Mega Brands COO Vic Bertrand grew up in the toy industry, where he developed an appreciation for creative play and a keen understanding of how a company can mature along with its customers. So last year, when it came time to rebrand the company his parents started in 1967 - which, thanks to expansion and acquisition, was now selling craft supplies, puzzles and stationery as well as its signature Mega Bloks construction toys - Bertrand jumped in with both feet and a strong vision.

The result is the innovative, multi-platform Creativity to the Rescue concept, a view of the glorious possibilities of unleashed artistic expression that is communicated to parents, teachers and children via a brightly coloured storybook starring a character called Creativity. There are also websites (kidsgetit.com and megabloks.com) with animations, games, videos, jokes, and more.

It's all part of a marketing trend that relies less on the hard sell and more on a subtler, long-view approach - in this case, the idea of sparking creativity in kids and giving them tools to express themselves throughout their lives.

"We're talking about play media that nurture creativity at every step, from a child's first grasp of Mega Bloks through school supplies and even into creative tools for adults," says Bertrand, 38. "And it's really fun to have this string of creativity through the whole portfolio."

In a sense, the concept is a logical progression for the Montreal-based family business that has employed Bertrand and his brother Marc, Mega's president/CEO, for 20 years (their father, Victor Sr., is still chairman of the board).

"When we were growing up, we thought toys were called samples," recalls Bertrand with a laugh. "It was a real family affair, so there was a lot of blurriness between home and work and fun, and that's really integral to our

family dynamic."

The company has since grown to employ 6,000 in 13 offices around the world, with sales of more than $550 million in 100 countries last year. With the acquisition of New Jersey's Rose Art Industries, which makes pencil crayons and craft supplies, the idea of rebranding the company as the home of creativity took hold, and Mega Bloks became Mega Brands, with four core brands: Mega Bloks and Magnetix building toys, Rose Art and Board Dudes school supplies.

"For us, Creativity to the Rescue is not a campaign," says Bertrand. "We see it as the accelerant to a new corporate culture that embraces our whole creative product portfolio."

For the Creativity campaign, Mega turned to New York agency StrawberryFrog, headed by ex-pat Canadian Scott Goodson, to help execute the strategy.

"We were looking to find a message that would strike a nerve, and build a culture around it," says Bertrand. "Way back when, we had three characters: a toddler, a preschooler and an older child. That's always been our concept, growing with the family, and that's where the brilliance of StrawberryFrog came in. They took the character and ran with it."