BBM and Nielsen announce progress on the joint venture front
In a letter to clients last week, Canada’s two major measurement companies unveiled the name of their long-awaited electronic television ratings joint venture – BBM Nielsen Media Research – and said that barring any glitches, they expect it to be up and running in time for the 2007 television season.
Cineplex goes big with new ad campaign
Cineplex Entertainment is doing its part to remind folks that bigger is always better. A national ad campaign launched yesterday uses the tagline: Go big.
‘This is really in response to the home electronic industry saying you can have the theatre experience at home and that’s just not true,’ explains Greg Mason, VP, marketing and sales. ‘Folks can remember their first movie experience on the big screen but not the one on their TV.’ Mason says movies are meant to be seen on the big screen, with big sound, and that an ad campaign reminding folks to head back to the movies comes at the right time as ‘series finales have already been released.’
As such, creative around the campaign compares the average 50-foot theatre screen with the average 50-inch TV screen. Campaign elements include 15-second commercials, 30-second theatre ads, billboards and banners, as well as print executions. The campaign’s creative (and part of the media buy) was done by Endeavor. Allied Advertising also participated in the media buy. Both shops are out of Toronto.
Shock mag debuts in Canada
Hachette Filipacchi’s Shock mag has come to Canada. The mag, already a success in France under the title CHOC, is a kind of news-y youtube.com with a shock spin (10% is consumer-generated content). In Canada, it bears a cover price of $2.99 and will be available on newsstands beginning today. A digital version is also available at shocku.com and a mobile offering is slated for the end of June. Video content, games and more are also on offer on the site. The biggest shocker? There are only a handful of ads in the 98-page print property. Brands represented include Bowflex and the Girls Gone Wild video franchise. Circulation in Canada stands at 51,000.
P&G, GM continue their hold – Eloda ad analysis for May 19-25, 2006
In a year-over-year comparison in English Canada, Procter & Gamble and General Motors continued to hold the first and second places respectively. Meanwhile, the top categories with the most new TV advertisers on the Canadian English market are entertainment at 29% and in the French market retail at 25%. Check out others topping the charts, and which brands had the most new spots. This info was gathered through Montreal-based ELODA’s online TV ad tracking, auditing and viewing services. All data supplied is based on the ELODA recording grid.
http://www.eloda.com
KFC, Speedy, Pontiac make huge leaps: Top radio ads – Media Monitors for May 22-28, 2006
The top 10 charts saw some big movement last week as KFC Canada hit the number one spot, up from 64 the previous week. Speedy Glass jumped from 78 the previous week to four last week. Meanwhile, Pontiac Canada, which hadn’t even placed at all previously, came in at number six. Check out others topping the radio charts by category and brand in the Toronto market for the week of May 22-28, 2006.
http://www.mediamonitors.com
Hasbro partners with YTV and Teletoon in summer promos
YTV’s seven-year-strong Weird on Wheels (WoW) road tour is once again heading across the country with new partner General Mills in tow. The packaged goods brand has signed on to have a branded fun zone for kids ages 6-14. The General Mills Camp Fruit by the Foot Extend Your Fun Zone will have kids completing a giant jigsaw puzzle to win samples of the product. Meanwhile, old partner Hasbro brings the Ultimate Nerf Challenge and a marble shooting game called B-Daman Evolution to the tour. ZenithOptimedia helped put the deals together. The WoW tour will travel from May 31 to Labour Day.
Meanwhile, Hasbro’s Star Wars brand is getting cozy with Teletoon via a month-long promo, the Star Wars Ultimate Galactic Hunt. Teletoon.com users will have to track a hidden stormtrooper on the site to find a contest entry form. The prize is a Star Wars prize package. The promo targets boys 6-11. ZenithOptimedia played matchmaker.
From high record sales to high adventure
Production has just begun on Ed’s Up, a new adventure show on OLN featuring Barenaked Ladies star Ed Robertson. The tongue-in-cheek tunester is taking time out from his successful music career to face a series of challenges that Toronto-based Peace Point Entertainment Group will be throwing at him in the 13×30 series. An avid pilot, Robertson will spend approximately 16 weeks being dropped into tough environments, like a tree-planting camp, a steel mill, a gold mine, a CFL practice and many more and seeing how he fares. A broadcast date has yet to be announced. So far, Hugo Boss is the clothing sponsor for Ed and Ontario Tourism is sponsoring some of the flights. Other ad opps are still available.
Lauzon leaves Sympatico/MSN, takes Canoe
Patrick Lauzon, formerly VP, sales and business development at Sympatico/MSN has taken a role as EVP at Canoe. In his new post, Lauzon will oversee all of Canoe’s business units including canoe.qc.ca and canoe.ca portals, plus Jobboom, Micasa.ca, and Autonet.ca among others.
Also as part of the restructuring of Canoe, the company has also named a new VP, operations. Marcel Sanscartier has been promoted into the newly-created role after more than five years with Canoe.
Moysey replaces Lauzon at Sympatico/MSN
Graham Moysey has been promoted and will be replacing Patrick Lauzon as VP, sales and business development at Sympatico/MSN. Moysey will lead sales teams in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver effective immediately.
Event
May 31-June 1
Media History in Canada conference
Rogers Communications Centre, Ryerson University, Toronto
416-979-5000 x7161
http://www.ryerson.ca
Experts discuss different forms of media – from radio to popular print culture – and understand how they have shaped public opinion and defined the issues of the day. Themes covered include morality, national identity and gender and the media. To pre-register, please send an e-mail to g1allen@ryerson.ca with the word ‘registration’ in the subject line.
***NEWS FLASH*** CanWest goes shopping for primetime, picks up 14 dramas and eight comedies
In advance of their Fall Launch event slated for Wednesday, June 7, the folks at CanWest have unveiled their 2006 primetime shopping list in a bid to drive advanced buzz. The net has picked up a total of 14 dramas and eight comedies along with a roster of returning favourites.
‘I think it’s good that they’re trying to create a buzz so early,’ says Helena Shelton, SVP, broadcast operations at Toronto’s The Media Company. ‘We’re all in the business of advertising so why not advertise what you’ve got? It doesn’t hurt.’ Shelton adds that placement, however, is the bigger story. ‘It’s [a question of] where do they fall? What are they up against? That’s what will be of more interest later.’
Yahoo! Canada hooks up with CHUM to create Canada’s Next Top Model microsite
In anticipation of its Wednesday, May 31 debut, Yahoo! Canada has launched an official microsite for CHUM’s Canada’s Next Top Model. The site will host video clips, behind-the-scenes catfights and model blogs. The new microsite, found at http://topmodel.yahoo.ca is the first time that the broadcaster and the portal have collaborated. ‘Partnerships are key to our business,’ explains Ray Newal, head of content and business development for Yahoo! He explains that a partnership like this one benefits many groups. ‘For show viewers, it’s exclusive content [on the site]. For the broadcasters, Yahoo! Canada provides an audience of 15 million users. For advertisers and sponsors, [they] get to engage a wider audience in a deeper way.’ As such, Canada’s Next Top Model‘s brand sponsor logos, Cover Girl, Nice ‘n Easy, Pantene and Olay, are visible on the site. Newal says that branded online content initiatives like this one drive content (and ultimately, brand) involvement. ‘So instead of watching one hour per week, the time is increased significantly.’
When asked why not host the site on their own online property, CHUM’s director of interactive explains, ‘We’re always looking for new solutions. In this case, Yahoo! has a greater reach and more tools than citytv.com does, so it helps us reach a much larger online audience.’ The deal was done direct.
NADbank study reports more time spent online, less with newspapers and magazines
NADbank released product and lifestyle data last week as part of their 2005 study, a portion of which detailed media preferences. Overall, consumers say they do not see large changes in the time they spend with various media – with the exception of the Internet. NADbank reports that the use of the net is growing in terms of incidence and the type of tasks done online. Other key findings include:
· 45% of respondents report spending more time online this year, while 17% say they spend less time
· 33% say they spend less time with magazines versus 15% who claim they spend more time with the medium
· Another 27% report spending less time with newspapers versus 14% who claim the opposite
· MP3 players entered the NADbank poll this year; 18% of respondents claim to own one and another 8% say they plan to buy one this year
The 2005 NADbank study polled 25,500 adults 18+ in 19 urban markets across Canada. Other sections of the report detail retail shopping habits, product usage and other lifestyle characteristics.
http://www.nadbank.com
