About Us
We’ve Been Hard at PLAY for More Than 25 Years.
What is it about PLAY Advertising that makes us different?
For almost 30 years, we’ve brought strategy, creative, content, advertising, digital marketing and web together under one roof.
Strategy First. Always.
The strategy should determine the tactics—not the other way around.
We don’t start with:
We start with a more important question: What are you trying to accomplish?
Then we look at the audience, opportunity, competition, message, customer journey and available resources before determining which marketing tools make sense.
One Agency. More Ways to PLAY.
Marketing has become increasingly fragmented. Strategy over here. Creative somewhere else. Media with another company. Social with someone else. SEO with a specialist. Website with a developer. PLAY brings those disciplines together.
Creative Has to Do Something.
Looking good isn’t enough.
We love good creative. But creative should:
That’s why strategy and creative are connected at PLAY.
Built for What’s Next.
Marketing never stands still. Neither do we.
Platforms change. Technology changes. Customer behaviour changes. Search changes.
Today, that means understanding not only traditional advertising, digital marketing and SEO, but also how AI is changing the way people discover, research and evaluate businesses. We believe businesses should build digital knowledge—not simply produce more content.
That thinking has led PLAY to develop approaches including Question Chain Mapping and AI Knowledge Hubs to help organizations structure their expertise for both traditional search and emerging AI discovery.
PLAY creates trends. We don’t follow them.
Big Enough to Do It. Small Enough to Care.
We work with growing businesses and established organizations across a wide range of industries. Some need an entire marketing strategy. Some need a campaign. Some need a new brand or website. Others need an experienced marketing partner who can work alongside their internal team.
The answer isn’t always more marketing. It’s the right marketing.
Where We Work
Burlington-Based. Hamilton Focused. Southern Ontario Connected.
PLAY is based in Burlington and works extensively with businesses and organizations in Hamilton, Ancaster/Dundas, Oakville, Milton and throughout Southern Ontario. We understand the markets around us, but our thinking isn’t limited by geography.
Whether you’re trying to reach customers around the corner or across the country, the process starts in the same place:
Understand the objective. Understand the audience. Then build the marketing around both.
How We PLAY.
01
— LISTEN
Understand the business, objectives, audience and challenge.
02
— THINK
Identify the opportunity and develop the strategy.
03
— CREATE
Turn the strategy into ideas, messages, content and experiences.
04
— ACTIVATE
Put the right mix of channels to work.
05
— MEASURE
Understand what happened and what we can learn from it.
06
— EVOLVE
Improve, adapt and keep moving forward.
Strategy Creative Execution Measurement Improvement
Meet the Visionary
Shaun Waterman
President
With more than 25 years of experience in advertising, branding and marketing, Shaun brings strategic insight and creative thinking to every client relationship.
As President of PLAY Advertising, Shaun works closely with businesses to understand their challenges, uncover opportunities and develop marketing solutions that make a meaningful difference.
From brand development and advertising campaigns to digital strategy and content creation, his approach combines established marketing principles with an understanding of how audiences and technology continue to evolve.
Good marketing starts with understanding the business. Great marketing makes people take notice.
Let’s Make Something Happen.
More than 25 years of experience. One integrated team. And a lot of ways to help your business get noticed.
Tell us what you’re trying to accomplish.