Marketing is often associated with campaigns, promotions, and communications. But at its most powerful, marketing does something much bigger: it helps build movements.
That was the ambition behind the creation of ScaleUP Week, an initiative launched in 2024 through a partnership between Mount Royal University (MRU) and McLeod Law. Under the direction of Dr. Simon Raby, MRU’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and McLeod Law LLP worked together to create a platform focused on addressing the core question: how can we help more Canadian companies achieve their aspirations for growth?
From the outset, the goal was not simply to host an event. It was to create an inclusive community for leaders embracing growth and navigating scale. Small to Mid-sized Businesses (SMBs) face a unique challenge: while they are no longer early-stage ventures, they have not yet reached the maturity of large corporations. The brand needed to signal ambition, credibility, and community.
“Too often the conversation in entrepreneurship stops at startups,” says Dr. Raby. “But building enduring companies requires a different mindset. ScaleUP was designed to give leaders the space, community, and practical insights needed to move from early growth into sustained scale.”
MRU’s and McLeod Law’s commitment continues today, with McLeod renewing their commitment as a Platinum Plus partner; the “plus” reflecting a resource commitment that goes beyond sponsorship. The firm’s Business Law group, including Robert Fooks, Rishi Chakraborty, Maria Nathanail and Spencer Chimuck, and the marketing and business development team, including Tammy Rousseau and Maii Ko, actively contribute ideas, build relationships, and share expertise to help strengthen the ScaleUP program.
“From the beginning, we believed the idea behind ScaleUP addressed a real need in the business community,” says Robin Lokhorst, Managing Partner at McLeod Law. “We saw an opportunity to support something that could strengthen the ecosystem and help ambitious companies take the next step in their growth.”
As the initiative began taking shape, early collaborators helped translate the concept into a visual and narrative identity that could communicate the ambition behind the movement.
Providing strategic, operational and creative support across the program, McLeod Law’s team played an active role in helping to shape both the brand and the execution of the initiative. As part of this work, Sarah Cubillan developed early visual concepts and brand elements that helped bring the emerging ideas behind ScaleUP to life.
Alongside this early brand development, Emily Robitaille, a graduate of Mount Royal University’s innovation and entrepreneurship program, helped translate the ScaleUP identity into a range of customer facing assets. Emily’s passion for design has since led her to study fashion design in Paris before returning to Calgary to work at Tiller Digital, where she continues to build her career at the intersection of creativity and strategy.
For Emily, design played a powerful role in making the scaleup journey visible. “Scaling can sometimes feel abstract,” she explains. “Design helps make those ideas tangible. When leaders see themselves reflected in the story and identity of a movement, it becomes easier for them to connect with it.”
That momentum continues in 2026, when ScaleUP Week will return the week of June 8, convening leaders from across Canada to share insights and strategies for the next generation of growth companies. Early bird tickets are on sale until May, and readers of BRAND receive an extra 10% off using code ‘BRAND2026’.
Readers interested in exploring the thinking behind the ScaleUP brand — including its visual identity — can scan the QR code accompanying this article.
Because in the end, the lesson from ScaleUP’s journey is clear: when marketing is intentional, design becomes more than communication — it becomes a catalyst for community, culture, and change.
Simon Raby is the Founder and Executive Director of ScaleUP Week, the Founder & Director of Growth Compass, Founder & Academic Director, Growth Catalyst, Professor, Innovation & Entrepreneurship at MRU.
