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Xactly Design & Advertising acquires Ottawa’s TrueCourse Communications

January 20, 2025

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Xactly Design & Advertising has acquired veteran Ottawa marketing executive Veronica Farmer’s TrueCourse Communications in a marriage of two well-established local agencies. Terms of the deal, which was finalized in late December, were not disclosed. Farmer founded TrueCourse in 2007. Over the years, she expanded the agency while also taking on fractional marketing and operations roles for organizations such as Fidus Systems, Invest Ottawa and the Kanata North Business Association, where she served as executive director for 15 months in 2018 and 2019. Farmer continued to run her own business after being named vice-president of marketing at Terry Matthews-backed investment firm Wesley Clover International nearly two years ago. But she told OBJ she felt it was time to focus on her new role and turn TrueCourse over to fresh leadership. Farmer talked to a number of local agencies about a potential deal last year but said she felt a special affinity with Xactly founder and CEO Denis Sabourin. “Denis and I had several conversations and realized we had the same approach,” she explained. “We thought about things the same way. It just felt like a natural evolution.” A graduate of Queen’s University who earned an MBA from the University of Ottawa, Farmer has been a fixture in Ottawa marketing for three decades. She said an industry already known for “laser-thin margins” has become even more volatile over the past few years as economic and political uncertainty made some clients reluctant to sign long-term deals and emerging technology such as AI has prompted others to question the need for professional marketing services. “It’s not for the faint of heart,” she said, adding her customers will be well-served by Xactly. “It’s almost as if I’ve found a home for TrueCourse,” Farmer said. “(Sabourin) is going to take very good care of the clients that we currently have.” Founded in 2002, Xactly is one of the capital’s leading marketing and branding agencies. Its clients include Canadian Bank Note, trailblazing tech firm MindBridge Analytics and energy management giant Schneider Electric. Sabourin echoed Farmer’s comments about the changing nature of the business. While his firm had as many as 30 people on its payroll just over a year ago, Xactly trimmed its head count early in 2024 as new contract wins dried up amid rising interest rates and growing economic headwinds. “It seems like when (rates) went up, people got scared,” Sabourin explained. “Not a lot of nos – just not a lot of yeses. Last year, it was very much, ‘Oh, we just need a little bit more time.’ People were still a little scarred from COVID and a little worried to sign long-term contracts in case something were to happen again.” But Sabourin says things started to turn around after the Bank of Canada began cutting interest rates. “August hit and we just started getting contracts,” he said. “You never know, but so far it’s looking like (2025) is going to be a great year.” Now at about two dozen employees, Xactly will gain several more in the TrueCourse deal. Sabourin said he’s working on acquiring two other local agencies in a bid to capitalize on a resurgent market. He says the post-COVID sales downturn ended up being a blessing in disguise because it forced him to take a long, hard look at the way his company was doing business – with the result being a leaner, more efficient operation. “When things started changing, it made me kind of roll up my sleeves and have to get in the trenches again,” Sabourin said. “We’re stronger, I think, than ever now because of that.”