining creation, content, and media performance. The core agency product encompasses strategic consulting and 360 campaign execution, supported by specialized modules including Content Strategy & Creation, Media Performance, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), Community Management, Influencer Marketing, Performance Analytics & Reporting, and CRM & Customer Journey Strategy. Substance serves major Quebec and Canadian brands including Metro, Jean Coutu, Saputo, SICO, DoorDash, and GardaWorld. The agency also acquired DDMG Communications in 2024 to expand its integrated communication offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Substance Integrated Marketing Agency Services (Agency of Record) Full-service integrated marketing agency offering combining brand strategy, content creation, social media management, performance media, influencer marketing, community management, and analytics into a single agile offer. Delivered as multi-year Agency of Record mandates, annual retainers, or project-based engagements for mid-market and enterprise B2B brands in Canada. Client roster includes Metro, Saputo, SICO, DoorDash, GardaWorld, Rona, RE/MAX, Jean Coutu, National Bank of Canada, Tremblant, and Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal.
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Specialized service helping brands appear in LLM responses (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini). Includes LLM Presence Audits (50-200 prompts testing citation rates, factual accuracy, mention tone), entity mapping for generative search, content restructuring for AI citation, and ChatGPT advertising readiness pilots. Audited 30+ Quebec SME accounts between January 2024 and March 2025. Offered as part of agency retainers or standalone consulting mandates.
• Influencer Marketing Program
• Community Management Digital dialogue and community engagement services including moderation, response, conversation animation, and real-time monitoring on platforms such as eClincher, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), and Sprout Social.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30% Facebook traffic increase from social; 0.16% engagement rate (vs 0.06% target) for SICO campaign; 2.79% Instagram engagement rate (vs 1% target); 3.2% Pinterest engagement rate
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DDMG CommunicationscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 September 2025Substance acquired DDMG Communications to strengthen its integrated communications offering, expanding capabilities in communication strategy and execution for clients.
• Church+StatecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Strategic partnership and mutual investment between Substance and Church+State (Toronto). The two agencies combined create a national offering spanning Quebec and English-speaking Canada. Guillaume Brunet: 'On a fait le pari qu'investir et faire de la place aux ambitions et aux projets des ressources passionnées nous mènerait plus loin.' Both agencies invested in each other.
• Great Place to WorkminorOthers · 11 May 2022Substance (as part of Collectif numérique) is certified by Great Place to Work Canada, holding the certification for four consecutive years and ranked in Top 50 Best Workplaces in Canada.
• RadiancecoreOthers · 1 January 2021Radiance is a sibling agency under the same ownership (Collectif numérique) as Substance. Both agencies share resources, culture (Great Place to Work certification), and talent. Guillaume Brunet is founder and president of both. The Collectif numérique grouping also includes Hoffman.
• Griffintown Gym (Private Fitness Partner)minorOthers · 1 January 2021Substance/Radiance maintains an on-site gym and a partnership with a private gym in Griffintown for employee fitness activities, supporting the Great Place to Work culture and employee well-being.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Lg2: Montreal-based independent creative and advertising agency. Directly comparable as a Quebec-rooted full-service independent agency serving similar enterprise B2B clients with integrated creation, content, and media capabilities.
• Taxi: Canadian independent creative agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal. Highly comparable on geography, independent ownership, and integrated brand + digital service offering for mid-market and enterprise clients.
• No Fixed Address: Toronto-based independent creative and media agency. Comparable as a mid-sized Canadian independent offering integrated brand, content, and performance media services to enterprise clients.
• Church+State: Toronto-based independent creative agency and Substance's strategic alliance partner under Groupe 219. Directly comparable on geography, independent ownership, and enterprise client mix; operates Substance's English-Canadian extension.
• Rethink: Canadian independent creative and digital agency with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Comparable as a mid-sized independent offering integrated creative, content, and media services to enterprise B2B and consumer brands.

Broad incumbents

• Ogilvy Canada: Canadian operations of WPP-owned Ogilvy. Competes for enterprise creative and integrated marketing mandates in the Canadian market with a much larger global resource pool and media capabilities.
• Publicis Canada: Canadian operations of the Publicis Groupe. Competes for the same enterprise client RFPs (Metro, Saputo, National Bank) as Substance but operates at significantly greater scale across media, creative, and digital services.
• Cossette: One of Canada's largest marketing and communications agencies, headquartered in Quebec City. Comparable as the dominant Quebec-headquartered full-service agency; Guillaume Brunet is a Cossette alumnus. Operates as a broad incumbent with media, creative, and digital capabilities at much greater scale.
• Sid Lee: Montreal-founded independent creative agency now part of the Hakuhodo network. Comparable as a Quebec-rooted creative agency serving enterprise B2B and B2C brands with integrated brand experience and digital capabilities.
• Dentsu Creative Canada: Canadian arm of the global Dentsu Creative network. Comparable in serving enterprise clients with full-service creative and digital capabilities, but at much greater scale and with holding-company infrastructure that Substance lacks.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/agencesubstance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/agencesubstance
• Instagraminstagram.com/agencesubstance

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Substance