Just after its official opening in April, Rethink Toronto got a call from Masterfile that led to a meeting, an invitation to an agency review and a newly signed contract, making the stock photography company Rethink Toronto's first major client.

Based in Toronto but with only 10% of its business coming from Canada, Masterfile is looking for a global campaign to grab market share from the sector-dominating competitors Corbis and Getty Images.

Over the past decade, Masterfile has worked with different agencies on individual projects, said Geoff Cannon, executive vice-president.

"But this is the first time we've engaged someone on this type of scale," he said. "We determined we needed some additional resources to put into a global marketing strategy."

Rethink will launch a trade campaign in the fall promoting a new and updated suite of tools at the company's website.

Pema Hegan, partner and managing director at Rethink Toronto, said the next 18 months will be "really big" for his new client.

"The main audience is art directors and designers, which is exciting because it allows us to communicate with people who are basically like us," Hegan said.

"There are opportunities in talking to these people around helping them do their work–inspiring them–and making their lives easy, which is something a lot of the tools Masterfile offers achieves. [The strategy] is going to be a combination of inspiration and tools to make their jobs easier."

Hegan said because the target audience is so niche and well-defined, much of the marketing in this sector has historically been direct mail. While not discounting that option, Hegan wants to create elements that will get shared virally, most likely through digital channels.

"It feels very different when a co-workers shares something with you than when a direct mail piece turns up in your letter box."

Rethink was shortlisted against Taxi in the review.