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Telus Mobility, Amazon.ca ring up coupon deal
Telus Mobility clients will now be able to download m-coupons by text message. The capability began this month with a code redeemable for $5 at Amazon.ca.
The way it works, says Michael Brown, director of marketing and business development at Toronto-based aggregator MyThum, is that Telus Mobility includes an SMS code in with the customer’s bill as part of its perks program. The customer dials the request to a short code that works only on Telus phones since the idea is to reward its users. The number reaches MyThum, which acts as a receiving house and assigns the customer a ‘coupon’ number. The numbers are tracked so the customer can only redeem once. The customer then calls Amazon.ca with the number to redeem their m-coupon. Telus Mobility is looking to partner with other marketers on similar programs.
Toronto Sun gets revamp, new campaign
The Toronto Sun is unveiling a new campaign today focusing on the theme line ‘Definitely different.’ The effort will run for eight weeks and encompass radio, the Sun TV channel and the backs and interiors of Toronto Transit buses. Two creative approaches are being used. The Sun is offering free classified ads to private individuals who will place a three-line ad to sell anything from merchandise to used vehicles. The other aspect of the campaign boosts the Sun‘s newly expanded sports coverage featuring former Maple Leafs captain Doug Gilmour.
The Sun is also getting a new design and additional voices, most notably ex-politico Sheila Copps. Thursday’s entertainment section will also be bolstered. Creative veterans Gary Carr and Alan Marr provided the radio and transit campaign.
BBM Media Snapshot: Canadian Corona drinkers
Amongst Canadians aged 18+ who drink beer at least once a week, 500,000 (4.5%) say Corona is the brand they consume most often.
* 60% of loyal Corona consumers are 18 to 44 years old.
* The region with the highest consumption rate is British Columbia at 1.6 times higher than the national beer consumer average.
* The average personal yearly income of loyal Corona consumers is $41,000, slightly higher than the beer consumers’ average income of $40,000.
* 38% of loyal Corona consumers (1.3 times more than the national beer consumer average) changed their preferred beer brand during the last two years.
* 44% of loyal Corona consumers state a preference for imported beers at a rate 2.2 times higher than the beer consumer average.
* 34% of loyal Corona consumers are members of a health club (two times greater than the national beer consumer average).
* Europe (39%), Mexico (34%) and the Caribbean (32%) are the top international destinations Corona consumers have visited. They have also visited Central and South America twice as often than the national beer consumer average.
* Loyal Corona consumers attended travel shows two times more often when compared to the national beer consumer average.
* The top three media by yesterday exposure for loyal Corona consumers are: radio (90%), TV (86%) and the Internet (66%).
* Their favourite radio formats (weekly reach) are: adult contemporary (20%), news/talk (19%) and mainstream top 40/CHR (15%, 1.5 times more than the beer consumer average).
* The top television program genres watched in an average week are: movies (70%), news/current affairs (60%) and documentaries (52%).
Source: BBM RTS Canada Fall ’04 / Spring ’04, individuals 12+
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.
Adventures in sponsorship
PRIME will be airing a new reality series, Adventures in Catering, Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., beginning Nov. 12. The show goes behind the scenes to look at the challenges of mounting a seamless catered affair. The Triptych Media project is halfway through production having just finished ep six of 13. Producer Daniela Battistella says they have been in conversation with potential sponsors and that they’re open to product placement.
PMB Factoid
Korean car in household – by city
Budweiser flips out on Montreal métro
It’s the Budweiser party train! Well, not quite. But, during September and October, Montreal’s métro riders can check out a visual stunt crafted by Budweiser Quebec and BBDO Montreal, featuring a guy rocking out with his guitar.
Using old-fashioned flipbook techniques, 36 images of a dude in progressive stages of a guitar solo were affixed to all nine cars of a métro train on Montreal’s Green Line. So, as the train whizzes into each station, riders waiting on the platform can see the full illusion of the ‘performance.’ The photography was done by Montreal-based Martin Girard.
Butter for world peace
Messages of peace, tolerance, equality and freedom of expression from…butter? The latest campaign from the Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec, called ‘Le beurre prend position’ (‘Butter takes a stand’) centres on such lofty ideals, aiming to promote ‘food for thought.’
There are eight different executions, all in French, featuring butter-worthy items like croissants, potatoes and toast with statements like ‘Unite the Nations’ and ‘Equality.’ One execution depicts a decapitated muffin with the line ‘Against Violence.’
Trojan woos women
Trojan Condoms unveiled a new brand targeted at women yesterday, called Elexa. Products include condoms, cloths, gel and a vibrating ring, and will be sold in feminine care aisles instead of condom sections at retailers like Shoppers Drug Mart, PharmaPlus and Wal-Mart.
A campaign to support the launch will break Oct. 3, with TV spots and print ads in women’s consumer mags like Flare, LouLou and Elle Quebec. A Web site, www.elexabytrojan.ca, is already active.
Creative for the campaign was done by New York-based Kaplan Thaler, and adapted for Canada by Allard Johnson. Maria Spensieri, Catherine Panarelli and Jocelyne Beaudet at Allard Johnson oversaw the Canadian media buys.
189 more stores join U.S. PPM test
Arbitron’s U.S. trial of its Portable People Meter (PPM) system has added the 189 Houston-area stores of that country’s largest drugstore chain, Walgreens. To take part, the stores will use encoded audio programming from In-Store Broadcasting Network consisting of music, third-party advertising, and in-house marketing messages.
According to Scarborough Research, at least 47% of the market’s adult population typically visits a Walgreens store each month.
Other retailers participating in the test include 109 Kroger stores, Best Buy, Gap, Gallery Furniture, National CineMedia, and Old Navy.
In its Houston test, Arbitron is using the PPM to track consumer exposure to media and entertainment, including broadcast, cable and satellite TV; terrestrial, satellite, and online radio; cinema advertising; and place-based electronic media. Arbitron plans to study the correlation between store traffic generated by advertising to the retail visits of people exposed to media carrying a retailer’s ads.
CanWest first foreigner to nab U.K. radio licence, do IPO for print properties
The relaxing of the U.K. Communications Act has enabled Winnipeg-based CanWest Global Communications to become the first foreign company to be granted a licence by OFCOM, the broadcast regulatory body in the U.K. The FM licence has been issued for a 12-year term and the new station, Original 106, will target listeners aged 40 to 59 in the areas of Southampton, Bournemouth, and Portsmouth in southern England.
CanWest owns 95% of the station while Seven Broadcast, operated by two U.K. radio consultants, holds the remaining 5%.
The company is not new to international expansion. In addition to its TV, radio, and newspaper holdings in Canada, CanWest has a stake in Network Ten TV in Australia, five radio networks in New Zealand, and in TV3, Ireland’s first commercial TV station. Its previous attempts to expand in the U.K. involved failed bids for a TV licence and radio licences in Belfast and Manchester. In a CanWest release, president/CEO Leonard Asper said the company was encouraged by the awarding of the licence and plans to ‘vigorously pursue our international expansion initiatives.’
Adding to the kitty, CanWest is going public with a chunk of its newspaper and interactive business. CanWest MediaWorks Income Fund would hold approximately 28% of the Canadian newspaper business. CanWest-owned The National Post will not be included in the IPO. The transfer should yield about $1.45 billion. That money plus $830 million the company will borrow will be used to buy the businesses of CanWest MediaWorks.
Nielsen Media Research Spend Trend: Pamper yourself
TV is tops for cosmetics, grooming, and personal care products. It not only grabbed the bulk of spending in this category from 2001 to 2004, its share of the ad dollars grew greatly each year. The biggest spenders were cleanser/cosmetic and fitness and health advertisers but the largest spending increase was seen in the depilatories/feminine shaving products/body hair bleach product segment, which grew from 6.8% in 2001 to 17.3% last year.
Real Estate Book inks deal with Sympatico
The Real Estate Book and RealEstateBook.com, owned by Network Communications, are now the exclusive real estate content provider for Sympatico/MSN.ca. Sympatico has an effective reach of more than 80% of the online population and 15.5 million unique visitors each month.
Cossette loses Richards
Lauren Richards, SVP/national media director of Cossette Media for 18 years, has departed the Toronto-based company, effective last Friday. However she will continue in the capacity of senior consultant, working on projects. Pierre Delegrave, Cossette Media president, will fill the role of national media director for the time being.
Spot auditor expands team
Eloda, a Montreal-based tracker of TV spots, has appointed David Gilmour as CMO. Gilmour comes from Cirque du Soleil. Also appointed is Johanne Fondrouge as marketing director. Fondrouge hails from Cheval-Théâtre. Both are new positions. The new team will be pursuing expansion of a new broadcast ad monitoring and audit service in Canada and the U.S.
