PMB Factoid
Dog and cat owners: Index by city
Silent Hill’s marketing strategy skirts TV, goes online and pushes fake news
Seems Odeon Films’ viral strategy to skirt a heavy TV buy touting Silent Hill (a horror film adaptation of the video game) worked; according to Nielsen EDI, the film topped the box office charts, grossing more than $20 million this past opening weekend in North America. In lieu of traditional TV trailers, the prodco went after the online audience. As part of Silent Hill‘s promotion, the Toronto-based company periodically released online photos of the movie’s monstrous creatures to demonstrate its authenticity and respect for the popular game and, according to Odeon president Bryan Gliserman, fans have ‘analyzed those photos like it was intelligence on a foreign army.’
itravel 2000 signs as corporate partner in new golf loyalty program
Mississauga-based itravel 2000 has signed on as the first corporate partner in a new golf loyalty program entitled Skins. Golfers earn a free round of golf after earning five Skins at participating private and public courses in Ontario in the program. The partnership will be supported via Ontario-wide radio ads, banners on the itravel site and an email blast to itravel’s newsletter client base of 350,000 in Ontario. Skins launches today throughout Ontario, hoping to entice the province’s two million golfers. Intelligent Golf Marketing (IGM), the developers of Skins, is actively searching for more partners. For travel company itravel2000, ‘it provides a point of differentiation for us,’ says Patti Laine, VP of marketing. ‘It’s an incredible value and a strategic competitive advantage over others in the travel industry.’ Laine adds that the program ‘makes golf even more accessible, and helps us cater to all our demos. Golf has become a travel product for us.’
Ron Gardner, president at IGM says golfers have a higher than average income, ‘they’re a desirable group but are very fragmented. And a program such as this allows for targeting at a cost-effective rate.’ The program is launching in Ontario after a test that ran during last year’s golf season. IGM has plans to take Skins national in 2007.
Entertainment is tops in the French market – Eloda analysis for April 14-20, 2006
The public service category is at the top of the heap in English Canada, while the French push entertainment in a comparison of top advertisers for the week of April 14-20. Meanwhile, the battle continues for top spot between the retail and entertainment categories with the largest variety of TV ads last week. 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
Celeb mag category heats up; Weekly Scoop goes for a quarter
As Paris Hilton says: ‘It’s hot.’ She might very well be speaking of the heat generated by the celebrity gossip magazine category. In Canada, Torstar’s entry, Weekly Scoop, is on offer this week for a mere quarter — a price point designed for mass consumption. ‘Celebrity gossip rags are doing very well in Canada. It’s something new, something different for us here. In the U.S., it’s just going nuts down there,’ says a Toronto-based media planning manager who asked not to be named. ‘Advertisers want Canadian players that we can put media dollars to. This [category] attracts a young demo, and it’s weekly, so there’s a frequency opportunity.’ Rogers’ Hello magazine is slated to debut in June.
CTV Travel takes a European journey
CTV Travel Channel is offering a ‘Springtime in Europe’ marathon on May 21. Each of the seven eps features a different spot, including Life Of A City: Rome, Discover The World: Portugal, Top Ten Venice, Secrets: Eiffel Tower Revealed, Top Ten London, and Don’t Forget Your Passport: Germany. The journey begins at 6 p.m. with hourly shows ending at midnight. There are no sponsors lined up for the strand as yet. Slots are still available.
New OLN series swims with sharks
The four-part, hour-long series, Shark Hunters follows the adventures of folks who chase monster Mako sharks in contests. The show debuts on OLN on Monday, May 22 at 9 p.m.
Alice sets air date
The much-touted Canuck comedy Alice, I Think has revealed its debut date. The B.C.-set show about a teen girl from ‘one of those loving families that fail to prepare a person for real life’ will unspool on The Comedy Network, starting Friday, May 26 at 8 p.m. The series follows Alice as she tries to fit into the high school scene after years of home schooling.
Nat Geo reveals Hidden Worlds
The National Geographic Channel is unrolling the Canadian premiere of a four-part series, Hidden Worlds. The programs look at various spots in the world where wildlife rule. Episodes include ‘Australia’s Dingo Island,’ ‘India’s Otter Paradise,’ ‘Africa’s Hog Heaven,’ and ‘River Jordan – Waters of Life.’ These glimpses into the secret lives of wild animals will air Thursdays at 9 p.m., beginning June 8.
Barlow names media director
North Vancouver-based Barlow Media has named Robyn Seymour to the post of media director, effective immediately. Seymour will oversee such accounts as Kal Tire, Go2: The Resource for People in Tourism and the Barnes Wheaton GM Group of Dealers as well as leading a media team of nine and pursuing new business development. She hails from M2 Universal where she lead the media team on BC General Motors dealer group and Michael Hill Jeweler.
Events
May 1-5
Media Buying Academy’s Boot Camp
Chicago
888.MBA.BUYER
www.mediabuyingacademy.com/
Topics cover basics, research and how to buy a variety of media.
May 8
Media Buying Academy’s Boot Camp
NYC
888.MBA.BUYER
www.mediabuyingacademy.com/
Topics cover basics, research and how to buy a variety of media.
Summer season lineups take shape
In the past few years summer has become a separate programming season for conventional TV broadcasters looking to head off mass migration of regular season viewers to cable and specialty nets. Announcements of programming highlights have just begun but all networks and many specialties are expected to offer some short-run summer fare or tempt viewers with the early launch of regular season shows.
ZO ad forecast sees a healthy future in Internet, radio, and pay TV
Ad spending grew across all media last year with the biggest gains seen in Internet, radio and pay TV. Only conventional TV experienced a decline in spending between 2004 and 2005. ZenithOptimedia is projecting these trends in allocation of media dollars will continue through 2008. Ruth Klostermann, director of strategic resources for ZenithOptimedia in Toronto, says last year was one of the best sales years in recent memory for radio and outdoor. She says these media, along with the Internet, are benefiting most as advertisers increasingly embrace media mix strategies. The Internet is getting a bigger slice of the pie through ad spending as well as investments in Web site development and online marketing. The Institute of Communications and Advertising estimates that Internet-related spending now accounts for 4% of marketing budgets.
CBC.ca goes after the daytime primetime audience with new broadband site; searches for sponsors for FIFA microsite
The primetime audience is online at work. And in a move that goes after the daytime primetime aud, the CBC is unveiling a broadband-heavy video channel today on cbc.ca/video. Bob Kerr, director of business and platform development says the site promises to host episodes of The National on demand, in addition to both clips and full episodes of documentaries, among other content. In addition, a microsite for the FIFA World Cup is in the works for the net, slated to go live in late May. Kerr says the microsite is available for sponsorship and speculates that it will likely net ‘half a million to one million page views daily. I expect really big traffic.’ Sponsorships on the World Cup site will be sold via AOL Canada, as the company sells ad inventory for CBC.ca. Jonathan Lister, VP, audience for AOL says: ‘The primetime audience is online during the daytime. We’ve watched this category grow over the last year and now we can target them. The benefits [to advertising online] is that it’s cost-efficient; we hit them during the time of day when they’re not used to being targeted, increasing relevancy, and it’s fully measureable. You’re now seeing tier-one content online.’
A study conducted by comScore Media Metrix has found that folks at work like to surf the net for news and info – and they don’t feel guilty about it, either. The stats, unveiled yesterday in a joint presentation given by folks from CBC and AOL Canada, points to an emerging daytime audience. Findings include:
* uniques to the news/info site category have increased 16.8% over the last year
* Canucks consume news/information at the highest rate (at a reach of 80%), versus those in the U.S. and in France (at 65%)
