Discovery examines inner workings in new show
Discovery Channel, known for its interest in all things scientific has signed Natasha Stillwell (Daily Planet) to Break It Down. Stillwell and compatriots will look at such icky topics as what happens after we flush, to sticky topics like what happens when our road systems can no longer handle the amount of traffic fed into them. The team also looks behind the scenes at a junkyard, movie stunts, landfills and elevators. This six-part series, produced in HD, premiers Tuesday, May 2 at 8 p.m.
Event
April 27
Magazine Day
Four Seasons Hotel, Toronto.
416-367-7312
www.adclubto.com.
The Advertising Club of Toronto presents ‘Church Meets State,’ a debate about advertiser encroachment on editorial.
Empowered consumer dominates CMDC conference
Empowerment was one of the recurring themes of the annual Canadian Media Directors’ Council conference on Tuesday. In exploring the day’s topic – Mining Growth: Discovering Potential in Media Mayhem – speakers referred to empowered consumers, the blurring of lines between media, and understanding how media is being consumed rather than how it is delivered. The day began with a keynote address by Maurice Levy, chairman and CEO of Paris-based Publicis Groupe SA. He focused on what he called his two passions: the future and growth.
Reader’s Digest Tops PMB 2006
Reader’s Digest has topped the readership ranking in the PMB 2006 study, released today, by a handy margin. The venerable pub scored 7,206,000 readers 12+, far outweighing Chatelaine, a distant second at 4,476,000 with Canadian Living in tight for third at 4,406,000. The field was spread more evenly with French-language magazines. Coup de Pouce was the frontrunner with the 12+ aud scoring 1,428,000. French-language Châtelaine came second with 1,292,000 readers, narrowly edging out Sélection du Reader’s Digest which scored 1,290,000.
The 2006 study included a record 114 magazines, a 33% increase since the last Through-the-Book study conducted by PMB in 2000. This year, 11 new titles have been added. Excluding the new titles, and based on a ‘like-with-like’ comparison, the overall readers-per-copy level was identical to PMB 2005 at 5.44. The average number of readers for the 85 magazines common to the two studies was constant at 1.2 million. The Recent Reading methodology has also been constant over the six years since its inception. The average across common publications in PMB 2006 (5.4) is virtually the same as PMB 2001, the first year of Recent Reading (5.5). A new element this year is a national segmentation of the Canadian population (‘Canada 39’) which combines existing PMB data on geography, ethnic background and language spoken to produce 39 distinct market segments from coast-to-coast. The study is based on 25,165 interviews conducted over 24 months from October 2003 to September 2005.
CTV hooks up with Doritos for an Enhanced Junos experience
CTV is presenting the 2006 Juno Awards this Sunday, April 2 at 7 p.m. not only on TV but online at playjunos.ctv.ca. The two-screen technology lets viewers watch the Juno broadcast while also getting interactive with the show. Doritos is the sole sponsor of the webcast during which the audience can guess who’s going to win and vote for the coolest stars on the ‘Hip-o-Meter.’ Doritos will have online ads and logos online as well as two :30s during the TV broadcast. Enhanced TV players will be asked questions about the Doritos commercials for points during the course of game play. More than 12,000 viewers played along with CTV.ca for the Oscars in March. The snack brand is also the Juno Fan Choice sponsor for the broadcast. Other broadcast sponsors include General Motors, Pantene Pro-V, and Nice’n Easy.
GM partnered with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in a national radio contest held earlier, which nets station winners an all-expense-paid trip to the awards night along with a chance to win a Pontiac Solstice. CTV will air the car giveaway during the broadcast. Meanwhile, Pantene once again is sponsoring a branded hospitality suite for all award winners, presenters and VIPs during the broadcast. The net is looking to net 18-49s for the broadcast but for Doritos’ webcast, CTV predicts it will skew the younger 18-34 set.
Toronto-area awareness campaign invites public to check its head
Check your head lately? Seems Toronto mayor David Miller has, according to the folks at The Mood Disorders Association of Ontario (MDAO). Mayor Miller appears in one of a series of posters as part of a pilot, three-month-long multimedia campaign launching April 4 entitled ‘Check up from the neck up,’ which aims to normalize mental health and touts the MDAO’s just-launched website checkupfromtheneckup.ca, which houses a self-test.
The GTA-only awareness campaign includes bluesy then upbeat radio in full rotation, and OOH executions include print and digital creative at doctor’s offices, within the TTC’s Onestop Media network and at theatre lobbies. Media buys were done by Toronto shop, Media Dimensions. And at a BCE launch event, 10,000 bookmarks will be distibuted. The creative, done by John Burghardt Consulting and Grissom & Friends Creative Services, both of Toronto, bears an acorn as its visual signature – signifying untapped potential and also looks a bit like a human head with a cap.
‘Checking up on your mental health should be part of everything else,’ says Karen Liberman, executive director of the MDAO. ‘We don’t need another ribbon or bracelet,’ she says. ‘I like it because it’s a little nut. And we’re all a little bit nuts.’
CycleMedia billboards are on the move in Toronto
Toronto-based OOH company CycleMedia is taking to the streets beginning next week shilling for Scarborough,ON-based financial service chain, Your Money Store. The company makes ad messages move via bicycle – billboards that boast sound are strapped to the back of bicycles set on a predetermined route within the GTA. President Tom Greenberg says CycleMedia has a client list that includes the City of Toronto, RedTO.com and 102.1 The Edge among others. With seven bicycles at the ready, he says a cyclist typically nets 75,000 impressions per day. A minimum daily cost for one unit runs at $300. CycleMedia has plans to expand into Vancouver by the end of summer.
http://www.cyclemedia.ca
Nielsen Media Research Spend Trend: Spring cleaning
TV sparkles with spring cleaning
Television gets the bulk of the cleaning product and service spending although 2005 netted the medium the smallest percentage over the four-year period. Magazines are a distant second but rallied last year to come up just short of double the previous year’s spending. Overall spending in traditional media declined in this category in 2005, likely reflecting the trend for major marketers P&G and Unilever to get closer to their consumers with more direct tactics such as promotions, in-store, Internet, and email marketing.
Debbie Travis gets show off the ground
A start date has been determined for the new show From the Ground Up with Debbie Travis, to air on Global Television. Beginning Sunday, April 23 at 7 p.m., the decorating dynamo tries to instill passion and a work ethic in 12 members of what she considers to be a lost and disillusioned generation, those aged 20-30, who she thinks want everything quickly, but aren’t prepared to work for it. The building trade protégés, hand-picked by Travis, must build a mansion to the highest standards. When the mansion is sold, viewers of the program will choose the worker they think has the best attitude and ability to walk away with $250,000 from the profits. The show runs for 10 one-hour eps.
TSN, Degree up the ante
TSN and Degree antiperspirant are teaming for season two of Canada’s biggest poker tournament. The Degree Poker Championship will be held May 3-12 at the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort and will air in prime in September on TSN and TSN HD. There will be seven one-hour shows as opposed to the six aired in 2005. This year’s tournament marks the second of a three-year deal between TSN Events and Degree.
PMB Factoid
Canadians who go dancing; by occupation
W Net and JWT study: Women becoming more like men, says JWT EVP Marian Salzman
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Looks like women are getting more of it – and a lot of other things — these days, according to research conducted by JWT and the W Network. New York-based, global trendspotter and JWT EVP and director of strategic content, Marian Salzman, the woman who coined the term metrosexual and author of Buzz: Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand interpreted key findings of the research in Toronto last week.
Lay’s contest offers chance to be ‘Greatest Canadian Hockey Fan’
Frito-Lay Canada and the Toronto-based Hockey Hall of Fame are teaming up to name one Canadian as the first to be honoured in the Hockey Hall of Fame as the ‘Greatest Canadian Hockey Fan.’ Hopefuls can visit lays.ca to enter for a chance to win the grand prize package that includes a trip for two to Toronto, a guided tour of the Hall of Fame, tickets to an NHL game and the Hall of Fame Induction Celebration, as well as spending money. Frito Lay Canada will also be handing out $50,000 in minor hockey sponsorships as secondary prizes. TV ads will run nationally on TSN to support the promo. TSN did the Web and TV creative while Capital C provided in-store elements. Media buys were done in-house. Jeff Klein, senior marketing manager at Lay’s, says the contest has ‘very broad consumer appeal’ and the company is hoping to make this an annual event, although this has not been confirmed yet.
The Ultimate Fan display will be housed at a pillar leading to the Fan Fun Zone within the Hockey Hall of Fame. Within the Zone, Lay’s has also sponsored an interactive game called ‘Lay’s Shut Out.’ Klein says the primary objective of the promotion is brand building. ‘This is a ‘can’t buy’ experience,’ he says. ‘The [winner] gets bragging rights as the first fan and their profile and picture will be in a display for one year.’ The Hockey Hall of Fame welcomes 325,000 folks per year.
Public service is tops: Top TV ads – Eloda analysis for March 17-23, 2006
Seems advertisers in the public service category are doing most of the spending this year – or at least, last week. Public service nabbed the top spot at 33% for the period of March 17-23, 2006, up 8% from last year during the same time period. Entertainment hangs on to the number two spot, at 25%, in a year over year comparison, with 2006 numbers matching 2005 numbers. 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
