Podpoint.ca: newly launched podcast resource for Canadian marketers
Those confused about podcasting in Canada and how it can be harnessed for marketing purposes need look no further than podpoint.ca. The site launched yesterday to educate agencies and advertisers about podcasting, to facilitate ad buys, and also to create branded podcast content.
On the site, visitors can access Podpoint, the podcast about Canadian podcasts. Each show is between 20 to 30 minutes long and features promos, interviews and reviews of other Canadian podcasts. They can also gain access to a network of the top five or 10 Canadian podcasts for ad placement. Much like a media buy for TV or OOH, Podpoint will take care of the insertions, transactions, and specialized content for the advertiser or agency if needed. For those looking for branded content, Podpoint can create and host the podcast and send it to iTunes and all of the other popular search sites for podcasts.
Sandwich media goes beyond the boards
Seems sandwich chain Subway is really going after hockey lovers. Earlier this month, they announced a sponsorship of CBC mockumentary The Tournament, a series about hockey dads. And beginning Dec. 25, they’re going after the mobile-toting, sandwich-eating set with a national text-in-to-win promo called ‘SUBtxt Hockey Trivia’. Every sub sold at Subway will be stickered with a unique PIN, prompting a hockey trivia question. ‘Every correct answer gets two points and every wrong answer nets one point – much like hockey’s score assist model,’ says Gary Schwartz, president of Toronto-based Impact Mobile, the mobile aggregator behind the campaign. Subway noshers are then entered into a draw to attend the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Memorial Cup game in February. Hockey arenas hosting CHL games will also have branded rink boards inviting attendees to text in to play, drawing traffic to a Subway restaurant and ultimately to a specially-created microsite found at hockeysubway.com. ‘People will be invited to opt-in to receive ongoing hockey news as part of a larger, online CRM strategy for the brand,’ adds Schwartz. ‘The goal here is to drive sales and equate hockey with Subway and the CHL.’ TV spots, POS materials and bag stuffers round out the campaign. Media buys were done by MBS.
Top TV advertisers: Eloda ad analysis
P&G hangs on to the number one spot as the top brand with the largest variety of TV ads for the week of December 9-15. This year’s second runner up is toy maker Hasbro, with last year’s silver medal going to Warner Bros. Pictures. The holiday push remains strong with top categories retail, entertainment and entertainment equipment nabbing the top three spots respectively. Meanwhile, this year, automotive, entertainment and public service each share the number one spot at 13% in the race for most new TV advertisers 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
Top radio advertisers: Media Monitors ad analysis
Staples Business Depot dethrones Telus (this week at number two) in the competition for the highest number of radio spots on rotation in Toronto. Mobile brands dominate the top 10 list for the week of Dec. 11-17. Joining Telus are Fido (at number five), Rogers wireless (at number nine) and President’s Choice mobile (at number 10). Naturally, cellular, paging equipment and systems is in top spot as category with the most spots on rotation last week. Alcohol and consumer electronics take up the number two and three slots, respectively. Check out others topping the radio charts by category and brand in the Toronto market for the week of November 27-December 3.
http://www.mediamonitors.com
GOLTV to be carried on Rogers Digital
GOLTV Canada is now available on channel 428 to most Rogers digi-cable subscribers. The net is currently in free preview. GOLTV airs more than 1,500 games per year and in 2004, there were more than 825,000 Canuck players registered with the Canadian Soccer Association.
CBC to hatch new comedy series in January; live Olympic coverage in February
Gemini Award-winning comedy Hatching, Matching and Dispatching kicks off its first season on Friday, Jan. 6 at 9 p.m. on CBC. The satirical half-hour follows the Furey family of Newfoundland as they taxi residents literally from cradle to grave, offering wedding, funeral and ambulance services. To up the excitement around the show, prodco 2M Innovative is launching a month-long contest beginning January 6, offering viewers a chance to win $5000 to put towards the cost of a wedding, funeral or baby shower.
Meanwhile, for the sports-minded, the net will be providing 245 hours of coverage of the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter games. Coverage will begin on Friday, Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. with opening ceremony broadcast live from Turin, Italy. Daily reports will continue through to Sunday, Feb. 26, ending with the live broadcast of the gold medal game in men’s hockey at 8 a.m. and the closing ceremony at 1 p.m. CBC’s coverage of the winter games will be hosted by Terry Leibel, Ron MacLean and Brian Williams.
National Geographic nabs three new shows for February
National Geographic keeps it coming in February. The six-part Hunter Hunted looks at the roles of hunter and hunted in the animal kingdom from alligator attacks to snake charmers bitten by their snakes. The series airs weekly, beginning Thursday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. At 9 p.m., new series Triumph of Life begins its airing. The show combines photography and computer animation to tell the story of life on earth. Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. sees the debut of Mother of All Things. The four-parter looks at the biggest, baddest creations including a group of industrial artists who design the ‘mother’ of all frat fridges.
HGTV to air ‘family’ series in February
HGTV has designs on February. The net is set to premiere Building Family, a new, six-part series that follows Piero Pasquariello as he takes over his father’s thriving business. Building Family airs beginning Thursday, Feb. 9 at 9 p.m.
CTV Travel to air new foodie series
CTV Travel will air Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations beginning Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. The 13-part, hour-long series follows chef Bourdain as he sets off to explore the local customs, culture and people of far-off lands through gastronomical experiences.
Club Med Canada to unveil new OOH in Toronto’s York Street tunnel
Get set to feel even more like taking a vacation when you pass through the pedestrian tunnel on York Street in Toronto. Club Med is set to unveil more images as part of its second wave push beginning Jan. 2. Backlit panels as part of its ‘Faces’ campaign have already appeared in the Yonge Street tunnel and the company is building on the warm (pardon the pun) reception its been getting.
‘The faces campaign is part of a global campaign that was developed by Publicis in Paris in February of this year,’ explains Brenda Kyllo, GM at Club Med Canada. ‘We’re trying to market a friendly brand of luxury [with this campaign].’ ‘Faces’ uses the tagline ‘share the world with us’ and embeds faces within the context of the outdoors.
In Montreal’s La Gare Centrale, a wall mural and columns are covered in the creative, adapted for the Canadian market by a small Quebec-based agency called Delit de Fuite (meaning ‘hit and run’ en anglais).
‘Out of home works for us because in Canada, there’s the combination of bad weather outside and our message,’ says Kyllo. The brand campaign was also tactical, touting a new, direct flight to the Club Med in Caribbean island Turks & Caicos. The results are showing — Kyllo was forced to increase from 50 seats per new flight to an entire 136-seater plane.
‘For a lot of tour operators, people tend to wait until the last minute. It’s been the opposite for us. There’s been an increase in early bookings and in the travel industry, that’s the gold standard,’ adds Kyllo.
Full-page colour ads in the Globe & Mail in Toronto and 30-second TV spots in Montreal round out the campaign. Media buys were done by Carat in Montreal.
Rogers Sportsnet looking for ticker sponsors
Rogers Sportsnet is looking for brands to sponsor text to screen initiatives on shows Hockey Central, Primetime Sports with Bill McCown and the younger-skewing, extreme sport Fuel TV. So far signed on Hockey Central is Mississauga, Ont.-based eatery Boston Pizza.
‘Every Monday, an SMS chat ticker invites viewers to send in comments and every two minutes, the Boston Pizza logo scrolls across the screen,’ says Dave Ballingall, VP of marketing at Rogers Sportsnet. Ballingall explains that the mobile’s bounce-back message is also branded with a promo spot, while a live SMS moderator prompts the audience and posts messages related to the brand. ‘The number of participants swing dependent on the news that day,’ he adds. ‘When the NHL settled their dispute, we had 2000 text messages. We tend to average about 100-200 messages within a half-hour show.’ Hockey Central boasts average viewer numbers at 30,000 in its Ontario edition and 38,000 in its Pacific edition. The Boston Pizza deal was done direct.
Coors rolls out branded taxis
Molson Canada is doing its part this holiday season reminding consumers to use cabs after a night of drinking. Molson Canada’s Coors Light brand is wrapping 10 Co-op cabs (via OOH agency TaxiArt) in Toronto as part of a two-month brand awareness campaign. Creative was done by Toronto-based ad house FCB and Mediaedge:cia did the buy.
Nielsen moves into OOH ratings
The Nielsen Outdoor division of Nielsen Media Research in the U.S. recently previewed its new OOH measurement system and released the results of a test of the system conducted last year in Chicago, a market with approximately 12,600 OOH signs. Nielsen Outdoor plans to launch the system in some U.S. markets in April 2006, however, there is no timetable as yet for introduction of the tracking system in Canada. Mike Leahy, president of Nielsen Media Research Canada, says, ‘We are interested in talking to the OOH industry in Canada about the opportunities this new measurement would offer.’ Npod, the measurement device carried by panel participants, looks like a cell phone but is GPS-equipped to mark exposure to OOH signage, whether the participant passes it on foot or in a vehicle. The test was conducted for nine days during summer 2004 and involved 850 participants.
As result of the test, Nielsen Outdoor discovered that the average Chicago adult 18-plus has the opportunity to see 40 OOH messages each day, while urban dwellers are exposed to about 66 ads a day. The company was also able to calculate that in an average month 97% of consumers are reached by OOH and found that those most likely to be exposed to OOH were men 35 to 54 and women aged 18 to 34.
On TARGET: impact of wireless devices on TV viewing
TARGET research reveals new insights concerning the impact of technology on media habits. The decrease in hours spent watching television observed in the past few years can be explained partly by the increasing popularity of wireless devices. In fact, these devices create a negative synergy on TV viewing when combined together.
