Yesterday DDB Canada bowed what it considers a first for a Canadian marketing communications agency: a unique social media catalyst called Radar DDB, which was developed by the agency’s Vancouver office.

‘With the rise of Web 2.0 and the explosive use of social media,’ explains agency chairman/CEO Frank Palmer, ‘DDB Canada needed to find new, effective and immediate ways to engage consumers and create meaningful relationships between them and our clients’ brands. Representing a new way of speed-to-market thinking and an interdisciplinary approach to marketing, Radar DDB utilizes social media as well as other mediums to generate ‘talk value’ and a measurable return on investment for clients.’

Using traditional and Web 2.0 channels, including social media, Radar DDB will identify targeted on- and off-line mediums in which to insert relevant brand messages to quickly engage consumers and communities through discussion and consumer-generated content.

Yvonne van Dinther, former VP of DDB Canada’s brand integrity group in Vancouver, has been appointed managing director of Radar DDB, and will spearhead the new operation, with senior strategist Steve Wright plus interdisciplinary marketers pulled from across and outside the agency.

‘What DDB Canada is doing with Radar DDB is reinventing our approach to marketing to better reflect the realities of how people are communicating today,’ says van Dinther.