Interactive
Dose.ca re-launched with edgier images and content, latest entertainment news
Small wonder CanWest MediaWorks has ratcheted up the oomph of Dose.ca, given that online visitors have climbed since its print sibling folded a few months ago – reaching a peak of 220,000 unique visitors in July, according to Comscore MediaMetrix. Obviously, the strategy of shifting the focus of its youth-oriented Dose brand to the online and mobile arena is paying off.
Included in the do-over are a new look and feel for Dose.ca‘s homepage and better navigation, along with an edgy entertainment spin and greater focus on celebrities through image-driven content and exclusive interviews. New interactive features include a media player, easy-to-access RSS feeds and news powered by canada.com plus CanWest daily metro newspapers from across the country.
Visa Perks expanded big-time in second go-round
So pleased was Visa Canada with the results of last year’s Visa Perks experiment that it aggressively expanded the initiative for its second foray, says Toronto-based senior product manager Sylvie Briz – who declined to disclose details on the initial ROI.
For a six-week push ending September 30, Visa’s profile-boosting campaign has evolved from Toronto-only m-couponing with local retailers and support from local radio, plus online contests last year to the national rollout of a raft of integrated features. These include: public transit domination; radio tags and promotions in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and bilingually in Montreal; customer statement inserts; a VST media pilot at 115 Esso and five Canadian Tire gas bars in the Toronto area with 15-second, text-based animated spots above the self-serve pumps; and in Montreal only, igotcha branded web pads – a portable WiFi device in coffee bars, gyms and restaurants that offers up to 15 minutes interaction with viewers when initiated.
Ford first to leverage CTV Digital
The Ford Motor Company of Canada just became the first advertiser to take advantage of CTV Digital, the recently launched multiplatform distribution strategy that combines the reach of conventional TV advertising with an innovative targeted digital media campaign. In addition to advertising across Canada on CTV conventional stations, the auto company has secured significant exposure for its 2007 Ford Edge on broadband via the CTV Broadband Network (www.ctv.ca) and on mobile, via the CTV Mobile Video News Service, currently available on Bell Mobility cell phones.
On CTV Broadband, a 15-second video ad and related banner for the vehicle can be seen on the news channel, which features hourly news wraps from CTV Newsnet as well as additional segments from CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson, plus W-FIVE and Canada AM. On Bell Mobility, an integrated custom Ford Edge video ad is also running in the opening sequence for CTV News updates on CTV Mobile Video News Service. Media edge is handling the campaign, which will run through September.
Showcase to air Rescue Me webisode tonight
Just in time for Denis Leary’s return as a monumentally troubled firefighter in the third season premiere of Rescue Me, Showcase has snagged exclusive-in-Canada rights to a 14-minute webisode dubbed ‘Heroes.’ Given MiC‘s strictly no-spoilers policy, all it’s fair to say is that the storyline is set the night before the heroic guys of New York City’s Truck Company 62 are set to accept an award for bravery – only to find themselves battling their own greatest fears.
Alliance Atlantis commissions multiplatform push for Jet Li’s Fearless
When action flick Jet Li’s Fearless premieres on September 22, it will do so amid a multiplatform initiative prompted by Alliance Atlantis’ growing enthusiasm for pre-release web pushes. Says promotions and advertising director for AA and Odeon Films Jennifer Otter, ‘This is an evolution of our overall strategy to build up our online presence into a more integral part of our overall media mix, most notably for wide release movies with a core audience of males 18-34. When we released (Jet Li-starrer) Unleashed in 2005, we did a relatively small Internet buy, mainly on the websites of top-ranking, male-skewing radio stations. With the more recent release of Silent Hill, our goal was to be much more aggressive and innovative online. We bought in-game posters on the Massive Network, super-banners on MSN and videogame site IGN.com, as well as on WWE.com, among others.’
Working.com expanding into U.S., beefing up ad opps
Canada’s online job search and recruitment website, CanWest-owned working.com, is extending its locally focused services into American cities. This venture will produce a single point of access to over 100,000 job postings daily from more than 200 leading newspapers, magazines and related media sites across North America.
Current major advertisers on the site represent a wide range of industries with strong presence by the retail and health care sectors. Working.com is now a more attractive venue for virtually any industry seeking to recruit staff on either side of the border or to be seen by those who do.
AltFinds: Mykaussie.com
MiC routinely explores beyond the main menu, sussing out alternative media options and finding niches where the fragmented masses are re-congregating. Enter Mykaussie.com, which includes Mykwebworld and MykwebTV – arguably the first-ever sports Internet TV show. The site may have been flying below the mainstream radar for several years, but it’s been no secret to football lovers around the world, or almost anyone who’s ever Googled NFL, football or cheerleaders.
Clocking about 2,000 visitors a day from a male-skewed audience primarily logging on from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia, the site is the creation of Calgary-based ‘Myk Aussie’ (real name, Andrew Harrison), a transplanted bloke from Down Under who bills himself as the sports-comedy-media guy. Consequently, Mykwebworld is the ultimate fan site – chock-a-block with sports, news, columns and hours of three-to five-minute TV shows covering NFL, CFL and Aussie football, plus lots and lots of cheerleader interviews. There’s also some coverage of golf, snowboarding and skiing.
Advertisers have the option of buying regular online ads or spots built into three-to-five-minute Internet TV shows. To date, the site has been used successfully by a flock of online retailers of sports tickets and other companies targeting jocks. These include Pure Romo Nutrition, an energy-enhancing product from former NFL star linebacker Bill Romanowski, Sportsinteraction.com, Vividseats.com, tickco.com, buyselltix.com, gotickets.com, and a dating site for affluent singles called Millionairematch.com.
The former mechanical engineer and manager of a large Vancouver IT company, who immigrated to Canada in 1998, considers his site to be primarily an online TV station that serves advertisers well. ‘A sports bar in Calgary, for example, recently advertised in my Gaelic and Aussie Rules Football MykwebTV show. We included a tour of the bar and interviews with the barmaids, so the viewer was obliged to watch the commercial as they were watching the show,’ he explains. ‘There’s no zapping with MykwebTV and we have full-screen, amazing quality on both PCs and TVs.’
Students get to sound off
Videotaping themselves dishing on everything from back-to-school blues to sizzling summer vacations, or texting in whatever’s top of mind, could win students prizes thanks to the ‘Hilroy Rant and Rave Contest.’ Concocted by MuchMusic, MusiquePlus and Genesis Media, the exclusive co-branded, multi-platform initiative is open to back-to-schoolers across Canada.
Video and text messages may be submitted until midnight ET Sunday, September 3rd. Entries can be viewed online and voting will decide who wins the grand prize – a trip for three to any concert in North America, along with having the winning video featured in a 30-second on-air spot on MuchMusic and MusiquePlus.
Rising young media star
This is the fifth installment of our ‘Rising Young Media Stars’ series, in which we profile the next gen media minds. Media pundits have been adamant that to succeed in the new mediaverse, agencies require new ways of thinking. Curious as to who these new thinkers are, and what they’re thinking, strategy and Media in Canada canvassed the industry, asking media shops to single out their top innovative and strategic recruits – one of whom this continuing series will profile in each issue over the coming weeks. And we’re scouting for more of the same – so tell us about the hot talent in your shop.
Jamie Tomlinson
Strategist, senior investment, MediaVest, Toronto
Claim to fame: Content creation and the third screen co-piloting of a number of multi-platform projects (both in-show and long-format) in English and French for such clients as Kraft Canada. These include Qu’est-ce qui mijote, a Kraft Canada-produced cooking program on TQS, and an in-show segment in Deux Filles le Matin on TVA.
Canada’s first media player for BlackBerrys launched
Dubbing it, what else, ‘bbTV,’ CanWest MediaWorks launched Canada’s first media player for BlackBerrys last week, complete with free giveaways, a lowball $5 per month subscription and free wireless installation, thanks to a strategic alliance with Rogers Wireless and Sportsnet.
Onscreen will be high-quality synchronized audio and video files of CanWest content including breaking and daily news from Global News, Global National, Global Morning and the Financial Post, plus daily sports info and commentary from Rogers Sportsnet.
Behind the scenes, a solid marketing plan is underway, according to Arturo Duran, president of interactive and business Integration for CanWest, who says that the initiative ‘provides advertisers with a new advertising platform to reach niche audiences in a more targeted way.’ All content downloads on bbTV will begin and end with five-second advertising promos and Duran says response from the advertising community has been keen, with General Motors, Royal Bank of Canada, Tylenol and Labatt signing on as bbTV’s first advertising partners.
The multi-platform promotional plan for bbTV, which will be pursued by both CanWest and Rogers, is aimed at target consumers, the news media, third-party content providers and potential advertisers. First up is driving awareness and penetration among BlackBerry users through a dedicated website position as part of the canada.com network – a family of leading online classified sites including working.com, driving.ca, remembering.ca, celebrating.com and connecting.com.
Advertising will continue until year end through various third-party sites, the canada.com online network and Rogers Media sites along with ads in daily national newspapers during the fall. Email marketing campaigns targeting Rogers and CanWest customers will also run through December. Next up will be the rollout of a marketing campaign for bbTV’s search engine.
JupiterResearch again names 24/7 top search engine marketer
For the second year in a row, JupiterResearch has named 24/7 Real Media the top paid search marketing provider. Its 2006 Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Agency Constellation report rated the New York City-based global digital marketing company highest in terms of overall business value and market suitability among the 15 search-specific and full-service firms profiled.
A recent JupiterResearch report predicted that search advertising spending will grow 24% to $6.5 billion, or 41% of total online spending in 2006, in the U.S. and increase to 43% of online spending in 2011. To capitalize on this trend, 24/7 Real Media recently released Decide DNA 6, the latest version of its SEM platform.
Yahoo.ca’s home page redesign gives advertisers exclusivity
So confident is Yahoo.ca that advertisers will embrace its newly redesigned home page that it more than doubled its ad sales force in anticipation of last week’s launch. The company’s investment will likely pay off if other advertisers are as enthusiastic about the extensive makeover as Best Buy Canada’s Vancouver-based online marketing manager Jeff Veldhuizen. ‘I like the new version of Yahoo’s home page at least 100% better than what was offered before, particularly because it gives the advertiser exclusivity on the page,’ he says. ‘This new approach will lend itself very well to us, especially when we want to do a branding campaign versus direct response. We definitely plan to use (this venue) more in the future than we’ve done in the past.’
HarperCollins launches online book sampling
HarperCollins has snagged bragging rights as the first publisher to actually pull off what’s been promised for many a moon – the online sampling of books. Thanks to last week’s launch of HC’s ‘Browse Inside’ program, readers can now do just that.
No plans are yet in the works to include ads with the free program. But the publisher has been experimenting with embedding ads on book sites. The first such initiative rolled out in February on behalf of Go It Alone! The Secret to Building a Successful Business on Your Own by Bruce Judson. With Google and Yahoo doing the indexing, the entire text of the business tome was put online with ads appearing on each of more than 200 web pages.
Plans are underway to roll out the program on a larger scale, extending the application to all books globally over the next year. As the program expands, consumers will be able to browse page views directly from author sites, HC’s newsletters and booksellers’ retail websites. In another first, HarperCollins has launched a Digital Media Café that will provide rich audio and video content, free and paid, for sampling, streaming and download to portable digital players.
Rising young media star
This is the second installment of our ‘Rising Young Media Stars’ series, in which we profile the next gen media minds. Media pundits have been adamant that to succeed in the new mediaverse, agencies require new ways of thinking. 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 – one of whom this continuing series will profile in each issue over the coming weeks. And we’re scouting for more of the same – so tell us about the dazzlers in your shop so we can shine a spotlight on them.
Kevin Hung,
SMG IP manager, Starcom Worldwide, Toronto
Claim to fame: Kevin recently made his mark with two campaigns. One was the worldwide launch of the Visa Olympic Game themed around Torino 2006. Canada was number one globally with consumer participation, more than 61% higher than any other country. Canada also had the highest number of games played and highest amount of time spent with the game. Additionally, his online campaign for LEGO Canada’s Bionicle brand on YTV.com not only generated buzz and upped the cool quotient of the action figures with tweens, sales were up 186% at Toys R Us during the campaign’s run.
Major interactive players attempting to set click standards
Formulating standard click measurement guidelines is the mandate of an industry-wide working group assembled by the New York-based Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Media Rating Council (MRC). On board so far are Ask.com, Google, LookSmart, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo!
The idea is to come up with a detailed definition of what constitutes a valid online click, and also to outline an industry-driven auditing and certification recommendation for search engines, ad networks, third-party ad servers and any other company that counts clicks as part of its performance-based marketing.
A full copy of IAB’s previous metric rules, Global Measurement Ad Impression Guidelines, can be found at www.iab.net/standards/measurement.asp.
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- 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
