About Brandish
What is Brandish?
Brandish is a Canadian creative agency at 272 Main St., Winnipeg, MB, R3C 1A9 — "a creative agency helping brands in their pursuit of relevance." Founded in 2016 by Lee Waltham (Co-founder & Managing Partner), the agency has expanded its partner team over time to include Justine Dechaine, Alexandra Martin, and added Jon Manning as Creative Director. Cleo Curtis was named Communicator of the Year, and Brandish was Named a 2024 Canadian Public Relations Society Agency Team of the Year. The agency joined Strategy's Indie List in 2024.
Brandish has expanded geographically by welcoming RED The Agency under its banner ("Brandish Goes West") and is active in the Manitoba Studio Fund initiative supporting the creative industry. Featured campaign work includes the Winnipeg Sea Bears (basketball brand identity), Robertson College (career-focused campaign), Birchwood Automotive Group (consumer concerns), Sport Manitoba, Form Medical Aesthetics, Take on the Trades (workforce upgrades), Low Life Barrel House, International Confederation of Midwives (safer births advocacy), and recent partnerships with Habitat for Humanity Canada, Alberta Association of Optometrists ('Eyes Need Care Too'), Alberta Innovates (Inventures global innovation conference), and Southern Chiefs Economic Development (AOR).
Where will I work?
Brandish is remote-first with offices in Winnipeg (HQ at 272 Main St.) and Toronto. Following the RED The Agency addition the team has expanded westward. Applications go to [email protected].
What is the Brandish team like?
As reported in Strategy Online (linked from Brandish's own /news index), the 30-person agency moved to a permanent four-day workweek in response to mid-pandemic burnout, inspired in part by HubSpot's "global week of rest." Lee Waltham has been candid about the experience: "It was a quick decision… and looking back, maybe we could have thought about it more." But the outcome has been definitive — "the four-day workweek… and the culture we have at Brandish is the reason people stay here."
Brandish has also hosted its own LinkedIn industry event "The Four Day Formula: Navigating a Shorter Work Week" and is featured in the AdWeek piece on agencies converting to a 4-day workweek.
Work-Life Balance
Brandish marked six months of a permanent four-day workweek in spring 2022, having started the test in summer 2021 with Fridays off, then making it official that fall. Employees work eight hours a day Monday to Thursday, with Friday off — clients are notified that no one is working that day. Outcomes Brandish has reported via Strategy Online: a +15% increase in volume of work processed (no missed deadlines), 39% year-over-year decrease in sick days (252 → 156 days), reduced weekly meeting time by 20-25 hours through meeting optimizations, a +60-point surge in Brandish's Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), and 96% of the team reporting improvements in work/life balance.
Perks and Benefits
From Brandish's sidebar copy and Strategy Online's 2024-03-22 piece (linked from Brandish's own /news):
- Permanent 4-day workweek since fall 2021; permanent and proven by spring 2022 — 8 hours/day Monday to Thursday with Fridays off
- Unlimited vacation (minimum 14 days; existing DB sidebar verbatim) + Christmas break
- Annual bonuses for everyone (Strategy Online)
- Reduced meeting culture — 20-25 hours/week of meeting time saved via meeting optimizations to enable focused work