Terry Poulton
Round two of Toronto Star‘s ‘Ask why’ campaign set for multimedia domination
If you thought the ‘Ask why’ ads were ubiquitous when they broke last fall, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. While Lowe Roche refreshes the zingy proposition, Genesis Media will take a roadblock approach, along with behavioural targeting, to plaster the results pretty much everywhere potential readers might be lurking.
Want to reach movie buffs? Forget posting on YouTube – try Zip.tv
After mailing customers a whopping six million DVDs, thus becoming Canada’s busiest online video service in just three years, Zip.ca is about to launch Zip.tv. The goal is to not only bypass Canada Post by enabling downloads of movies and TV shows, but also to offer free hosting of user-generated video content.
CRTC ups ad minutes, levels playing field for Télé-Québec
Although technically the Montreal-based station is conventional, Quebec media buyers consider Télé-Québec a specialty channel in terms of programming and reach. So they weren’t too excited when TQ got the green light to add four ad minutes per hour. Still, says one strategist, opps have increased for marketers interested in aligning with high-end niche programming.
Segal poised to put Hollywood characters to work for Canadian marketers
No need to trek to Lalaland to ink a deal to leverage the popular appeal of a diverse roster of movie and TV characters on behalf of a brand. Now there’s a go-to agency in Toronto.
SMS plus IVR spawns mobile horror campaign
To create buzz for the premiere of horror flick Black Christmas, Impact Mobile leveraged the latest IVR techniques and launched one of the best planned viral campaigns to date.
Fox winds down The OC
By late February, the steamy teen shenanigans of The OC will be strictly a thing of the past.
Ad community supports NABS with hilarious calendar
Humour definitely begins at home when your home base is an ad agency replete with geniuses at tickling funny bones. So when some of the industry’s funniest pros decided to produce a calendar as their annual contribution to NABS, they came up with a doozy that recreates posters from recent movies.
Alliance Atlantis taking its enviable assets to market
Alliance Atlantis’ statement this morning that it is ‘exploring strategic initiatives’ added up to a terse 144 words. But it was enough to lob a bombshell into the Canadian media and business landscapes.
Mega Brands jet-propels kid creativity and activism with new website and viral campaign
Mega Brands taps into the hot-button issue of couch potato kids by aligning the brand with independent thought, creativity and kid power – tapping the social and viral media scene to establish a use-your-mind social strategy for the Lego contender.
CanWest newspapers now downloadable in 12 more languages, audible in seven
Responding to Canada’s multicultural reality big time, Canwest has launched electronic versions of all 11 of its chain’s newspapers in a dozen languages as well as English. And not only can subscribers read stories in their preferred language – plus see the day’s ads – some can also hear the news read aloud in their native tongue.
Dentsu goes 100% viral with Christmas rant for WaySpa.com
Bouncing off the insight that hordes of men feel horribly pressured at this time of year to come up with desirable gifts for significant others, a Dentsu Canada team crafted a series of hilarious, Rick Mercer-calibre rants and posted them on YouTube plus a slew of other sites.
Microsoft launches new software with online entrepreneur contest
Who hasn’t fantasized about getting a one-on-one with Bill Gates, telling him all about a beyond-brilliant business idea – and then having him whip out his chequebook and offer a fortune for a piece of the action? That’s the thinking behind the launch plan of Accounting Express, which blends reality show competition with social media accessibility to encourage product download and sampling.
Air Transat flies kids – and press –
northward to search for Santa
It may be more blessed to give than to receive, but there’s nothing wrong with accomplishing both, as Air Transat is doing by inviting not only children but also reporters to board an Airbus tomorrow afternoon and head to the North Pole.
MiC‘s international K.I.S.S. pick:
Remington stages holiday viral contest
To celebrate the season and promote its new titanium shaver, the grooming-products biggie has launched a contest that invites consumers to take a shot at creating an extreme makeover for, would you believe, Santa Claus.
MiC’s K.I.S.S. Pick: PETA creates sleuth campaign
Once again, People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals has lived up to its reputation for concocting effective guerilla campaigns on a shoestring. This time out, they’re placing looking-for-love ads in the personals column of a free website. Sample: ‘Attractive, fun-loving brunette seeks long-term relationship’ – with the brunette actually being a pit bull.
- Some GroupM Canada senior executives have left the agency
- Is GroupM being dismantled? Reports point to rebrand and restructuring
- Havas Media Canada makes three senior leadership appointments
- Media leaders concerned ad spend not going to Canadian media
- Upfronts 2025: Fox announces significant investment in sports
