From: The Toronto Star (Wednesday March 10, 2010)
Vancouver ad agency to open T.O. office – Award-winning Rethink eyes nationwide profile
By Dana Flavelle Business Reporter

Independent Vancouver advertising agency Rethink Communications is moving into the big leagues, opening its first office in Toronto in a bid to capture more business.

The award-winning firm, whose ads for A&W and Mr. Lube have been a hit with viewers, says it was time to move up.

“We’ve grown as far as we can in Vancouver,” agency co-founder Chris Staples said in an interview Tuesday.

“There’s a ton of opportunity in Toronto. About 90 per cent of the marketing business in Canada is there.”

The move was overdue, Staples said. “We’ve had to turn down a lot of business from our national clients based in Toronto because we didn’t have an office there.”

Rethink’s national clients currently include Solo Mobile, Sympatico and Sobeys.

The Toronto office will have a strong digital capacity, Hegan said.

Rethink says it has succeeded by operating on a different business model from other agencies. As the number of media “channels” exploded in the past decade to include Facebook and Twitter as well as traditional TV and billboard ads, clients’ budgets remained the same, Staples said.

“We’re very different from other agencies. We don’t have divisions or silos. You get one account manager, who’s a generalist who knows how to do everything and they connect you with the specialists like Dre, who’s a digital specialist,” Staples said. “It’s a way more efficient system. There are fewer layers. Your dollar can stretch further.”

The agency offers a kind of performance guarantee, called the “Rethink Rebate,” which amounts to 5 per cent of its fee if certain targets aren’t achieved.

Rethink Toronto will be located at 110 Spadina Avenue.

For more information, visit: Rethink Toronto
Follow Rethink Toronto on Twitter

To showcase the category’s largest brush, a new media space was created – the subway exit turnstiles themselves. Dramatizing the benefit of LashBlast Length, the exit turnstiles were wrapped in yellow to look like an extremely long brush, and the crossbars were wrapped in black to demonstrate the extremely long lashes you get as a result of using the mascara.

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Canada

When it comes to food, everyone’s a critic. Restaurants have always relied on word of mouth from satisfied diners to spread the word about their menu – especially in Toronto where there are new restaurants popping up all the time. With the explosion of social media tools, it’s easier than ever for foodies and food-lovers alike to share experiences – I always Tweet out my new favourite spots.

We recently compiled a list of the Top 10 Toronto foodies to follow on Twitter. But what about the restaurants themselves? How are they embracing social media tools – or are they? Some local restaurants are adopting new media tools, and some still have far to go.

One local restaurant recently gathered the tech foodie community for a Twitter-themed night out. A friend invited me to the Eats, Beats and Tweets event at Queen West’s Nyood restaurant, held on the opening weekend of Winterlicious. This special two-night event celebrated all things tasty and tech; diners feasted on a tasting menu while Tweets about the food were displayed on the walls, and Twitter-friendly DJs kept the crowd entertained.

Restaurants in Toronto are also jumping on the Twitter bandwagon – Pizzeria Libretto (@PizzaLibretto) Tweets photos of daily specials; the Gladstone (@GladstoneHotel) crowdsources new menu items, and my personal favourite, (@Poutinerie), shares news about upcoming locations around the city.

Another notable example is Mildred’s Temple Kitchen (@mildredstemple), who ‘pepper’ their stream with hashtags, photos, videos, and replies to future diners (food pun intended).

And if the tech crowd won’t go to the restaurant, the restaurant will go to where iPhones congregate. Local social media darling Freshii is starting to pop up as choice caterer at events around the city – from ING Direct’s recent Meet and Tweet mixer to the popular Third Tuesday social media event.

One place restaurants are lacking? Their websites. There must be an unwritten rule in the food industry that says that Flash is king. Every site has catchy music playing while images whiz across the screen – any web developer’s nightmare (just ask Bretton MacLean).

So what’s the next step for restaurants? As an iPhone addict I hope restaurants leverage mobile applications. Right now third-party applications like Urbanspoon are the go-to resource for diners looking to get on-the-go advice on where to eat. Restaurants need to take advantage of new sites like Foursquare (Magic Oven is currently looking at Foursquare promotions) and mobile coupon platforms like Clip Mobile to offer specials to consumers and bring in local traffic.

So while you can probably find your favourite restaurant on Twitter, tech foodies around the city like @SpotlightCity and @KarmaCakeDotCa agree that restaurants are just scratching the surface of capitalizing on social media tools to build their following and attract new customers. But one thing’s for sure – the tech community is looking forward to seeing what they cook up next.

Find more mouth-watering Tweets on blogTO’s Twitter list of Toronto restaurants.

In the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, Virgin Mobile Canada is ready to dance in the streets for some flash mob loving in Toronto.

Just after 1:30 p.m. on February 10th, Virgin swarmed the intersection of Yonge and Dundas streets with 150 university students performing a choreographed routine to the song “Love Today” by Mika.

“We love doing this stuff, it’s so right for the brand,” said Andrew Bridge, director of brand communications for the mobile provider. “It’s fun and a bit irreverent. That’s very in line with what our brand does. We were talking about what kind of virtual Valentine card we could send to our members and post online…We hope to get some great buzz and that our members think its a nice touch point and feel part of the family.”

Video of the mob will be sent to Virgin subscribers and distributed virally.

The flash mob is part of a week-long program that puts Virgin’s angels–a staple of its most recent marketing campaign–in five cities to perform random acts of love. People in Toronto, Montreal Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa might receive a free ride on public transit, a paid-for parking spot or cup of coffee, or maybe even a hug.

“They’re just little things that say ‘this is the kind of love you get from Virgin Mobile and why are you settling for less?’ ” Bridge said.

In conjunction with the opening of the 2010 Canadian International Autoshow, smart Canada is educating urban dwellers regarding one of the many benefits of driving a smart fortwo. A head-turning marketing initiative in downtown Toronto has wedged a giant shoehorn behind a smart fortwo, visually illustrating that the less than 3 metre smart fortwo can park almost anywhere. The display, parked in various high traffic downtown locations, also imparts the message: “Fits into tight places”, and prompts onlookers to visit “thesmart.ca.” The idea aims to demonstrate that just like your favorite pair of shoes, the smart fortwo can comfortably fit into any lifestyle. The smart fortwo is the most fuel-efficient two-seater in Canada, and it boasts a spacious interior, a 5-star crash safety rating and great agility to dart through traffic while avoiding potholes and other urban hazards. This unique and larger-than-life display playfully conveys that the intelligently designed smart fortwo is the ultimate tool to conquer the city. The ambient initiative will continue throughout the duration of the 2010 Canadian International Autoshow.

Advertising Agency: BBDO Toronto, Canada

Based in Toronto, new OOH co KB Media holds exclusive Canadian rights for Mirror Image, an interactive media technology developed by Huntersville, NC-based LuxuryTec that embeds sensors in mirrors to reveal a backlit ad inside.

The company was founded by CEO Jim Kirby, formerly of Publicis Canada, The Marketing Store Worldwide and IMG Canada, and president David Brisson, whose experience lies in sports marketing, previously working with professional leagues like the NHL, NBA, NFL and the PGA Tour.

KB’s will be rolling out a national network of bars, eateries, health and fitness clubs, golf and ski clubs, retail, offices, airports and on-campus locations.

“With the launch of Mirror Image, we’re creating a benchmark for out-of-home advertising,” said Kirby, in a release. “Our new products break through the clutter, allows for brand segmentation and will provide sustainable revenue for our partners.”

The agency plans to announce digital additions to its lineup of marketing products in the process of being finalized.

“To get noticed in today’s media landscape it takes ingenuity, creativity and an element of fun,” said Brisson, in a release. “We’re confident that we have an engaging business proposition for our partners and advertisers, and we know the consumer will be wowed by the technology.”

The new CBS Outdoor Canada platform txt2go has a magic number.

The OOH company announced yesterday it has added text-messaging functionality to its outdoor campaigns, allowing viewers to short code 77888 and a keyword to receive promotional information, location-based offers, contests or discounts. Clients can monitor the results of the SMS campaigns via a new mobile website, developed for the company by New York-based Rip Road.

“It’s a mobile call to action,” CBS Outdoor Canada’s director of marketing Michelle Erskine tells MiC. “It enhances outdoor’s ability to reach the audience with an interactivity we didn’t necessarily have before.”

With the world becoming increasingly adept at text messaging, Erskine says the time is right to launch the service, as its appeal ranges from youth and young adults to parents who have picked up the practice to stay current with their kids. Because of its low cost, it’s a media tool that appeals to smaller businesses as well, she says.

“It’s an ideal time to offer this because you’ve got a strong number of people who are active text messengers, and since we’re reaching people when they’re out of the house, reaching them with an interactive component is just a nice marriage,” says Erskine.

“A short code and a keyword are easier to remember than a phone number and a URL,” she explains further. “So much of the world now is mobile. Life is happening outside of the house, and for those that are living off their mobile device, this is the best way to reach them.”

From Marketing Magazine: Disney creates Red Queen and White Queen stops on TTC
By Kristin Laird

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada has set the stage for a royal battle between the “Red” and “White” Queens with a subway station domination that promotes the March 5 release of Alice in Wonderland, a 3D fantasy adventure directed by Tim Burton.

Toronto’s Queen Street subway station has been taken over by platform poster displays and large-scale custom decals featuring the Queens (the Red Queen played by Helena Bonham Carter and the White Queen played by Anne Hathaway) in scenes from the Mad Hatter’s tea party.

The effort is meant to give “a feeling of the magic of Wonderland and play up the rivalry of the two Queens,” said Lauren Richards, CEO of SMG Canada, which includes Starcom, the agency that handled the placement.

The words “Red” and “White” appear above the “Queen” station signs on the platform walls, marking the first time the Toronto Transit Commission has allowed the station name to be incorporated into advertising.

“The impact of the advertising being integrated into the station name is really amazing,” said Richards. “That’s where the magic is, we’re embedding into content in the subway.”

According to Starcom, an estimated 57,000 TTC riders pass through the Queen Street station each day.

Large decals featuring Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter also appear in the stairwell and in the tunnel between the two platforms. Disney’s L.A. office tailored the creative for the Queen Street station, said Richards.

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