Canadian Tire springs into integrated campaign
Ah spring. Time for rebirth, right? Canadian Tire sure thinks so, if its new integrated spring campaign, by Toronto-based AOR Taxi is any indication. Granted, the new ‘Spring Starts at Canadian Tire’ effort, which includes two brand spots, three product spots, print, OOH, DM and Web, is more of an ‘evolution than a revolution,’ according to Tracy Fellows, VP, consumer advertising and marketing, who says the new campaign is Canadian Tire’s first fully integrated effort. National TV spots will launch on Saturday.
Falcon Beach gets second season
Global Television has confirmed it is ordering a 13-episode second season of the young adult drama Falcon Beach. The series, which only premiered on Jan. 5, has a significant product integration deal with Pontiac, although the automaker hasn’t signed on yet for season two, says Barbara Williams, SVP of programming and production for CanWest MediaWorks. But, she says: ‘Sponsors have been delighted with [the program]. Many are interested in talking to us about it.’
Williams says Global made the renewal call early because the show ‘launched strongly out of the gate’ (the first episode scored 576,000 viewers in its 8 p.m. timeslot, according to BBM) and ‘we’re very satisfied with where it is at this point.’ There is also the practical consideration of a show that shoots in summer in Winnipeg, she says, citing the short shooting window and the need for a strong pre-production period.
Opportunities are available for product placement, integration and promotions for season two. Williams says it’s important to stay committed to and help a homegrown show. Falcon Beach‘s core demo is females 18-34. Production begins this summer.
Chatelaine hooks up with Jann Arden and Sun-Rype Fruit Products to launch event series
Chatelaine is leaping off the page and on to the stage with an event series aimed at inspiring and motivating Canadian women. The multi-city tour stops off in Toronto on April 1 and later in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa. Entitled My Life, My Way, the event series sponsored by Kelowna, B.C.-based Sun-Rype Fruit Products, features Canuck songstress Jann Arden and life strategist/author Ellie Rubin. Sun-Rype has plans to sample its line of fruit juice products on-site at each event, as well as distributing items in a gift bag, says Marnie Peters, marketing manager for Chatelaine. ‘This is a chance for our readers to talk to Jann in person. [With this event, guests] can get practical info for life while being entertained and inspired.’
Peters says this is the first time the mag has headlined its own event series. Other sponsors include Corby Distilleries’ Black Tower brand and Elizabeth Arden. Agencies involved in the deal are DDB Vancouver (for Sun-Rype) and Zenith OptiMedia (for Corby Distilleries). Chatelaine targets women 24 to 49.
Rogers Sportsnet keeps hockey fans abreast of trades during NHL trade deadline
Rogers Sportsnet is keeping sports fans in the know with text message NHL trade deadline alerts. The service, which went live on Monday, has been providing up-to-the-minute bulletins direct to cell phones. Though David Ballingall, VP of marketing for Rogers Sportsnet says the text SMS alert service was offered during the past trade deadline in 2004, this year’s results show we’ve come a long way with our cell phones. ‘It was a learning experience for us then,’ says Ballingall. ‘We had 300 people signed up using the service [in 2004]. Now, just after noon [yesterday], we have 1300 signed up. We’re very pleased with the results and it shows a real appetite for folks to get information quickly and from [anywhere].’
Ballingall says the net plans to have its SMS component ongoing and available for sponsors, positioning Rogers Sportsnet as ‘not only a TV station but platform-agnostic, be it TV, radio or online.’ The net will again offer a live chat ticker during Hockeycentral at the Deadline, when the show panelists take over for eight hours of continuous coverage beginning 10 a.m. today. Ratings for the six-hour- long trade deadline show in 2004 had an average minute audience of 109,000 with 2,000 folks participating in the live chat ticker feature.
Kit Kat clock takes on program attributes in CanWest/Nestlé co-promo
The Kit Kat Clock campaign is reminding Global viewers to take a break. The promo, a joint partnership between Nestlé Canada and CanWest MediaWorks, features a Kit Kat-branded animated clock customized to match the program slot. The clock will make its 15-second appearance during Survivor, The Apprentice, The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live. During Survivor, the Kit Kat Clock will bear a torch-like face similar to the torches used on the show. The timepiece made its debut last week after its test spot during the Super Bowl, says net spokesperson Katherine Raso. The campaign runs until the end of April. The deal was done by Zenith Optimedia.
Notes from the media landscape: software that lets you test-drive your OOH campaign
How would you like to assess the impact of your next OOH campaign without leaving your chair? That’s all possible with Outdoor DRiVE Pro (outdoordrive.com) from Alpha MediaWorks (alphamw.com) of New York, an upgraded, 3-D modeling version of the Outdoor Drive software it created for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) last year.
The program is a virtual environment that enables users to input planned outdoor advertising into a module and view the art as if in the driver’s seat. Creative designs can be previewed and evaluated through a variety of simulated environments and readability can be judged using distance milestones. Some of its other benefits include ability to input multiple designs; view multiple outdoor media formats simultaneously; save and email simulations; and choose driving environments – urban commercial or residential, suburban, country, day or night.
ABC television develops ROI tool
Major U.S. broadcaster ABC is set to help clients pinpoint their targets with the ABC M4 Consumer Optimizer, a new ROI tool designed to show advertisers what portion of a TV audience uses a specific product or product category.
The optimizer generates what ABC calls consumer ratings by blending Nielsen Media Research TV data with other viewing data from MRI (Mediamark Research Inc.). Not much has been released yet about the M4 Optimizer but more information is expected to be available from ABC within the next two weeks. Although some ABC clients will see a demonstration of the new research tool in the coming weeks and months, it must still go through the accreditation process of the Media Rating Council and won’t be ready for the big fall upfront market this year.
BBM Media Snapshot: Canadians and RSP loans
* 600,000 Canadians (2%) acquired an RSP loan within the past two years.
* 60% are between 25 and 44 years old.
* Quebec has the largest incidence of those taking out RSP loans (one and a half times the national average of 2%).
* Their average personal yearly income is $50,700; higher than the overall national average of $39,500.
* Compared to the national averages, they are two times more likely to have investments in mutual funds.
* Those who take out RSP loans are two times more likely to hold an American Express card, four and a half times more likely to have a travel and entertainment loyalty rewards on a credit card, and four times more likely to have a gas service station card.
* 69% of those with RSP loans did not contribute the maximum to their RSP in their last tax return.
* Compared to the national averages, they are two times more likely to have mortgage insurance.
* By yesterday exposure, TV (82%), radio (81%) and the Internet (62%) are the top media for reaching Canadians taking out RSP loans.
* Their top three favourite radio formats are: news/talk (35%), adult contemporary (18%), and mainstream top 40/CHR (13%).
Source: BBM RTS Canada Fall ’04 / Spring ’05
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.
Canada’s Next Top Model sets air date
Citytv has revealed the start date of its new reality series Canada’s Next Top Model. The program will premier Wednesday, May 31 at 8 p.m. in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary and 7 p.m. in Winnipeg. The show will repeat on A-Channel the following Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., beginning June 6.Top Model is the latest entry in the ‘who’s going to be next to be voted off the runway’ genre and will be hosted by actor and ex-supermodel Tricia Helfer. The winner receives a modeling contract with Sutherland Models and a $100,000 beauty contract from Procter & Gamble. She will also be featured in Fashion magazine.
OLN show on the hunt for viewers
Outdoor Life Network’s new show, Mantracker, should draw viewers interested in adventure, suspense and the reality genre. The Mantracker is a veteran cowboy and outdoorsman trained by the RCMP to find missing persons in the bush but this time there’s a twist: In each half-hour ep, a pair of strangers from different walks of life team up for 36 hours and attempt to outwit the expert tracker and beat him to the finish line. The setting is Canada’s tough terrain from the Yukon to Alberta’s foothills. The show airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m., beginning April 12.
Bravo showcases poets
Bravo has a new documentary series in Heart of a Poet. The series takes a peek into the diverse Canadian poetry community, with each half-hour episode showcasing one of 13 artists from prizewinners to up-and-comers. Heart of a Poet reveals the breadth of poetry in Canada and shows how the different backgrounds, experiences and influences of the poets shape the work. The program will air Thursdays at 8 p.m., beginning April 13.
PMB Factoid
Home renovations done in the past two years; by occupation
Oscar audience numbers increase for gals and young adults; Olympics eyeball draw drops in primetime
The numbers prove it: Canucks love the Academy Awards. According to numbers from BBM, Sunday night’s Oscars netted more than five million pairs of eyeballs for the third year in a row. Peak hit at just after 10 p.m., with nearly six million tuning in to see who went home with Oscar booty. Total reach for the program was 11.5 million. Interestingly, numbers surged in young adults and women in a comparison over last year, with A18-34 up 6.3%, women 18-24 up 12% and women 18-49, up 6%. Frock watch, perhaps? The Academy Awards pulled more eyeballs than did the Super Bowl last month, which nabbed 3.9 million.
Meanwhile, last week’s Nielsen stats reveal that the CBC’s Winter Olympics coverage achieved only half the viewers in primetime as did the 2002 games in Salt Lake City. Although the net’s live afternoon broadcasts were up 14% over Salt Lake, the mostly recap and tape-delayed coverage in the evenings paled in comparison to what rival nets offered. The games, held from Feb. 10 to 26, averaged 1.2 million in primetime, down from 2.4 million in 2002. The winter games faced stiff competition from five episodes of American Idol on CTV, which averaged 2.8 million, two eps of Survivor on Global averaging 2.7 million, and other major draws, such as Grey’s Anatomy and CSI, according to BBM. Unlike previous years, competitors in the U.S. and Canada did not back off during the games, instead pushing new episodes of the top shows. The good news? CBC afternoon coverage for the games averaged 1.4 million viewers, which is up from the 1.2 million it averaged in 2002.
- Some GroupM Canada senior executives have left the agency
- Is GroupM being dismantled? Reports point to rebrand and restructuring
- Havas Media Canada makes three senior leadership appointments
- Media leaders concerned ad spend not going to Canadian media
- Upfronts 2025: Fox announces significant investment in sports
