Profectio

Ubisoft Opens New Toronto Office, 800 New Jobs To Be Created

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:03:24 +0000

In Canada we have three major cities known for gaming, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto (in that order). The Province of Quebec offers local companies many incentives which have helped many start ups get their initial boost, Vancouver has a very strong local community, and here in Toronto its a bit more of a feast or famine. While Toronto is still home to many gaming and new media companies we still have never hit that critical mass that is often seen in other cities across the country. International developer and publisher Ubisoft has announced plans to build a full development studio in Toronto, Ontario, a first for the province. The Government of Ontario is investing $263 million CDN over the next ten years into the expansion plans which is begin operations in late 2009.

“Today’s announcement marks a strategic move for Ubisoft as we continue to expand our internal development force,” said Yves Guillemot, president and chief executive officer at Ubisoft. “We are in an excellent position to grow and after extensive analysis we are thrilled to have reached an agreement with the government of Ontario to found our new studio in Toronto. The city is one of North America’s economic and cultural epicenters and our expectations are high. We’re excited to be able to count on the exceptional local talent, who will contribute to our accelerated growth and will have a profound impact on the video game industry with the excellence of their creativity.”

Toronto also has a very strong film infrastructure and is home to many annual film festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival, which is currently the 2nd largest International film festival. Will Ubisoft’s expansion be the shot in the arm to boost Toronto’s gaming industry?

Coors Light New Contest Cools Down The Summer Heat

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:36:47 +0000

With a mild spring behind us Canadians are getting ready for a hot summer and Coors Light wants to be the beverage of choice to help cool you down. As part of their Cold Certified campaign they have launched a cool new contest to engage consumers by leveraging using various digital and social media tools. The “Colder than…” contest encourages beer drinkers to share their own slogans. The winning slogan might even be picked to use in Coors Light’s next advertising campaign across Canada in 2010. I wonder if Molson’s would give me beer for life if I won the contest, hmmmm.

“Cold is at the core of Coors Light’s DNA – we are doing everything we can to make sure that beer drinkers get an ice cold liquid every time,” said Jamie Sprules, Brand Manager, Coors Light. “Our Cold Certified ad campaign has extended the physical sensation of cold into emotional territory through the ‘Colder than…’ concept.”

The contest officially launched June 24th and runs until August 16th at www.coorslight.ca, contest entrants can submit their best ideas via WAP (wireless application protocol) application page by texting 26677 (Coors) for English, or “Plus” and their line to 61224 for French.

To help promote the new campaign and contest a number of channels were used:

New print ads appearing in Maxim Magazine’s July issue and Summum’s August issue
Wild postings and street projections in major urban markets (from July to August) including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary
Online banner ads on targeted Websites (see above)
Visibility on the Coors Light Brewing Company Facebook fanpage (www.facebook.com/coorslightbrewingcompany)
A targeted email campaign through the Coors Light Insider database of brand fans

Coors Light “Colder Than…” Campaign Creative By :

Print/Out-Of-Home: DraftFCB
Online: 58Ninety Inc.
Mobile: MyThum Interactive

Vex Canada Launches, FREE Wi-Fi Everywhere For Everyone

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:34:53 +0000

For years we’ve heard the promise of “free Wi-Fi” and here in Canada we’re now one step closer to those words that will keep Canadians always connected. Vex Canada, a division of Vex Corporation which is a technology-based firm offering free Wi-Fi through its hotspots in locations such as universities, shopping malls, airports, hotels, municipalities, convention centers and franchise restaurants including McDonalds and Starbucks. Canada is the newest expansion for Vex which now brings their global foot print to 35 countries.

As part of their launch Vex Canada has signed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to bring a stadium-wide HotSpot to fans who attend games at the venue and they can now access the internet through their smart phones.

“This is a technology touchdown for the Tiger-Cats, as well as for the fans in Hamilton,” said David Lachapelle, Director of Technology, Hamilton Tiger Cats. “We recognized a desire for this kind of Wi-Fi access from our attendees, and anticipate a great response.”

Asif R. Khan, Country Manager, Vex Canada also adds, “Canadians have an appetite for free Wi-Fi access. As more and more Canadians shift their usage away from laptops and towards Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices, they’re hit even harder with data charges, which are very costly in this country. We see this as a great opportunity for advertisers to sponsor Wi-Fi and bring their message to consumers.”

I had a chance to catch up with Asif earlier today to talk about the launch and what it means for advertisers:

DF – How close are we to FREE Wi-Fi everywhere?

AK – Very close, we have already had success in a number of other countries and Vex Canada wants to be the providers of this same experience to Canadians. We are hard at work on the plans for Canada as part of our global strategy.

DF – How can Vex Canada offer Wi-Fi for free?

AK – Through our ad-supported model consumers can access any Vex powered HotSpot with no additional cost to them, of course this is aside from any normal data charges that their mobile data carrier charges.

What is the opportunity for marketers?

AK – We want to work with brands through our new ad-sponsored model to help their reach consumers online and offline. While overall advertising spending is down, online and in particular mobile advertising is growing, because of the shift to smart phones. Brands can leverage our technology platform to reach consumers in thousands of locations across Canada.

What is the Vex ad-sponsored model?

AK- It is pretty simple, brands who engage with us have opportunities such as exclusive branding. When a browser is opened on a device you will see the brand’s logo and a custom message. Offline we provided branded signage letting visitors of that particular HotSpot sponsored by XX brand.

Vex Canada has also launched a new blog, http://www.intheairtonight.ca

LG Gets In The Film Festival Business, Life’s Good FilmFest Kicks Off With $100,000 Prize

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:09:24 +0000

They are a global manufacture of consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications products and now LG is getting into the Film Festival business with the launch of LG Life’s Good FilmFest (LGfilmfest.com).

What is LG Life’s Good FilmFest?

LG’s Life’s Good FilmFest is a global film competition open to budding movie makers of all skill sets and abilities. The competition is free to enter, and according to Tim Barnes, Marketing Team Leader, LG Electronics Canada, “There really is no other film festival like the LG Life’s Good FilmFest, we wanted to create a Film Festival that celebrates Life’s Good, inspiring film-makers to tell their uplifting stories, and allowing film enthusiasts to enjoy those stories. Bring the two together through free and open access inspires us all to celebrate Life’s Good. That’s what we’ve done with the Life’s Good FilmFest.”

The competition opened up on June 30, 2009 for submission into one of four categories: Animation, Fashion &; Music, Sports and Narrative, with entries to be no longer than five minutes in length and express an uplifting, life affirming message that best demonstrates the notion that “Life’s Good”.

What is the prize for LG Life’s Good FilmFest?

With for possible prizes including:

Three of the four category winners will receive $10,000 in prize money.

The fourth category winner, who is chosen as the overall winner, will receive the grand prize of $100,000 in prize money.

The entry deadline is 5pm ET, October 16, 2009, for full details visit LGfilmfest.com.

Week That Was – 2008-07-04

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:06:08 +0000

We’re half way through 2009 (already) and still in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis which has had an impact on just about every possible industry and countries around the world.

Here are some of the other industry stories and news that we talked about on Profectio & PR In Canada in this edition of The Week That Was.

Headlines:
Is Chris Carder Changing the Future of Transcontinental?
Now You Can Purchase Facebook Ads And Credit In Canadian Dollars, And 13 Other Currencies

Weekly Poll:
Poll: Which Is The Best Smart Phone For Content Producers?

On The Move:
Martin Byrne Joins Search Engine People As VP National Accounts
Search Engine People Hires Helen Overland As Director of Marketing and Training

New Websites & Updates
AOL.CA Relaunches, Will It Be Enough To Win The Portal Wars?

Event Calender:

TorontoTechTalk 8 – July 21 – Networking in downtown Toronto with special guest speaker
Twitter 101 for Business – September 16, 2009
Shop Online ‘09 – October 6, 2009
As The World Tweets – October 8, 2009

Are you part of the community?

How Profectio’s Network Can Help You

Are You A Friend or Foe Of Your Competitor on Twitter?

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:23:21 +0000

Each day we come across more brands and companies that are using Twitter (be sure to let us know of yours if it isn’t already listed). Some companies are using Twitter for customer service, others have figured out a way to generate revenue from the social network. Last week over on the Amnesia blog a challenge was put to to Pepsi and Coke to follow each other on Twitter and be “friends.”

Are Coke And Pepsi Friends?

Well it looks like we have a new friendship, Coke and Pepsi have decided to become friends on Twitter. It does raise a question in my mind though, do most people follow their competitors on Twitter and do they ever have conversation with each other on Twitter or other social networks?

Is Chris Carder Changing the Future of Transcontinental?

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:57:54 +0000

Correction: Chris did not have an active role in the deal between Transcontinental and Redwood.
It is no secret that the print world changing, some compare it to the creatures that walked the Earth millions of years ago. Some companies have killed their print version of their publications, others have folded completely and some are in the midst of strike talks with their unions.

Is there any hope in this dark and bleak world of print and print advertising? Yes, it is in diversifying the business model and looking to where the growing opportunities are, the online world. If we take a look at one of Canada’s largest publisher, Transcontinental and we look at some of their acquisitions over the last year there has been a trend of the organizations move more and more online. They consolidated their content management system which would allow their publishing side to create and distribute online content faster, back in March of 2008 we broke the story that Transcontinental acquired ThinData for an undisclosed amount. Transcontinental also acquired Redwood Custom Communications, a deal that Chris was involved in helping with. In January they also acquired a leading print to web based solution provider Conversys, another deal that I’m sure Chris had some influence on.

Is Print Dead?

Personally I don’t consume my news from newspapers anymore, instead I tend to get my news online, whether it be a website, blog, Facebook status update or Twitter. Print isn’t dead, its growth has just slowed down, partially by the economy and also because consumers want content in other forms. Many marketers won’t give up their print empires, sitting on piles and piles of print, even though advertisers are increasingly shrinking their print budgets. Pick up a newspaper and you will see a decrease in major brands advertising in print, Microsoft made a major shift years ago, Cisco now relies on print to supplement an existing online campaign.

What is the future of Transcontinental?

Transcontinental has deep pockets and is on an acquisition path. Chris Carder’s a smart guy, he and the team have built a great company over the years. Now he has the opportunity to be part of an even larger infrastructure, keep his autonomy with ThinData and help influence Transcontinental, not a bad gig if you can get it!

Perhaps they will acquire a social media agency next or a search marketing firm to round of their capabilities. Either way I’m sure Chris Carder will be a big influence on Transcontinental in the years to come.

Twitter 101 For Businesses – Registration Now Open, Special Pricing Available

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:47:22 +0000

You can’t pick up a newspaper, watch a TV program or listen to the radio without hearing about Twitter. Businesses around the world are using the service. Why? How? Is it for your business? If you are looking for a Twitter 101 then this event is for you – “Twitter 101 For Businesses”

Over the last year we’ve covered a lot about Twitter including a number of companies who are using the service in various campaigns or marketing strategy, and of course our previous breakfast event The Bold and the The Blogging and now we’re offering you a chance to attend a beginners course on Twitter (including a continental breakfast). The full event details are listed here.

The first 10 PEOPLE TO REGISTER can save $25 by taking advantage of our special pricing.

Register early and save for Twitter 101 For Businesses

AOL.CA Relaunches, Will It Be Enough To Win The Portal Wars?

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:52:39 +0000

Portals and online destinations around the world are constantly battling for consumers attention, we all benefit as there are better tools (and shiny buttons) that keep us engaged on their properties for hours. AOL Canada who recently launched their online music destination Spinner Canada has now taken another leap forward with the launch a new AOL.ca home page as you can see from the image to the right (click to enlarge). There aren’t any “major” changes, so I’m going to call this the AOL.ca re-launch “beta”, but they have stated that they will be opening up the homepage to third-party services and content shortly.

AOL Canada is hoping to capture some of the same growth that AOL.com has seen since their re-launch in September 2008, recording a 23% in unique visitors, 34% in total page views and 61% in total minutes consumed year over year (according to comScore). Edward Kwan, Senior Director of AOL Canada adds, “The launch of the new AOL Canada portal follows the tremendous successes we’ve experienced in both the U.S. and the UK, enabling exciting new opportunities for the Canadian market. In terms of advertising, Platform-A Canada will now have the capability to expand its reach across more relevant and media-rich content and channels.”

One feature that is new is the ability for AOL Canada users to check their Google Mail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, and of course AOL Mail from aol.ca. Anther feature that users will appreciate is the integration of social networking capabilities such as update your status or check your profile on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, AIM, Bebo (owned by AOL).

How to advertise on AOL.ca

As previously mentioned, AOL.ca will be opening the door to third party services and content partnerships, as well advertisers can take advantage of the various rich media solutions. Pepsi has signed as the re-launch home page sponsor and has 300 x 600 and 408 x 80 banner placements on the homepage.

Other features on AOL.ca

Customized backgrounds with multiple new designs from which to choose;
Ability to add any customized links to the homepage so users can more easily access their most frequently visited sites;
Users can drag and drop to reorder channel navigation to suit personal preferences;
Users can add RSS feeds and personalized categories to get content from their preferred external sites.

Martin Byrne Joins Search Engine People As VP National Accounts

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:05:06 +0000

When I think of search engine marketing there are a few names that automatically come to mind, Martin Byrne is one of those people and someone I first met at our Search Engine Marketing breakfast a few years ago. He constantly has his pulse on not only the Canadian search marketing industry, but can often share growth figures from around the world.

He has joined the team at Search Engine People as Vice President of National Accounts where he will manage and grow the client base for the company. Prior to joining Martin was General Manager of Canada for iProspect Canada. Over his career so far he’s also been National Director of Search with Yahoo Canada, and has held positions with Sympatio/MSN and the National Post.

Links for 2007-01-25 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:00:00 PST

50 Canadian Corporate Blogs » Profectio
With lots of great recommendations from the community I’d like to present a list of 50+ Canadian Corporate Blogs. The page will evolve over time, and other blogs will be added as they are recommended, so be sure to let me know who else should be added.

Links for 2007-01-01 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 00:00:00 PST

scriptvote - vote for your favourite php script

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Fri, 22 Dec 2006 00:00:00 PST

Borat - 2007’s Entrepreneur of the Year at Da Forde
So what does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? Jeffery Bussgang has a great post on his blog where he suggest what entrepreneurs can learn from Borat: 1. Take risks, without fear. 2. Audacious, yet credible. 3. Never stop selling.

Links for 2006-12-19 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:00:00 PST

Corporate Blogging Survey - Does it have an impact on your business? at Da Forde
Blogging has had a big impact on many businesses but it is still new and fare to say that we’re all still learning how it can have an effect on our business today and tomorrow.

Links for 2006-12-11 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:00:00 PST

Profectio » Blog Archive » Three strikes and you are outta the ecommerce game
In a recent survey of over 1,000 online holiday shoppers Gomez, Inc. discovered that more than nine out of 10 shoppers will simply abandon an online store after three or fewer unsuccessful experiences to complete a purchase, the survey found. Sound pretty
Profectio » Blog Archive » The Week That Was - 2006-12-08
Only 12% of Internet users download a podcast - Virtual Communities, the key to growing your online user base? - Qumana’s blogging solution continues to make life easier for bloggers and get paid! - Fuel Industries helps Johnson and Johnson cool interac

Links for 2006-12-07 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:00:00 PST

Profectio » Blog Archive » Cuisinart Canada wants mom to join the Kitchen Party
Cuisinart Canada’s “Word of Mom” program which is a word-of-mouth marketing initiative that was in partnership with urbanmoms.ca and Toronto-based agency, scratch back in September. The campaign was developed to help Cuisinart provide families the t
Profectio » Blog Archive » Qumana’s making it easier for bloggers to get paid
Vancouver’s Qumana has quickly grown to become “a must” solution for bloggers around the world with their popular blog editor whether it be for personal or corporate blogging.
Profectio » Blog Archive » Facebook still the cool place for college kids to hang out
Josh Weil, Principal with Youth Trends, LLC passed along results from their recent Gen Y’s Pop Culture “Pulse” which tracks the consumption habits of 13 through 19 year olds across the United States.

Links for 2006-12-04 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:00:00 PST

Profectio » Blog Archive » The Week That Was - 2006-12-01
Research In Motion (RIM) acquired Epoch Integration which is a Toronto based blackberry developer (not I know why CEO, Ramon Tavares had a grin on his face last time I passed by him on the street a few months ago), their NeedTEXT monitoring solution will
Profectio » Blog Archive » Want some FREE SEO services?
DriveTraffic & cardcommunications have launched a contest where three winners will be eligible for Search Optimization Services for $350 (approximate value $650 - 800). The prizes include keyword research, one page of your website optimized for search eng
Profectio » Blog Archive » Only 12% of Internet users download a podcast
As much as people are talking about podcasts and quickly as individuals are to producing them the rate at which they are being downloaded is still extremely low. Pew Internet & American Life Project recently released some data that found only 12% of Inter

Profectio

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Vex Canada Launches, FREE Wi-Fi Everywhere For Everyone

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LG Gets In The Film Festival Business, Life’s Good FilmFest Kicks Off With $100,000 Prize

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Week That Was – 2008-07-04

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Twitter 101 For Businesses – Registration Now Open, Special Pricing Available

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AOL.CA Relaunches, Will It Be Enough To Win The Portal Wars?

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