RAVEN5 has a unique history ultimately dating back to the late 1920’s. Our founder, Michael Bickerton’s grandfather Joseph Bickerton founded Bickerton Multigraphing in Toronto on Sheppard Street.

1920 - 1955

Bickerton Multigraphing Co.

Multigraph Printing

Toronto, ON

The original building in Toronto is currently the heart of the First Canadian Place in Toronto (between Adelaide and King Street), it was a much different time.

The beginnings of a company in those days was a gutsy endeavour, that time period was referred to as the Hungry Thirties, not exactly the best time to set up shop. During those years, in order to survive, companies had to deliver a superior product, at the right price, on time and provide only the best of service. That was our philosophy then and it still is today.

Clients: Canada Life Insurance, Royal Bank of Canada, Maclean Hunter Ltd, Maple Leaf Foods, Sears Canada, Redpath Sugar

1955 - 1990

Bickerton Litho Ltd.

Lithographic Printing

Toronto, ON

Times change, but some things remain the same, time is money and in today’s digital instant generation this seems to remain ever constant.

While the multigraphing business changed into lithographic printing, the company continued to evolve. Combining award winning designers with flawless printing, the company entered the world of creative and design. It’s hard to imagine that the first 4 colour printing was done 1 x 1 or 2 x 2, meaning 1 colour at a time, imagine the craftsmanship required to ensure everything lined up, and notable ensuring the correct colour was displayed on the final production. Bickerton Litho Ltd was the first to enter the world of web lithographic printing in Toronto, and also offered sheetfed lithographic printing, web lithographic printing, letter press printing and later added typesetting.

Clients: MacLaren Advertising, Leo Burnett, Canada Life Insurance, Royal Lepage, Royal Insurance, Reynolds & Reynolds, American Express, Bayer International

1990 - 2005

James, Bickerton & Moore Ltd. (JBM Ltd.)

Commercial Print - Sheetfed & Web

Mississauga, ON

In the early 90’s, the company delved into the world of business forms, envelope jet printing and into heat set web printing along with warehousing and fulfilment. Bickerton Litho Ltd. transitioned to James Bickerton & Moore Ltd., referred to as JBM Ltd.

It was the same full service approach our team entered into when engaging with the digital transformation of advertising. JBM Ltd. provided creative, artwork, type, film, print and bindery services. Storage and fulfilment were provided for a variety of clients, as well as the first offering of digital printing on Xerox Digital printers expanding into Digital presses like the iGen4 with full perfect book capabilities.

Clients: Credit Union Central of Canada, Livent Inc, Arbonne International, Canadian Royal Ballet, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Norton Rose, Gowlings, McCarthy Tetrault

2005 - 2009

JBM Interactive Ltd.

Digital Marketing Agency

Oakville, ON

In its earliest digital transformation, James Bickerton & Moore Ltd. came to be known as JBM Interactive Ltd. Our team provided full service digital marketing services such as Email Marketing, Google Analytics, Google Adwords, Social Media Marketing, Paid Search and Website design and development.

Our team moved onto ecommerce and lead generation, while developing solutions that would assist our clients’ shift into the new digital medium. While offering a full service approach we assisted our clients as they discovered a new means of finding business through digital marketing. At the time, JBM Interactive ranked at the top of Google search as we developed key techniques to build organic ranking.

We had developed an email capture platform that over time evolved through several iterations as we continued to add new features. Namely one of the main features included dynamic population of forms or personalized URLs (PURLs) that pre-populated entry forms with existing user data to speed up and encourage completion. Our team was already ensuring as we developed our platform that our lead capture processes adhered strictly to local laws (as they came into effect) in North America and Europe.

Our development team continued to build and perfect our standard platform, adding social sharing through API connections to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ (now defunct), and Pinterest. Adding survey and coupon components completed an all-in-one digital marketing process.

Clients: Staples, Credit Union Central of Canada, BERNINA Canada, Square One, All-Connect, Royal Canadian Golf Association, McCarthy Tetrault, Metals for Industry, Dasco, Ogilvy Renault, Summer Fresh

2009 - PRESENT

RAVEN5 Ltd.

Sweepstakes & Contest Marketing Agency

Oakville, ON | Tampa, FL

We discovered soon after certain hires were made at JBM that our spirit animal was in fact the raven. Knowing that and ensuring we were hitting the mark of 5 seconds to either entertain or disdain viewers, we decided to make that more than just our motto, and so RAVEN5 was hatched.

The team at JBM Interactive had come a long way already through developments of various web technologies and processes. But we made the bold decision to put all of our eggs in one basket and focus the main part of our business entirely on sweepstakes, contests and promotions. We discovered that this niche filled a gap in the advertising and marketing industry. Many agencies and brands were attempting to tackle this themselves internally or hire several vendors externally.

We focus on providing all of the requirements for creating and executing a contest or sweepstakes within one agency, ours. We can cover everything or just fill in the blanks no matter where you are in the process. Our services include but are not limited to legal, creative, development and fulfillment. We have run campaigns for brands and agencies of all sizes, including some fortune 100 companies and we know that one size does not fit all. So whether it’s a straight forward “enter to win” build or something a lot more custom, we can help.

Through custom development our team has discovered that there are a few key types of campaigns that we receive inquiries for quite frequently. In an effort to standardize some of these regular processes for us, we’ve fully documented the campaigns that we’d previously executed including their inner workings and have included them for download via our Loyalty Whitepaper Series here.

Clients: 7 Communications, A&C, AdhocWorks, Aim Beverages, Alice and Smith, All-Connect, ASAPP Financial Technology Inc., Barilla Pasta, Bearing Marketing, Beaver Tail Toys, BERNINA Canada, Blackstone Publishing, Bluewater Cheer Athletics, Canadian Medical Directory, Caradoc Delaware Mutual, Chartway Federal Credit Union, Children's Camps International, Cipher Interactive, CMI Insights, Crunch Research, Dasco, Eddie Bauer, Edery & Lord Communications, Egar Tool and Die Ltd., Emissary Insights, Finning Canada, Galbraith Literary Publishers Inc., Goetz Schmitt, Grand Brands, Greystone Golf Club, HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise), Isobar Canada, IWantGlobal, Jacuzzi Ontario, James Lawyers, Jove Wellness, Juniper Park\TBWA Communications, KOHLER Canada, LEDVANCE, Living Wall Concepts, Lucidia, Make-A-Wish Canada, McKillop Mutual Insurance Company, MD Marine Insurance, MFI (Metals for Industry), Mundy Sales Incentives, NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line), OPG (Ontario Power Generation), OwnersBox, Peel Mutual Insurance, Power Automedia, Quorum Software, R.M. Williams, Ranch Rider Spirits, Reaper Productions, RedDigital, Reebok Canada, Ripple, Safety Express, Salt XC, Save Glen Abbey, Sea Foam International, Shed Creative Agency, Shred-It Canada, Signify (Philips) Canada, Spark, Spear Marketing Group, Tampico Beverages, Ten K Creative, The Little Potato Company, The Marketing Department, Trident8 Ltd., Tropical Plant Concepts, United Airlines, Upper Oakville Shopping Centre, Vetoquinol USA, Wellington Carpet & Tile, XA, The Experiential Agency, ZENO Group