Events
Nov. 14
Word Up! Conference
Toronto
Word Up!, Canada’s Word of Mouth Marketing Conference, will feature North American industry leaders from such companies as Matchstick, Edelman, Yahoo! Canada, and Ice.com and focus on getting the most out of MOW marketing in both online and offline efforts.
Carat: A handful of keepers in the fall TV grab bag
Carat Canada has picked its favourites from the roster of new U.S. shows on the fall TV sked – and it’s a very short list. Caroline Gianias, SVP and GM of Carat Toronto, has earmarked only six shows as winners: Shark (Global), The Nine (CTV), Traveler (mid-season launch on CTV), Justice, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (CTV) and Smith (CTV).
This seems about right, considering that just 10 of the 31 U.S. shows picked up by Canadian broadcasters last season are returning for a second go-round. Gianias says Canadian networks are at the mercy of the likes and dislikes of the American viewing public. Once again this year, broadcasters will continue to manipulate their schedules as they respond to the changes in the U.S., in an attempt to maintain as much simulcast programming as possible.
Rising young media star
This is the seventh 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. And we’re scouting for more of the same – so tell us about the hot talent in your shop.
Andrew Braunston
communication planner, Carat Canada
Claim to fame: Recently part of the Carat team on the Adidas account and the brand’s World Cup activities, which involved a TV campaign and assisting Adidas in various projects outside of that medium.
Background: Before moving to Canada about two years ago, Andy worked on an advertising project for the British government. He’d always wanted to be in advertising and decided that media was the area in which he could thrive. Carat is his first job on the agency side. ‘I think I’m fairly imaginative and creative, yet I don’t have the artistic background. I took economics at school.’
Talk to MiC
Hey, Media in Canada readers. We’re repeating our open invitation for you to show off and sound off in two new ongoing features. ‘The New Plan’ showcases the savviest media campaigns extant, ones that exemplify the way forward in the new mediaverse. ‘What’s on your mind?’ is for quick and pithy rants and raves. Got it? OK, ball’s in your court. Email our staff writer, Terry Poulton (tpoulton@brunico.com) or phone her (416.408.2300 x252).
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.’
Motorola links small screen to big screen for TIFF
Motorola’s sponsorship of the Toronto International Film Festival began last year when the Toronto-based mobile brand tapped TIFF’s Talent Lab to showcase the possibilities of the tiny screen by providing young filmmakers with its video capture mobile handset. The Lab gives emerging Canadian filmmakers input from folks like Terry Gilliam while they make a short. The maker of the short that was voted best by the mentors did a courtesy message sponsored by Motorola that screened before each TIFF feature. Students also produced ‘MotoFilms Self Portraits’ and six of the films created last year are being screened at the festival this year in Motorola’s Mobile Shorts. Colleen McClure, director of marketing at Motorola, says TIFF is a great sponsorship platform as film buffs are often interested in making their own movies.
New this year is Speaking for Reel, a contest judged by Motorola, which focuses on 60-second films on topics of importance to student filmmakers and supports Motorola’s philanthropic Raise Your Voice program. The winner – Ryerson School of Image Arts student Andrew Cividino – is now Motorola’s official filmmaker to the festival and gets to capture events behind the scenes (also strolling away with $5,000 towards his next project). Visitors to www.shopmotorola.ca during the festival (Sept. 7-16) will be able to view Cividino’s ‘Festival Mobile Moments.’
Leading up to TIFF, Motorola also has a blog exploring the art and science of mobile filmmaking, and is helming a contest at www.motorola.ca/motoreel/festival for a chance to win a Motorola Moto Q multimedia video capture phone. The company will also be teaming up with Bell using street teams to give movie fans a hands-on experience with Moto Q, conveniently targeting TIFF-goers as the city breaks out in endless theatre lineups. ‘It’s a good time to showcase video and mobile and our devices are suited to [TIFF],’ says McClure. ‘The technology is improving, the category is growing – and TIFF has been very flexible in letting us create our own plan.’
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.
New online gizmo helps women and advertisers look good
What’s being touted as the world’s first personal digital stylist has been launched by the Toronto-based portal publisher Soko Company. The free, initially for-women-only Stylegist.com allows users to choose and coordinate attractive outfits. They first create a personal virtual model by inputting a full-body image of themselves, then choose one generic item of clothing from the site’s 36,000 garments – after which the online gizmo produces numerous possible combinations and displays them on the user’s virtual model. The choices can then be saved for future use and shared with other Stylegist users.
On the advertising sales side, the company has built in a number of forward-looking ad solutions. Targeted text ads can appear when a particular garment is on screen, or advertisers can incorporate their products into the content. On top of this, banner inventory and sponsorships are available.
BBM Media Snapshot: Want to go whale watching?
* 1.8 million Canadians (7%) go whale watching regularly or occasionally.
* 41% of whale watchers are between the ages of 45 and 64.
* The average personal annual income of whale watchers is $44,800, higher than the national average of $38,500.
* When compared with the national average, whale watchers are 1.7 times more likely to read nature and ecology magazines, and almost 1.5 times more likely to read travel, tourism and outdoor recreation editions.
* The top three media for yesterday-exposure for whale watchers are TV (89%), radio (83%) and the Internet (61%).
Source: BBM RTS Canada Spring ’06, individuals 12+
The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 60,000 Canadians conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information, contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada: cdorning@bbm.ca.
TVtropolis to complement oldies with new series
Five new, Canadian-produced series – all focusing on television itself and aimed at a target audience of adults 25-54, primarily female – will premiere on TVtropolis this season, complementing encore shows Friends, Mad About You and The Wonder Years for the CanWest-owned net formerly known as Prime, which relaunched in June.
First up on September 18th for a week-day run of 65 episodes, at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m. ET/PT, with repeats on Saturdays at 11:30 p.m., is the half-hour game show Inside the Box. Host Sam Kalileh will question contestants about television trivia. Premiering the same day is Ad Persuasion (26 x 30 minutes, Mondays at 12, 7 and 11:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT) – which takes a closer look at the world’s most inventive, seductive and bizarre TV commercials.
FANatical follows on September 19th (26 x 30 minutes, Tuesdays at 12, 7 and 11:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 7 p.m. ET/PT). The series shines a spotlight on the world’s most obsessive TV fans and the series they love. Premiering September 20th,
TVtropolis’ returning celeb-reality exclusive series are the second seasons of Breaking Bonaduce, Hogan Knows Best and My Fair Brady.
Country musicians finally get in on reality action
CMT Canada will premiere the first of six episodes of Plucked on October 2nd at 10 p.m. ET/PT, simulcasting it online and repeating the shows on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 6 p.m. The country music network is currently recruiting sponsors for the series itself and for the live finale – with arrangements to include product integration.
The cleverly named series takes six independent country artists who’ve each achieved regional and opening act-level success and transforms them into star material. Each episode follows the daily lives of a contender, after which they go to ‘music industry boot camp’ in Toronto, where such experts as Alan Frew (Glass Tiger), Ron Kitchener (RGK Entertainment Group) and Bonnie Fedrau (So Star Struck!) – give them guidance while they endure management consultations, style makeovers and the production of their own music videos.
CMT viewers will text message their votes for the winning act in a live, two-hour, in-studio special on November 13 at 9 p.m. ET. The winner gets $35,000 towards the making of their next music video.
Gilchrist to head Fuel’s BlueScience strategic planning division
Fuel Industries has hired interactive marketing veteran Brady Gilchrist as EVP of strategy and head of BlueScience – the Ottawa-based branded entertainment developer’s new creative strategy and research division. Gilchrist’s role will be to help clients navigate the branded content landscape. Previously, he founded Marshall Fenn Intermagic, one of Canada’s first online agencies, and developed and implemented online strategies for Motorola, Shell, Toyota Dealers, Covad, Cincinnati Bell, Ford and Acura. Most recently, he built the online practice at GJP Advertising as senior VP of digital. The BlueScience division is headquartered in Toronto.
Sekkat takes over interactive strategies at Transcontinental
Transcontinental Media, the fourth-largest print media group in Canada, has appointed Zouhaire Sekkat VP, digital media with responsibility for implementing an Internet strategy to leverage consumer and print brands and build deeper relationships with advertisers and digital users while disseminating content across multiple platforms. Prior to joining Transcontinental, he was VP, Internet and information systems at Trader Classified Media and, before that, he was a strategist with IBM France and IBM Belgium Luxembourg.
Since this March, Transcontinental Media has announced a number of developments in its digital strategy including a co-publishing agreement with AskMen.com‘s Canadian version; the acquisition of digital in-store display company Enixa TV; a new Web TV studio, and expanded newscast service for LesAffaires.com; a partnership with Pecunia, an industry-leading provider of webcast and video communication solutions over IP to corporations, governments and other organizations; and the launch of its classified ad site in Quebec, merkado.ca. It also has 23 online versions of its consumer magazines and 47 community newspaper websites across the country.
Bettam tapped as McCain’s new marketing VP
Colin P. Bettam has been named VP marketing with Florenceville, N.B.-based McCain Foods Canada, reporting to president/CEO Fred Schaeffer. Previously, Bettam was senior VP marketing and sales with XM Satellite Radio and, before that, he held marketing roles with AT&T, Purolator and Coors Canada.
