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BBM Canada Commercial Television Tracking Series
Montreal Franco – Adults 25-54
GRP Trend by Week – July 27-30, 2006
‘Advertiser-friendly’ Ellen DeGeneres Show returns September 4th
Although David Kirkwood, VP sales & marketing for CHUM Television, declines to talk numbers, he says the return of The Ellen DeGeneres Show for a fourth season on September 4th is good news revenue-wise. ‘We’ve had a few other daytime talk shows that I’d say ‘controversial’ is probably the kindest way to describe them. Even if the ratings were good, they were what I call advertiser-repellant. In fact, we actually had some advertisers refuse to be on in those time slots.
‘The Ellen show is the complete opposite and I can’t think of a single advertiser that’s asked not to be in its time slot. It’s light enough, it’s accessible and – like Oprah, which isn’t ours – it’s positive in its tone. I think what distinguishes it as well is that it can be an efficient buy certainly for women 25-54, but also for all adults. It has a wider appeal and isn’t as sex-skewed as some other shows, which makes it better for us. Having said all that,’ Kirkwood adds with a laugh,’ I don’t want other networks bidding for this show. We want to keep it.’
NBC recently confirmed renewal of the daily talk show, which is syndicated by Warner Bros., for another three seasons, taking it through the 2009-10 season.
Series about moments that changed the world premiere on Discovery Civilization
The idea that world history, and a lot of psychological fallout, can hinge on a single defining moment is the concept guiding Discovery Civilization’s two new four-part series. First up is Decisions That Shook the World, which premieres on September 28th at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT with ‘L.B.J. and the Civil Rights Movement.’ It continues over the following three Thursday evenings with shows about U.S. presidents John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.
Immediately following, on October 19th at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT, is a four-part companion series, Days that Shook the World, in which two events are linked by a common theme in each episode. First up is ‘The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II/Death of Princess Diana,’ followed by ‘Black September/Lockerbie Bombing,’ ‘The Fall of the Romanovs/Fall of the Berlin Wall’ and ‘Assassination of J.F.K./Resignation of Nixon.’
New president and publisher for CanWest MediaWorks’ Pacific Newspaper Group
Kevin Bent has been appointed president and publisher of CanWest MediaWorks’ Vancouver-HQ’d Pacific Newspaper Group, putting him in charge of CanWest’s largest daily newspaper operations, The Vancouver Sun and The Province.
Formerly senior VP of sales and marketing for CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Bent previously worked for the Southam chain’s ADitus division in Toronto and, before that, joined The Ottawa Citizen as VP of advertising sales. Prior to entering the media industry, he spent 10 years in various sales and marketing roles in the packaged goods industry.
PMB Factoid
Ownership of Motorcyle: Indexed by Province
Rising young media star
This is the fourth 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 hot talent in your shop.
Jeff Phaneuf
Supervisor, broadcast investments, ZenithOptimedia Toronto
Claim to fame: The Kia Canada product placement/integration in The Tournament on CBC.
Background: Jeff received an honours degree in communications studies from Brock University and did his third year, a practicum in advertising and PR, on exchange in Glasgow. He entered the industry in 2001and has been with ZenithOptimedia since 2004 working on Kia Canada, Corby Distilleries, and the XM Canada satellite radio businesses.
Talk to MiC
Hey, Media in Canada readers. We are repeating our open invitation to show off and sound off thanks to two new ongoing features. ‘The New Plan’ will showcase 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).
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.
Outgames creative too out there for TV
Yes. Those stick people are doing what you think they’re doing. For its AIDS awareness group clients – Action Séro Zéro and COCQ-Sida (la Coalition des organismes communautaires québécois de lutte contre le sida) – Montreal-based Marketel crafted a cheeky safe sex campaign to tie in with the city’s first Outgames. The event was sort of a gay Olympics that attracted more than 250,000 visitors from around the world in late July.
Saucy print executions, which ran in local papers and magazines as well as wild postings, featured phallic-looking sports equipment such as badminton birdies and baseball bats with the tag ‘Equipped for the Games?’ And a 30-second animated spot depicting two stick figures engaged in explicit sporty sexual relations, set against a condom-wrapper backdrop, ran on giant screens around the games. Posters featuring the sexy stick figures also ran in washrooms at gay bars and bathhouses.
‘Outrageous seems appropriate for an event like the Outgames,’ says Linda Dawe, senior copywriter at Marketel. ‘Our main concern was to really catch people’s attention.’ The creative team was careful to keep the campaign light to best fit the festive mood of the games. ‘We’re not trying to scare people, but the message is still pretty explicit without being heavy-handed,’ she says. ‘It’s not preachy or a downer.’ Dawe adds that her team sent storyboards of the sexy spot to RadioCanada asking if it would be interested in running it during their coverage of the Games. ‘They said ‘noooo thanks!’ she laughingly recalls.
Montreal’s branding of cultural district seeking sponsors
Evening visitors to Montreal this summer are being dazzled by an extravagant glow illuminating the sidewalks in front of five major theatres and some of their facades. So far, says Quartier des spectacles spokesman Christophe Riffaud, funding has been done by a partnership of all three levels of government, but private sponsors and advertisers are now being sought.
Designed and executed by Montreal’s Photonic Dreams, the LED installations are the latest entry in the city’s ongoing Quartier des spectacles branding of its downtown cultural district. Included in Photonic’s display is a colourful four-minute light show whose theme is a classic red theatre curtain interacting with historic architectural features. Although some elements of the installation will disappear at the end of this month, lighting on the walls and second-storey windows of the venerable Theatre du Nouveau Monde on rue Sainte-Catherine will remain as a permanent feature.
Toronto Star ups the ante in newspaper war
Readers got more than they expected last week when they logged onto the Toronto Star website for breaking news about the alleged plane-bombing plot. Along with words and photos was a link to up-to-the-minute video as events unfolded. This week, video of Bill Gates and others speaking at the International Aids Conference in Toronto was on the site while the event was still happening.
Executive editor Phil Bingley says there will be a lot more of the same in future thanks to a contract the Star signed with the Associated Press last month. The Star will also be producing its own video augmentation of breaking news beginning this fall. As far as Bingley is aware, none of his paper’s local competitors have added video to the arsenal of features with which they’re fighting each other for readers and advertisers.
Burger King taps Initiative for media buying & planning in three more markets
Burger King has handed media buying and planning responsibility for Germany, Sweden and the U.K. to Initiative. The New York City-HQ’d behemoth is already BK’s AOR for Canada, Holland, Mexico and Spain.
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.
Vision TV expects to sell out inventory for Everwood
‘Given the large viewer appetite for Everwood, coupled with the media coverage of its finale last spring, we expect it to be a ratings windfall for us because we are the exclusive specialty TV carrier right now and we’ve got all 88 episodes,’ says David Garby, director of advertising sales for Vision TV.
So are advertisers snapping up spots on the encore presentation of one of the most popular shows in recent years? ‘I wouldn’t say that they’re flocking to us, but I can say that adding Everwood is only going to make us more attractive to both ad agencies and their clients,’ he replies. ‘Ad buying for Vision TV has been very active over the last few weeks and we expect to fully sell out of inventory for Everwood,’ which premieres Saturday, Sept. 9th at 8 p.m. ET, repeating Mondays, starting Sept. 11, at 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. ET.
Which brands does Garby believe would benefit from advertising on Everwood? ‘It’s a family-friendly show, so there will be packaged goods brands, probably fast foods and probably makeup for women 18-49, which is a demographic we’re making a lot of inroads with. What I don’t think we’ll see is beer advertising.’
He adds that Vision plans to augment its traditional marketing plans for the upcoming season with more of a focus on the web and viral. ‘The web is already part of our mainstream selling because we offer it as well whenever we sell air time. All the technology is in place – we can do streaming, podcasting. When you think of a high-tech website, you may not think of Vision TV first off, but we do have the capability to play with the big boys in that field.’
