Jamieson launches branded paid program/TV show hybrid
Toronto-based Jamieson Laboratories has launched Slim Down TV last weekend, a combo branded reality TV show and paid program. The show invites fitness, nutrition and food experts such as chefs David Lee of Splendido and J.P. Challet of the Fifth among others to help real Canucks as they aim to live healthier and drop weight. ‘This is reality-based paid content and no one has done it here [in Canada] before,’ claims Kevin Edwards, VP of marketing at Jamieson. He says the project grew out of the company’s in-house marketing department with the objective of the 26-episode, half-hour series tied to the relaunch and rebranding of Jamieson’s holistic weight-loss product, the Slim Down Jump Start Kit. ‘We wanted to give [participants and viewers] all the components to meet their success,’ says Edwards. ‘People need all the components to lose weight so we brought a life coach along, because they need the support.’
Though Sheila Malanchuk, media strategy manager at OMD Vancouver feels there could be a fit between the brand and the reality lifestyle program, she says: ‘Audience education is a big part of [similar reality show] The Biggest Loser. If Jamieson took that and ran with it in a way that hooks the viewer, I can see it working. And to gather an audience, people need to know when and where they will see it.’ Slim Down TV‘s website, slimdown.ca, posts the show’s schedule across Canada. In the markets of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, the show airs mainly on Sundays near the lunch hour during community channels’ paid programming blocks.
Slim Down TV‘s launch is supported by a national ad campaign that started Jan. 2 using outdoor, transit, online, radio and print media. Toronto-based AOR Media Management handled the buy. Creative was done in-house.
Two industry vets launch consultancy
Callaghan-Osborne is the name of a newly launched management consultancy dedicated to helping marketers increase the ROI from their marketing communications spending. The two principals of the Toronto-based firm – Janet Callaghan and Jeff Osborne – certainly have the credentials and experience needed to do the job. In addition to their involvement with organizations such as BBM, PMB, COMB, BES and CMDC , both have held senior executive positions with major industry players. The business is focused on three high-return marketing communication activities: auditing expenditures for value; establishing goals, measurable deliverables, and an effective implementation process for suppliers; and ensuring that strategies get effectively executed. Callaghan-Osborne also works with international media audit companies by providing a local resource in Canada.
Callaghan has been SVP integrated marketing for Bell Globemedia, managing partner at The Media Company/MBS, and a vice-president at J. Walter Thompson. Osborne was previously president and CEO of ComQUEST Research, managing partner The Media Company/MBS, and vice-president at Enterprise Advertising Associates.
Top TV advertisers: Eloda ad analysis
Coinciding with the end of the Christmas/Boxing day boom, retail fell to second place behind entertainment for the largest variety of TV commercials during the week of December 30-January 5. Third and fourth places were nabbed by public service and food, respectively. In a comparison between Dec. 30-Jan 5 (last week) and the same time period a year ago, last year’s data showed restaurants stealing a third of the market (at number one, with 33% last year). This year’s stats show differently: public service stole the number one category spot at 17%. Election propaganda, anyone? 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
Top radio advertisers: Media Monitors ad analysis
Telecommunication brands took two of the top three spots in the number of Toronto radio ads in rotation last week. Telus Mobility solidified its top spot on the list, followed by Rogers Wireless at second. And in light of the upcoming election, The Conservative Party of Canada stole bronze. Bell Canada who was second last week dropped to sixth. The categories list showed cellular and paging equipment and services, travel services and home furnishings all on the podium for the week of December 30-January 5. Check out others topping the radio charts by category and brand in the Toronto market.
http://www.mediamonitors.com
PPM panel increases to 800 HH in Quebec
BBM is beefing up its Portable People Meter panel in Francophone Quebec to 800 households. The expansion will be completed during the 2005-06 broadcast year. The Francophone service launched in 2001 with 365 households and was expanded to 530 households in 2004 when BBM switched to the PPM technology. Twenty-three of the province’s major broadcasters support BBM’s service.
CMRI reveals Canucks like their TV
Canadian Media Research (CMRI)’s annual TV Quality (TVQ) Survey released its findings late last week and it seems Canucks are quite happy with TV as a medium. This year’s TVQ found that TV remains the primary source for news (+50%). For the first time in the history of the survey, however, the Internet was named by almost 1 in 10 surveyed. Other findings include:
· News, especially local news, national news and weather top all program categories that people say they are most interested in;
· CTV lead all channels in terms of viewer satisfaction; some 36% said they were ‘very’ satisfied with CTV. This is the first time a conventional channel has finished first in terms of viewer satisfaction. Other channels with high viewer satisfaction scores were Global, The Weather Network, Discovery and HGTV;
· CBC was viewed as having the best national news, while CTV was considered a leader in terms of local news; CTV has taken over the leadership position from CBC as being the most trusted source for news;
· Similar to last year, Discovery lead as the net those surveyed believed provided the best science and nature programming; A&E is reported to have the best documentary programming; The Weather Network was chosen by a large majority as having the best weather forecasts; CBC was chosen as the best network for Canadian programming;
· Interest in an instant playback feature, i.e., a digital PVR, has doubled in the past four years.
The TVQ Survey sampled more than 1600 English-speaking Canucks, aged 18+ in October-November 2005.
OLN looks at outdoor mysteries
The Outdoor Life Network is premiering the new 10-part series Outdoor Investigations next month. The show takes a look at a large range of outdoor phenomena including: shark attacks, poaching, and shipwrecks. The premiere episode investigates a $400 million dollar grow-op in California’s Sequoia National Park. Outdoor Investigations airs beginning Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.
TSN and CTV to air figure skating in HD
TSN and CTV will present the figure skating championships in High Definition (HD). Beginning this Thursday, the event will mark the first time Canadian figure skating has been presented in HD. The championships will kick off with the women’s short program competition and the pairs short program on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. on TSN and TSN HD.
RMB names new communications director
Sheila Mudrick has stepped into the newly-created communications director position at the Radio Marketing Bureau. Mudrick has 20 years experience in the marketing communications field, most recently within the Ontario College system.
Falcon Beach to boast bods, babes, and now, brands
Seems Global’s not the only brand banking on the hotness of Falcon Beach. The new, Canadian drama has scored General Motors’ brands, Pontiac, Cadillac and Buick to appear alongside hot bodies in hot locales throughout its first season, 13-episode run.
‘We saw this as a unique opportunity for a range of GM brands,’ explains Hugh Dow, president of M2 Universal, the agency behind the deal. ‘We wanted a
New look on tap for CBC News
In a move to net more eyeballs, CBC News is revamping. Beginning January 9, CBC News will unveil new graphics, colour scheme and five-tone mnemonic. The changes were done in a bid to make CBC’s news package more cohesive across all platforms, says John Bozzo, executive director, communications at CBC. ‘People didn’t have a sense of what CBC had to offer so CBC News [and its look and feel] will be under one umbrella across all platforms so that various media (web, radio and TV) won’t be branded differently.’ The news’ new look is under tight wraps, though Bozzo says that later this week will see the beginnings of a national advertising campaign (created internally) inviting folks to tune in on January 9. OOH executions include billboards, transit shelters, Esso gas pump screens, radio stations, as well as online. A national print campaign is also on tap across all major dailies plus The Globe & Mail and The National Post.
Last year, the net commissioned a survey using 1200 Canucks to glean what consumers were looking for in Canada’s news media. Respondents fired back that CBC was seen as ‘not cool’ and ‘for older people.’ Though Bozzo says, ‘there are no plans to dumb down the news,’ the net is hoping to not only retain its core news audience (45-65 year-olds, skewing male), but also to attract 25-54s who are currently not watching CBC News. The launch is timely: CBC chose to launch during a federal election period – a time guaranteed to net more eyeballs.
The five-week media campaign was done by MBS, with all new branding and creative done in-house.
Winnipeg transit ad biz goes to Pattison
The City of Winnipeg has awarded Pattison Outdoor to sell and service transit ads on the city’s buses as of January 1. The five-year deal includes ads on the interior and exteriors of the 500-bus fleet. The biz was last held by Viacom.
Motorola poised to trump satellite radio with wireless mobile radio offering
Just when you think satellite radio’s beginning to heat up. In the U.S., Motorola announced plans to launch iRadio later this year. The subscription-based radio service – to be made available via mobile phones – will hold 435 commercial-free radio channels for about half the price of the monthly fee of satellite radio providers. Content providers signed on to iRadio include Clear Channel, which is slated to provide 75 channels as well as syndicated programming. Heck, (actor and Angelina Jolie throwaway) Billy Bob Thornton will even produce an indie artist channel. iRadio uses wireless technology and, as such, folks can use their cells to download content for home or car stereo playback.
Nielsen Media Research Spend Trend: Federal, provincial, and municipal governments
Where do all the tax dollars go?
Not surprisingly the federal government is the biggest advertiser with the provinces and regions registering outlays commensurate with size and population. Three-quarters of total government ad spending is roughly split 50/25 between TV and dailies. Radio experienced slight gains year over year while magazines and OOH had increases in 2002 and 03 but landed with 2004 percentages on par with 2001. Overall spending peaked in 2003 but then dropped almost 27% to a four-year low in 2004.
Family Net debuts two; seeks brand sponsors for online and events properties
Family Channel is set to turn preschoolers into baby Einsteins. New preschool series Disney’s Little Einsteins will preview on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. before it drops into its regular timeslot – weekdays at 8:45 a.m., beginning February 13. The show takes little viewers on fun, musical missions using 2D animated characters. On Friday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m., the net will intro Life with Derek, a weekly 13-episode, half-hour live-action comedy targeted at 8-14s. Manager of communications Marcia Andreychuk says production on season two is about to start. ‘A great opportunity for brands to be attached to Family are [via] our off-network sponsorship opportunities [such as] Spring Break Out and Summer Chill. Last year’s Spring Break Out promo involved a cross-Canada mall tour (sponsored by Nintendo). [On our last] Summer Chill (sponsored by Kisko and Mattel) we sent a Family-branded ice cream truck across Canada, giving away freezies and ‘tester’ water toys for games of water tag at each stop,’ she says. Andreychuk also says that brands can align themselves with specific series to co-brand games or microsites. She says that past contests on family.ca have yielded more than 100,000 online entries. The site boasts one million uniques per month.
