This is the tenth installment of our ‘Rising Young Media Stars’ series, in which we profile the next gen media minds. Curious as to who these new thinkers were, and what they were thinking, strategy and Media in Canada canvassed the industry, asking media shops to single out their top innovative and strategic recruits. And we’re scouting for more of the same – so tell us about the hot talent in your shop.
Sarah Armstrong, media planner/buyer
Genesis Media, Toronto
Background: At Genesis for a year, after taking the advertising course at Toronto’s Sheridan College. Formerly managed a small family business in Oakville, Ont.
Claim to fame: Bringing creativity and value to big and small clients alike. To help Indigo Books target the teen market for the first time, Armstrong aligned the brand with Habbohotel. This entailed an Indigo-branded section of the virtual online hotspot and an Indigo contest. Another recent example is a radio campaign to help StarChoice recruit staff for offices in Canada. It targeted by time and mind-set with radio tags scheduled when people were on their way home from work. She worked with the client and station to write the script, positioning StarChoice as a place where people actually enjoy their work day. It was so successful that StarChoice had to ask the agency to stop running the ads.
‘For Town Shoes,’ she says, ‘we created a unique brand experience at the opening of Izakaya, a restaurant and lounge in Toronto by putting shoes on display and serving a liqueur imported from Japan in martinis. The vibe at the club lent itself to a cool brand experience and really elevated Town Shoes. Also, we partnered with the online social site martiniboys.com (nightclub and restaurant reviews and listings for Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal) with an online component where you could invite people to the event and enter a contest to see the shoes. It became so viral that some of us at Genesis actually started receiving invites to our own party.’
What common industry belief would you love to whack? ‘That everything that is impactful has to cost a lot of money. Innovation and the right media set for the client can make $100,000 feel like a million. The narrower the media buy, the bigger the media dollars feel.’
