Grab ’em while they’re baking
Toronto’s Statements Media, which introduced dry cleaning advertising last summer, has come up with another innovative advertising medium. It’s a network of interior mini-billboards within the rooms of tanning salons across the Greater Toronto Area.
Says VP sales Joseph Magnotta, ‘These signs are comparable to those you would see within the washrooms of bars and restaurants, yet they have a more precise reach (because) people who tan are very image-conscious, typically young, and are active consumers who spend money to look good. These signs provide companies with a cost-effective way to reach this trendy demographic in a very intimate, one-on-one manner.’
After only three weeks in operation, Statements Media has signed an exclusive, contractually secured network of tanning salons and currently has more than 500 signs/faces. Meanwhile, the company is in the process of establishing another network in Montreal.
So far, two main advertisers have signed on: Yogen Fruz and an alcoholic cooler called Fruzzion. Magnotta cites average impression rates of 1,020 per sign per month. Ad rates range from $52/unit for one to 50 faces for one month (descending to $40 for six-month contracts) to $44/unit for more than 200 faces per month (descending to $32 for six-month contracts.
Interactive web murder mystery to offer three levels of brand exposure
Toronto’s SR Entertainment has plotted a raft of ad and sponsorship opportunities almost as cleverly as it did the criminal shenanigans on its about-to-launch online murder mystery game Murder at Mansfield Manor.
Advertisers and sponsors are being offered three levels of brand exposure: 30-second video commercials placed immediately following the opening credits; 30-second video commercials immediately following log-in; and the opportunity to have a sponsor’s tab between characters and credits, or a sponsor’s button toward the end of the game, between the Refer-A-Friend feature and the Privacy & Terms section.
The innovative, live-action, choose-your-own-adventure movie begins with a free mouse click on mysteryatmansfieldmanor.com. Players are filled in on the grisly murder of a wealthy oil industrialist and after that, says Rory Scherer, producer and screenwriter, participants pay a $4.99 fee to continue the game, receiving 72 hours of unlimited access to the complete website. Gameplay progresses as the player interrogates suspects, becomes immersed in red herring clues, and eventually arrests the person they believe is guilty.
Marketing strategy for the mystery game kicks off with a launch event on July 19 (8 p.m. at Ultra Supper Club, 314 Queen St. W. in Toronto), which Scherer expects to result in enthusiastic media coverage. A trailer has been posted on ifilm.com and will be added to several other websites in the near future. An email campaign to opt-in subscribers to various movie and game chatrooms and e-newsletters is in the works and, in expectation of creating a viral campaign, the mystery site itself contains a Refer-A-Friend feature. Word is evidently creeping out there already, judging by daily hits during July in the 100-500 range.
www.mysteryatmansfieldmanor.com
P&G holds onto top spot – Eloda analysis for July 10-16, 2006
P&G enjoyed its second straight week at number one, while Sony Pictures and The Brick played musical chairs for the second spot, Unilever zoomed from number 10 to number 4, and a raft of new to-10ers entered the picture for the week of July 10-16, 2006.
GM stands pat, IKEA makes giant leap – Eloda ad analysis for July 10-16, 2006
GM retained the top spot for the Toronto market. But the big news is that IKEA jumped from 567th spot to fifth. Media Monitors for July 10-16, 2006.
Consumer appeal of big-brand names declines among electronics shoppers
According to a recently released study by the Baltimore-based Vertis research agency titled Customer Focus® 2006 Home Electronics, the ability of brand names to influence shoppers for electronic products has declined in the United States from 40% in 2004 to just 29% as of June 2006.
Discounts and coupons are taking precedence over brand names in the decision where to shop, according to Vertis VP of market insights Jim Litwin. ‘Since consumers are always looking to upgrade their home electronics products, it is not surprising to learn that special offers like discounts and coupons are one of the most important factors for 19% of consumers, compared to 15% in 2004.’ He adds that the study shows that ‘circulars are an effective medium to reach home electronic consumers, therefore marketers looking to communicate offers to consumers should consider advertising inserts.’
While men tend to be most likely to be the chief shoppers for home electronic products, the study found that women are taking a more active role in deciding which electronics to purchase. In particular, 91% of women 35-49 claim to be either the chief shoppers or to share equally in home electronic purchasing decisions, compared to 86% of women 18-34 and 86% of women 50 and older. On the other hand, 94% of men 18-34 and an equal number of men 35-49 claim to be the chief shoppers or to equally share in the decision-making process, compared to 92% of men 50 and older.
www.vertisinc.com
CHUM to save almost $15 million through restructuring; nearly 300 lose jobs
CHUM’s day of big announcements ended with a big shock for the nearly 300 employees who were handed pink slips yesterday. Lost in all the news about its takeover by Bell Globemedia and release of its Q3 results was CHUM’s intention to restructure its approach to local information programming, a move resulting in the elimination of 281 full- and part-time jobs. CHUM projects the changes will result in net annualized operating cost savings of about $14.7 million.
Pepsi’s Dew Fuel to hijack Much sites for all-nighter
As if being gobbled up by BGM weren’t enough of a shocker, Much Music sites in Toronto and Vancouver will be hijacked from midnight to 6 a.m. July 14. The perpetrators will stage a unique media event to launch Pepsi Cola Canada’s new youth-oriented Dew Fuel.
The concept, says Tony Chapman, CEO of Toronto’s Capital C, ‘was to tie in the DNA of the brand – Explicit Energy – with an all-night party,’ with the first three hours staged in T.O. and the final three in Vancouver.
‘We developed Dew Fuel from scratch,’ he adds, ‘after Pepsi assigned us the Mountain Dew Energy brand last fall. We went back to them with a complete makeover including a new name, positioning and brand key, packaging and creative template, including digital, promotion, point of sale, advertising, sampling, a full 360.’
The Dew Fuel brand made its worldwide debut in February. Its website, which contains kickass animation, is www.dewfuel.ca.
Capital C’s Live Event Division is producing the hijack party, which will involve live bands and video gaming Chapman bills as ‘the hottest gaming girls in the world, who will destroy the boys in head-to-head competition.’
He lauds OMD for ‘believing in the concept’ and credits Jet Star Entertainment’s collaboration and the support of brands including Xbox 360.
Scotiabank to target Canadian travelers online
‘Last year, 88% of consumers planning to travel either researched or purchased their trips online’ – signalling their receptivity to websites enhanced with innovative video messages from marketers, says Paul Deverell, COO, Travel Shop Television.
His argument has just convinced Scotiabank to become the first major advertiser on Travel Shop Television’s new online video network, which targets Canadian travellers. The Scotiabank campaign (which can be viewed on the network’s targetvacations.ca site) includes a :30 second video ad that runs pre-roll, as well as a clickable rectangle and leaderboard featuring the Scotia Gold Preferred Visa card.
Says Rick White, VP brand & marketing management for Scotiabank, ‘Research in this area is telling us that online video doubles the impact of brand awareness and ad awareness compared with the average performance of online ads.’
Deverell touts his network as a breakthrough for advertisers. ‘This is a new and innovative way to get messages in front of (consumers) while they are actually shopping … on travel websites. Instead of just looking at still pictures, they are able to watch broadcast-quality video of destinations or properties resulting in a better shopping experience.’
Montreal Conventional stations Commercial minute ratings showing consistency BBM Commercial Tracking grids May 30/05 versus May June 25/06
Montreal Francophone stations Commercial minute ratings for June 05 versus June 06 are showing consistency in BBM’s Commercial Tracking grids. Please click below to see GRP trending by week.
Montreal
BBM Media Snapshot: Canadians who visit farmers markets
* 4.7 million Canadians (17%) shop at farmers markets at least once per month.
* 40% of farmers market visitors are over 55 years old, and are 1.4 times more likely to visit compared to the national average.
* Females (54%) visit farmers markets slightly more than males (46%).
* The personal yearly income of those who visit farmers markets is $41,600, slightly higher than the national average ($39,000).
* The Prairie Provinces and Ontario are the regions with lowest incidence of people visiting farmers markets. Both are under the national average.
* Flea markets and antique stores are two times more likely to be visited by farmers market visitors compared to the Canadian average.
* For these consumers, TV (88%), radio (84%), daily papers (58%) and Internet (55%) are their top media for yesterday exposure.
*
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.
Bravo premieres gothic miniseries
Bravo will premiere Gormenghast, a four-part gothic fantasy miniseries based on Mervyn Peake’s literary trilogy. Begins August 2 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. and stars Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (who nailed the title role in the recent Elvis mini) as a kitchen boy who schemes to take control of a castle.
SUN TV to air second and third seasons of Veronica Mars
SUN TV will offer Veronica Mars fans twice-weekly opps to catch the second season of the WB’s popular series about a teenage private eye. Beginning July 18, the show will air Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Nice lead-in for the third season, which begins on SUN in the fall.
Spookiest Cities on the continent to be explored on CTV Travel
Ghosts, ghouls and other undead entities will be chased from Boston to Santa Cruz on CTV Travel Channel’s new 13-part series Weird Travels, airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/11 p.m. PT, beginning August 15.
PMB Factoid
Personally Watch Soccer on Television, Indexed by City
Bell Globemedia gobbles up CHUM
The Godzilla of all Canadian media conglomerates is born with the official confirmation at 4 p.m. today that CHUM Ltd. is indeed being taken over by Bell Globemedia, which already owns CTV with its 17 specialty channel interests and The Globe and Mail and its stable of Globe and Report on Business branded print, digital, and broadcast properties. Cutting to the chase, initial reaction from media agencies is that the news is not great for marketers.
Media concentration of this calibre does not strike Steve Aronovitch, broadcast investment manager at Toronto’s Starcom Mediavest agency, as potentially positive for marketers. ‘Generally speaking, we like to see more players rather than less in the broadcast world because that gives us the most leverage on pricing and other aspects [of media buying].’
BGM’s cash outlay to acquire CHUM stock will reach a final tally around $1.4 billion, and the deal establishes a $1.7 billion enterprise value for the company. CHUM, a publically traded company with about 90% of its stock held by the Waters family, has agreed to support BellGlobemedia’s acquisition of its stock if certain conditions are met. BGM’s main stakeholder is BCE Inc. with 68.5% of the conglomerate while the remainder is owned by The Woodbridge Co. Ltd., the Thomson family holding company. Other major investors include the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and TorStar Corporation, which now holds 20% of BGM stock. Both will acquire more by the end of this year.
The timeline for closing of the deal is dependent on regulatory approval.
In the release announcing the betrothal, Ivan Fecan, BGM president/CEO of CTV, stated: ‘The Waters family has built a remarkable organization and our intention is to continue their legacy. With regulatory approval, we intend to serve Canadian audiences with both CTV and Citytv stations. We will maintain separate and independent news divisions in order to ensure a continued diversity and competition in news coverage. The specialty television channels of the two companies are complementary and we are excited by the prospects of adding CHUM’s strong radio stations to our services.’
BellGlobemedia plans to keep all of CHUM’s radio, City, and specialty stations but, because of duplication in some markets, A-Channel and Access Alberta stations will end up on the block in order to gain CRTC approval for the deal.
CTV is already Canada’s leading private broadcaster, currently controlling the ratings war with the majority of top 20 programming. It operates 21 conventional stations across the country in addition to its 17 specialty channels, while CHUM owns 12 local TV stations and 21 specialties, both analogue and digital, as well as 33 radio stations. Most of these assets also have interactive iterations as well, with some of the CHUM digital assets among the most pioneering in Canada when it comes to adopting new tech such as wireless and enhanced television.
Speculation abounds on what will transpire in the areas of franchise duplication, such as music (CTV’s recent investment in the MTV relaunch and CHUM’s market-dominating Much).
CTV television properties include 21 conventional CTV stations (and three indie affliliates), 40% of TQS, and the ASN satellite-to-cable service.
Conventional stations:
Halifax, Moncton, Sydney, N.S., and Saint John, N.B. in the east; Montreal, Que.; Ottawa, Toronto, Kitchener/London, Sudbury, Timmins, North Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario; and in the west, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert and Yorkton in Saskatchewan, Calgary, Lethbridge, and Edmonton in Alberta, and Vancouver.
Specialty channels include:
Analogue – TSN (70.08%), MTV, CTV Newsnet, The Comedy Network, Report on Business Television, Réseau des sports (70.08%), Discovery Channel (56.06%) and OLN (33.33%). CTV also has interests in ARTV and Viewer’s Choice Canada.
Digital – Animal Planet (37.84%), Discovery Civilization (46.95%), Discovery HD Theatre (56.06%), ESPN Classic (70.08%), NHL Network (15.01%), CTV Travel and RIS Info Sports (70.8%).
CHUM television properties
Conventional stations:
Citytv Toronto, Citytv Vancouver, Citytv Calgary, Citytv Edmonton, Citytv Winnipeg, A-Channel Barrie/Toronto, A-Channel Ottawa, A-Channel London, A-Channel Windsor, A-Channel Wingham, A-Channel Victoria/Vancouver BC and CKX Television (Brandon MN).
Specialty channels:
Analog – MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic, MusiquePlus (50%), MusiMax (50%), Bravo!, ACCESS, CLT, CablePulse24, SPACE: The Imagination Station and Star!.
Specialty channels – BookTelevision, CourtTV Canada, Drive-In Classics, FashionTelevisionChannel, MuchLOUD, and MuchMoreRetro.
Sources inside CHUM say staffers are anticipating cuts will occur in the areas of ad and program sales, marketing, regulatory, HR, and in the senior exec ranks.
