King gets mini-series
Citytv and A-Channels will be the first to broadcast the king of rock ‘n’ roll’s master recordings in a mini-series entitled Elvis scheduled for the second week of May. The two-part effort was filmed with the co-operation of Elvis’ estate. Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Bend it Like Beckham) plays Elvis in the fact-based drama that follows the rocker from his poverty-stricken roots to icon status.
Targeted to family audiences and older demographics, the mini-series will air on Citytv Toronto and Vancouver on Sunday, May 8 at 9 p.m. and Wednesday, May 11 at 8 p.m. A-Channel Edmonton and Calgary will have it Sunday, May 8 at 9:00 p.m. and Wednesday, May 11 at 9:00 p.m. and A-Channel Manitoba will air it Sunday, May 8 at 8:00 p.m. and Wednesday, May 11 at 7:00 p.m. This series will be simulcast with CBS.
PMB Factoid
Percent of the PMB Health Enthusiasts cluster who do aerobics: 11. Exercise at home: 31
NADbank 2004: Post continues decline, Globe stays stable
The NADbank 2004 study (www.nadbank.com) reports good news for newspapers overall. The number of Canadians who read daily papers (11,793,500 weekly in 2004) has remained fairly constant since 1999, although increasingly some of that readership is moving to the online versions and the free daily papers.
The free dailies continue to eat into the readership pie. In Toronto, they accounted for 25% of newspaper readers in the market in 2004, up from 19% the previous year. Montreal readership jumped to 20% in 2004 from 17% in 2003.
TMN HD spinoff will seek partners
The Movie Network is launching a high-definition channel on May 1. TMNHD will be offered free of charge to subscribers of The Movie Network. The 24-hour sked will include material from HBO and Showtime, Hollywood hits like White Chicks and TMN’s own original Canadian drama series.
Once the channel is up and running, TMN will be seeking B2B opps. Since TMNHD will be commercial-free, the net will be looking beyond the 30-second spot to deals with such partners as a manufacturer of HD TVs. Russ Ward, director of consumer marketing, says TMNHD is also considering a promotion with a retailer to showcase HD content in their stores, similar to the one TMN OnDemand did with Future Shop when that net launched.
Says Ward: ‘We are looking forward to exploring how HD can be used to create new opportunities to partner with product companies.’
ABC and PMB launch joint service for small pubs
The Audit Bureau of Circulations and the Print Measurement Bureau have joined together to provide a subscriber research verification service. The service is specifically designed for Canadian magazines with ABC-audited circulation too small to qualify for the PMB measurement survey. The ability for smaller publications to have reader profile studies conducted according to joint ABC-PMB guidelines should give them more credibility with advertisers and media buyers.
http://www.accessabc.com
http://www.pmb.ca
Microsoft leverages untapped elevator door medium
Microsoft Canada is going after its target in their natural habitat – office workers in office buildings. The tech giant’s latest campaign, ‘New Era,’ is leveraging innovative ad space, including elevator doors as ad vehicles for the first time in Canada. MacLaren McCann’s Toronto office secured space on over 50 elevator doors in over 20 buildings across downtown Toronto and Vancouver.
The campaign broke in Canada last week and includes subway domination, transit shelters, parking lots, Elevator News Network (ENN) and washroom ad space in addition to traditional media. There are two versions of the elevator door wraps, which will be up for four weeks. ‘We want to make sure we reach people throughout their day,’ explains Mike Bulmer, Microsoft Office product manager at Microsoft Canada.
The creative for the campaign was done in MacLaren’s New York office. The creative team helped the Toronto office customize ads for elevator doors. Jack Wu, MacLaren McCann’s media planning manager, oversaw the campaign’s media buys.
BBM Media Snapshot
A profile of Canadians who frequently read advertising flyers inserted into the local weekly paper
* 18% of Canadians frequently read the flyers that come with their local weekly paper.
* They tend to be in the older demographics, with 56% aged 45 or older and 17% in the 65+ segment.
* They are more likely to be female (60%) than male (40%).
* 37% have a yearly household income of $60,000 or more.
* B.C. has the highest incidence of frequent readers in Canada at 28% versus the 18% Canadian average. Ontario is also higher than average with 21%. The Prairie region has average readership (18%) while Atlantic Canada is below average (12%). Quebec has the lowest proportion of all (11%).
* Their top five retail spending categories – in which they have spent $150 or more in the past year – are women’s clothing (57%), men’s clothing (48%), auto service (47%), children’s clothing (35%), and furniture (27%).
* In terms of yesterday exposure, the top four media for Canadians who frequently read weekly newspaper flyers are: TV (90%), radio (87%), daily papers (59%) and the Internet (49%).
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.
Sympatico/.MSN sends do-gooders to Cannes and launch new classifieds
Sympatico/.MSN has initiated a contest open to Canadian agency creatives who have designed a campaign for a Canadian registered charity. The first-place winner scores a $50,000 media campaign for its cause on www.Sympatico.MSN.ca as well as a $7,500 trip to Cannes to attend the Cyber Lions. Second prize is a $30,000 campaign and third is a $20,000 campaign. Entries are being accepted from now until May 6 at http://www.designabetterworld.com.
In other Sympatico news, www.LesPAC.com, the most-used classified ad service in Quebec, is now available to surfers in the rest of Canada, through its English-language version CanadianBargain, accessible via the classifieds section on the www.Sympatico.MSN.ca English portal. ‘The success and the popularity of this service have continued to grow among Sympatico.MSN.ca French portal users since its arrival on our Web site in 2003 and we are confident this trend will continue throughout Canada,’ said Patrick Lauzon, VP sales Sympatico.MSN.ca, in a release.
Showcase hitches Trailer Park Boys campaign to hockey
Specialty net Showcase rolled out a major multimedia campaign yesterday to support the launch of season five of its hoser hit Trailer Park Boys. The effort includes outdoor, print and on-air executions as well as a cross-country publicity tour. An online element at http://www.Showcase.ca/TrailerParkBoys features contests and other interactivity. The campaign’s hockey theme touts the boys as national cultural icons who have taken up the TV slack during the hockey strike.
In the print ad, they are dressed in hockey gear and pictured on the front of hockey cards. The slogan: ‘Canada’s Got a New Favourite Pastime.’ Packs of the cards (complete with ‘statistics’) will be used as promotional giveaways. ‘We’d like to thank the NHL for giving us a great creative hook this year,’ says Walter Levitt, SVP of marketing and creative services at Showcase’s owner Alliance Atlantis Communications. The season begins Sunday, April 17 at 9 p.m.
The outdoor and print campaign was created by FCB Canada. The on-air creative and media placement were handled in-house. Last year TPB enjoyed a successful season with the first-run shows making it the highest-rated Canadian series on specialty TV. While the show’s core audience is men 18-34, the fan base also includes older demos and women.
Vision honours the pope
Multi-faith broadcaster VisionTV will be celebrating the life and legacy of Pope John Paul II in a series of specials that began last night with the documentary John Paul II: Almost an Autobiography which will air again on Wednesday, April 6, at 12:00 a.m. Still to come are a special edition of Vision’s flagship current affairs series 360 Vision which features an hour’s discussion with a multi-faith panel (Wednesday, April 6 at 9 p.m. and 1 a.m.)
On Friday, April 8 at 7 p.m., the net presents full coverage of The Requiem Mass of Pope John Paul II from St. Peter’s Square in Rome, with English commentary. Vision is also planning to air a new episode of the VisionTV/BBC documentary series Absolute Truth. ‘Election of a Pope – White Smoke’ takes an inside look at the process by which the pontiff’s successor will be chosen.
Off to the races
TSN is set to race around the world with this year’s Champ Car World Series, providing race fans with 11 races spanning across four different countries.
Starting off in Long Beach at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 10, this season will feature seven races from the United States, two from Mexico and one each from South Korea and Australia. The races will be broadcast periodically from April through to November and will feature the talents of Canadians Paul Tracy, Alex Tagliani and last year’s Atlantic Series Rookie of the Year, Andrew Ranger.
For a complete listing of TSN’s 2005 race schedule, visit http://www.tsn.ca.
Die-hards get Corrie specials
As if the current 10-week double-episode blitz weren’t enough, beginning Sunday, April 24, CBC will air a series of six specials focusing on different aspects of venerable ratings grabber Coronation Street. The Street Undressed looks at Corrie fashions over the past 45 years, from Hilda’s rollers to Bet’s beehive. At the other end of the spectrum, Hunks chronicles the street’s macho mechanics and fashionable factory lads.
Thibault joins Ski Press
Todd Thibault, 22-year veteran of all things skiing, is the newest addition to McMasterville, Que.’s Ski Press Media team as U.S. sales account manager and promotions director. After years in ski equipment testing, retail, movies, magazines, marketing and special events co-ordination, Thibault will be given the task of ensuring strong ties to retail for Ski Press USA. His duties will also include advertising and promotional schedules, and heading up the company’s new events and promotions department. Ski Press USA has a circulation of 625,000.
Events
April 19
Making Email Work
Second City, Toronto
(416) 760-3344
http://www.aimscanada.com
A recent Jupiter study cites e-mail deliverability and better targeting as marketers’ primary concerns for e-mail marketing this year. This session, presented by the Association of Internet Marketing & Sales, looks at how to effectively protect and leverage your invesment in e-mail communications.
April 27
AIMS Think Tank Series Presents: Morning with the Masters
National Club, Toronto
(416) 760-3344
http://www.aimscanada.com
CEOs of two leading global Internet services firms examine what’s on the horizon. Panelists include Mark Kingdon, CEO of Organic, New York, and Canada’s own Gurval Caer, CEO of Blast Radius. Presented by the Association of Internet Marketing & Sales.
PMB Factoid
16% of Canadians participate in a department store customer reward program. 25-34s are 23% more likely to belong.
