Hey, you. Yes, you Media in Canada reader. This is an open invitation to show off and sound off. We’re launching two new ongoing features. One, which we’re calling ‘The New Plan,’ will showcase the savviest media campaigns extant, ones that exemplify the way forward in the new mediaverse. With the other one, ‘What’s on your mind?’ we’re going 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).

Current marketing budgets were revised upward in Q2 according to the latest Survey of Marketing Budgets from the Institute of Communications and Advertising (ICA), with direct marketing claiming the sharpest upgrades, followed by Internet-related marketing – gains that were attributed to DM and direct’s cost and accountability advantages.

Current marketing budgets were increased in Q2 by 29% of companies, compared to just 6% that reported a decrease, and the upswing was across all main categories of marketing spend, marking the strongest upturn since the survey began in Q3 2003.

Consumer generated ad mash-ups can be mighty scary for control-freak brand managers. But, like it or not, consumer generated media (CGM) ain’t going away. So why not facilitate it?

A new Atlanta-based company called ViTrue has set out to hook up advertisers with tools to encourage users to have fun with their brands. ViTrue has partnered with Sharkle.com, a free YouTube-ish video-sharing community with 100,000 registered users and one million unique visits per month. The company also has a partnership with Publicis Group’s media futures arm, Denuo, geared to getting Publicis clients into the CGM arena.

Wendy’s American HQ announced this week that it will once again wade into the breakfast sector of the high-stakes QSR industry down south. But Wendy’s Canada says it’s too soon to confirm whether it will follow suit here. ‘We’ll be watching with interest what happens in the U.S. and coming up with a made-in-Canada strategy very soon,’ spokesperson Franca Miraglia told Media in Canada yesterday.

Predicting the size of the probable ad spend, or shifted ad budget dollars, if Wendy’s does start serving breakfast to Canadians is tricky at this point. But a logical comparison was provided in a report by AdAge.com that McDonald’s recently spent U.S. $69 million in measured media to launch McGriddles, while Burger King laid out $21 million to introduce its Enormous Omelet.

Wendy’s flopped big-time in its first foray into the breakfast market in a five-year test that began in 1986. Despite spending a reported $10 million in advertising and promotion, the chain managed to capture only about 8% of early-morning American munchers. The failure was widely attributed to choosing sit-down menu items such as made-to-order omelettes – just as the grab-and-go, eat-it-in-the-car craze was setting in. This time out, during a full-market test across the States, portable food choices will dominate the breakfast menu.

Joel Baum, professor and competitiveness authority at the University of Toronto’s Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, doesn’t fancy Wendy’s chances of making a go of it in the overcrowded Canadian breakfast sector. ‘Wendy does have the advantage of access to Tim Hortons’ knowledge of the breakfast/coffee business, as well as their coffee and baking operations. But the need to avoid taking sales from Tim Hortons will make a morning entry in Canada even more difficult.’

Purple people – OK, purple to the knees in freshly stomped grape juice – is the main feature of a literally colourful new campaign to promote both Vintage Hotels and Ontario’s wine region. Dreamed up by Dentsu Canada, the initiative includes billboards, cinema advertising, print, radio and promotions. It kicks off on August 11th, when a gaggle of, ‘purple feet people’ clad in Vintage Hotels robes, will parade to the unveiling of the company’s new billboard at Yonge & Sheppard in Toronto.

Earlier this year, Dentsu came up with both a new name for the hotel chain – switching from Vintage Inns Collection – and a new umbrella logo, plus individual logos for its Prince of Wales, Queen’s Landing and Pillar and Post hotels, all in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

Advertisers in this category have consistently invested roughly 60% to 64% of their dollars in dailies over the past four years. In second place, TV gets about one-quarter of the spending, while other media divvy up the remainder. Live theatre and concerts, sporting events and movie theatres are the biggest spenders in this growing category.

Annual National Advertising Spend, Q3 – Sports, events, entertainment

Climate Controlled in Household: Indexed by Region

Gays and lesbians are most likely to buy products from marketers addressing the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) community in their advertising according to Out On The Street, the latest syndicated study from Toronto-based Solutions Research Group (srgnet.com).

Ken LeClair, SRG’s director research development, says the findings confirm a very attractive target for marketers: ‘The LGBT population is in the higher income bracket. About 20% of our sample had household income of $100,000 or more compared with about 13% of the population overall. About 23% had a $40,000 or less income, versus a 30% average nationally. There is also definitely an education skew. Over 50% are university educated versus 34% nationally.’

SRG hit the pavement during Toronto’s Pride festivities in late June to question attendees about their attitudes towards marketing, sponsorship, media preferences, and use of selected products and services. The study examines the characteristics and spending of attendees from both within and outside the GTA and looks at lesbians separately and as part of the larger gay market.
Out On The Street survey respondents showed a tendency to be early adopters of new products and services with a higher penetration of cellphone ownership, texting and Internet use at home.