The CASSIES Awards announced today that this year’s chair of judging is Daniel Rabinowicz, president of TAXI Montreal. There is a new category of award this year for B2B entries (see MIC, May 3/05). The CASSIES will also introduce a Benchmarking Panel made up of CASSIES judging vets like Arthur Fleischmann and David Rutherford. This new panel will ensure that all cases going forward in the ad race meet the mandate of impressive business results substantially caused by advertising. The awards deadline is set for June 30. The presentation gala is Nov. 24.

DIY marketers are heavily into TV and newspapers before pubs. With all of the successful decorating/renovation channels and publications in the marketplace, it’s no surprise that this is a big category. There’s a wide range of marketers competing for the DIY dollars but hardware stores and building centres are the biggest home renovation spenders. TV picked up more than half of the ad dollars last year, followed by newspapers with just over 25% and magazines with 12%.

Maria Martinez, formerly VP, global knowledge management at MPG, the media network of worldwide marketing communications group Havas, has been added to MPG’s Catalyst team as VP, strategic planning at the company’s North American arm. In her new role, Martinez will work closely with MPG clients to develop strategies that will support their brands, and her remit includes all North American offices, including Toronto’s MPG/Maxxmedia. Martinez will also play a role in MPG’s business development, using her knowledge of best practices from around the globe.
She previously worked in MPG’s Paris, Barcelona, NYC and London offices, and now will be based in New York. Media in Canada scored a few minutes with her before she boarded a plane bound for Spain.

MIC: What kind of innovation in strategy do you plan to bring to the North American market?
MM: We put the consumer in the heart of what we do so we can have a holistic understanding of their media consumption. We can understand them better. By working with different client teams, we get beyond basic brand issues and we drill down to the medium and eventually to the messages, which is where we want to be.

MIC: What have you learned from your work in other markets?
MM: I think there’s a lot of value in sharing best practices because challenges are now global. At MPG, we have global account directors in place who are leading the global strategy for a brand. They are there to share info and ensure consistency. We’re all in the process of building on best practices.

Suzanne Sauvage has been named president, Canada of Cossette Communication Group, effective June 1. Sauvage has been at the agency in progressively senior positions since 1998. She currently holds the title of president, Cossette Montreal – a post she has had since 2002. In her new duties, Sauvage will be based in Toronto and will take on the management of the agency’s Toronto and Montreal offices in addition to acting as chief liaison between Cossette’s offices in Quebec City, Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa. Alex Sakiz has been chosen to head up the Montreal office as EVP, Cossette Communication Group.

Marilyn Sherman, EVP of media at Echo Advertising in Toronto, has been named president of the agency. Sherman joined Echo in 1984 as media director. She replaces Barry Avrich, who is opening a new shop, Endeavour Marketing and Communications.

* 3.7 million (14%) Canadians are frequent coupon users.
* Frequent coupon users are more likely to be female (61%).
* 58% of them are between 25 and 54 years of age.
* Quebec stands out as the region with highest incidence (20%) of coupon users. Ontario and Atlantic Canada, on the other hand, are below average with 10% and 12% respectively.
* The average personal yearly income of frequent coupon users is similar to the national average of $30,000.
* 50% of the frequent coupon users simultaneously use mail flyers, flyers from community newspapers and flyers included in daily newspapers.
* The top five retail spending categories among frequent coupon users are: men’s clothing (80%), women’s clothing (79%), women’s shoes (69%), garden supplies (63%) and office (stationery) supplies (61%).
* The top three media for yesterday exposure against frequent coupon users are television (90%), radio (88%) and daily newspaper (58%).
* Looking at radio weekly reach, the top three formats among frequent coupon users are news/talk (22%), adult contemporary (20%) and country (9%).
* Their daily newspaper sectional readership focuses on local and regional news section (84%), front page (81%) and the movies/entertainment section (77%).

Source: BBM RTS Canada Fall ’03 / Spring ’04

The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 55,000 Canadians, conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada: cdorning@bbm.ca.