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Happy 1 Year Anniversary Huffington Post Canada [Pics]

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:57:36 +0000

Can you imagine, it was just a year ago that AOL Canada launched Huffington Post Canada, we were there to cover its introduction to the marketplace, subsequent growth, and continued growth. Last night, we also had the opportunity to attend their one year anniversary party. Arianna Huffington, Co-Founder of Huffington Post was there to help celebrate the milestone along with a packed room of attendees, and a few surprising guest appearances. The full AOL Canada & Huffington Post Canada crew was in town from their Toronto and Montreal offices, all led by AOL Canada’s General Manager, Graham “Turn Around King” Moysey, as they welcome a mix of attendees representing the advertising and marketing community. So who were som of the surprises guests, well none other than Conrad Black and Canada’s Finance Ministry Jim Flaherty, both you would not typically see at an advertising event but when you consider the power of the pen and the empire that Arianna has built up over the year we shouldn’t be too surprised. Nor should we be surprised to expect a visit from Steven Harper himself (yes, we was on his way but got caught with Prince Charles who has been in Canada for the last 3 days). Even George Stroumboulopoulos sent over a video greeting to wish them continued success. Be sure to check out the photos from the event:

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So how is Huffington post Canada doing, here are some stats from their first year:

2.9M monthly unique visitors (as of April 2012)
415M page views
800+ bloggers added
5,000+ blog posts
340,922 comments to date
12,000 comments per week on average (as of April 2012)
14M+ social referrals

So what is next for AOL Canada/ Huffington Post Canada, well plans are in the works.

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Study Shows New Aphrodisiac, And It Will Make Your Engines Roar

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:02:02 +0000

We have all heard the saying “Sex Sells,” well according to The CarCourting Report which was commissioned by autoTRADER.ca, more than one in three Canadians (36 percent), including almost 40 percent of women and close to 50 percent of young Canadians under 35 report driving a sexy car makes them feel more attractive.

Move over chocolates and oysters, there is a new aphrodisiac in town.

“Canadians really didn’t hold back in this study, showing us that although choosing a car might seem like a wholly rational decision, emotion and even social implications are a major influence on Canadian car buyers,” said Ian MacDonald, Director of Marketing, Trader Corporation. “We discovered that people not only judge others on the type of car they drive, they also internalize their choices – cars appear to be a key part of how we identify ourselves personally.”

The study also found that a full 61 percent of Canadians admitted they would even walk awayfrom purchasing the car of their dreams if it wasn’t the right colour! Moreover, 41 percent believe people should drive cars that match their personality. This figure jumps to 47 percent among young Canadians under 35 years of age for whom image is clearly a more important consideration. One in five Canadians even go as far as agreeing that people should drive cars that match their appearance.

Based on such personality matching, survey respondents assigned the following cars to some of our most-loved Canadian celebrities (based on the most popular vote):

Ryan Gosling would be a macho Ford Mustang
Shania Twain would be a stylish BMW 3 Series
Wayne Gretzky would be an active Subaru Forester
Pamela Anderson would be a status-seeking Porsche 911
Alanis Morissette would be an environmentally-friendly Toyota Prius
Michael Bublé would share the limelight with Ms. Twain as a stylish BMW 3 Series

To help Canadians find their own perfect match, autoTRADER.ca has created a Facebook app, dubbed ‘The autoLYZER’, concepted by DDB Canada and promoted by its integrated groups, Tribal DDB Toronto, Radar DDB and DDB Public Relations. This unique app helps Canadians discover three automobiles which are for sale onautoTRADER.ca at that moment in time, best suited to their personality and social life. The app analyzes real-time data via Facebook, looking at an individual’s lifestyle, interests, social activities, and Facebook friends’ opinions via existing posts, to help narrow down which cars would be the best fit for him or her personally. All in a matter of seconds!

Canadians are social shoppers, often turning to family and friends for purchase recommendations.

“This study confirmed our hypothesis that the car-buying process is a very social and emotional one today,” said MacDonald. “Sixty-four percent of Canadians said they would seek out advice from friends and family when car shopping; our new autoLYZER app leverages the latest technology to assist in that exact need – to give Canadians that kind of advice and present them with real cars for salefrom autoTRADER.ca’s 389,000 current listings.”

Survey data also revealed that more than 7 in 10 Canadians polled (71 percent) said they were not in love with their current ride. But by no means are we a country of quitters! When it comes to courting cars, the majority of Canadians (58 percent) report being polygamists – admitting they would test drive many different makes and models before settling on the car they like best. So Canada, what car best matches your personality?

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Former Ogilvy Canada Exec Partners With Colour To Form ColourSocial

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:46:15 +0000

We’ve written about Colour a few times in the past, an agency that provides marketing, public relations, digital solutions and has offices in Halifax, Moncton, St. John’s and Toronto. The agency launched in 1977 and has provided service to a number of national and multi-national brands over the years, back in late 2007 they launch a social media practice. Today, they recently announced a new partnership that combines the years of experience Colour and its team have gained with former leader of Ogilvy Canada’s social media practice, Duri Alajrami to form ColourSocial. ColourSocial is the combination of Colour’s years of experience and

“Since ColourSocial opened for business several weeks ago, Duri Alajrami’s track record of developing and executing successful social media campaigns has attracted new clients who are focused on their brands winning more hearts and growing market share,” said Chris Keevill, President and Chief Executive Officer of Colour. “Duri has boundless energy, drive and passion for helping clients achieve their full potential. In essence, his values and our values at Colour are very much aligned.”

According to Duri, ColourSocial will provide a more personalized service at the leadership level, backed by the resources of a full service agency.

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Just For Laughs Taps Louis CK To Headline Festival, Promises To Bring Mobile Experience This Year

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:15:12 +0000

Who doesn’t like a good laugh? For this year’s upcoming Just For Laughs (JLF) the organizers have selected Louis CK to headline the annual comedy event. They have also revamped their web presence with a mobile app and web site, JFL42.com. The festival takes place September 21 – 28th and will celebrate 42 of the funniest, most innovative and contemporary things from Toronto and around the world. The first of “the 42”, and the headliner, Louis CK will perform four concerts at the Sony Centre. The other 41 selections will include a variety of performances, attractions, and experiences with cool stars, small stars and soon-to-be stars in comedy and the arts, in various venues across the city.

Organizers are also promising to deliver and updated mobile experience for show-goers with a new smart phone app they have designed to provide mobile reservation and check-in system equipped with the power they need to see all of “the 42”. Festival pass holders will be able to design their own festival experience by creating demand for each event, which could result in added shows or moving to bigger venues. The smart-phone-based pass will allow users to connect in real-time with fellow festival-goers, performers and organizers. Through live streaming, tweeting and frequent updates, the festival will capture the attention of audiences around the world.

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Primeau Appointed New President And COO Of iWeb

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:08:32 +0000

As they continue to round of their management team, Montreal-based iWeb announced the appointment of Christian Primeau as President and Chief Operating Officer. His mandate will be to implement the cloud service and Internet hosting company’s strategic plan and compound its growth.
Christian was previously Vice President, Quebec Sales for Bell Canada, prior to that Vice President, Client Delivery Services and General Manager, Infrastructure Service, both with Bell Canada.

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Google Completes Acquisition Of Motorola, New CEO Takes The Top Seat

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:48:19 +0000

The mobile game is about to change yet again, after 10 months Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola has been completed. Google’s Larry Page added, “I’m happy to announce the deal has closed. Motorola is a great American tech company, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation. It’s a great time to be in the mobile business, and I’m confident that the team at Motorola will be creating the next generation of mobile devices that will improve lives for years to come.”

As part of the news, Google’s Dennis Woodside will be replacing Sanjay Jha as CEO of Motorola Mobility. No word yet on if there will be any other layoffs.

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Does Your Company Have A BYOD Policy? Cisco Survey Shows 90% Of Corporations Do

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:39:50 +0000

These days, as a consumer we have wide variety of smartphones and tablets that we can choose from as manufactures continue to pump out new devices every quarter. The race devices into consumers hands by manufactures such as Apple, HTC, Research In Motion, Sony, and Toshiba is just beginning. Cisco recently released some data from a survey on ”bring your own device” or BYOD and how corporations are now treating employed owned devices. They survey interviewed 600 U.S. IT and business leaders and shows IT is accepting, and in some cases embracing, “bring your own device” (BYOD) as a reality in the enterprise. The study shows some of the quantifiable benefits and complexities associated with allowing employees to use their own mobile devices on their employers’ networks. Coinciding with the publication of the study, Cisco also highlighted “Smart Solutions” for the enterprise and opportunities for service providers to help customers, and end users, make the most of mobility experiences in the office, at home, or on-the-go.

A surprising 95% of respondents saying their organizations permit employee-owned devices in some way, shape or form in the workplace. This study also concluded that the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker is expected to reach 3.3 by 2014, up from an average of 2.8 in 2012. IT managers are balancing security and support concerns with the very real potential to reap significant cost and productivity benefits from the BYOD trend.

Over three-fourths (76%) of IT leaders surveyed categorized BYOD as somewhat or extremely positive for their companies, while seeing significant challenges for IT. These findings underscore that BYOD is here to stay, and managers are now acknowledging the need for a more holistic approach — one that is scalable and addresses mobility, security, virtualization and network policy management, in order to keep management costs in line while simultaneously providing optimal experiences where savings can be realized.

Cisco’s Bring Your Own Device Survey Findings:

95% of organizations allow employee-owned devices in some way, shape or form in the workplace.
84% of respondents not only allow employee-owned devices, but also provide some level of support.
36% of surveyed enterprises provide full support for employee-owned devices. In other words, they will provide support for any device (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) the employee brings to the workplace.
Mobility and device use are on the rise: 78% of U.S. white-collar employees use a mobile device for work purposes, and 65% of white-collar workers require mobile connectivity to do their jobs. By 2014, the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker will reach 3.3, up from an average of 2.8 in 2012.
On average, mobility initiatives will consume 20% of IT budgets in 2014, compared to 17% in 2012.
Most IT leaders (76%) consider consumerization “somewhat” or ”extremely” positive for their companies.
Among respondents, the top two perceived benefits of BYOD were improved employee productivity (more opportunities to collaborate) and greater job satisfaction.
Employees want to work their way: Employees are turning to BYOD because they want more control of their work experience:
40% of respondents cited “device choice” as employees’ top BYOD priority (the ability to use their favorite device anywhere).
Employees’ second BYOD priority is the desire to perform personal activities at work, and work activities during personal time.
Employees also want to bring their own applications to work: 69% of respondents said that unapproved applications — especially social networks, cloud-based email, and instant messaging — are somewhat to much more prevalent today than two years ago.
Employees are willing to invest to improve their work experience.
According to Cisco IBSG, Cisco employees pay an average of $600 out-of-pocket for devices that will give them more control over their work experience.
Benefits of BYOD add up: The benefits of BYOD vary based on an employee’s role and work requirements. Cisco IBSG estimates that the annual benefits from BYOD range from $300 to $1,300 per employee, depending on the employee’s job role.

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For Facebook, Mobile Users Are Crucial [Infographic]

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:16:21 +0000

Now that Facebook’s IPO is complete and Mark Zuckerberg is a married man, it is back to business. Then again, the day after the big multi-billion dollar IPO they acquired mobile gifting company Karma which proves that mobile is extremely important to the social network’s growth. We pulled the below infographic from Social Bankers which might help paint a visual picture of the importance of mobile to Facebook’s future.

Facebook’s Mobile Strategy, The Important Facts And Figures:

In developing countries such as New Guinea (78%) and Nigeria (81%) having some of the highest Facebook mobile penetration in the world.

54% Penetration of Facebook mobile (488 million out of 901 million users)
Android and Apple share the largest mobile platform usage at 19% each
iPad is 5% of Facebook mobile usage
The top 5 countries using Facebook mobile are USA, Indonesia and India followed by the UK and then Mexico

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Yahoo Canada’s Country Manager Tapped As Right Hand To New Yahoo CEO

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:03:31 +0000

With Ross Levinsohn now at the helm at Yahoo, one of his first moves was to align himself with “his people,” and looks like Yahoo Canada’s Country Manager got a promotion in the process. Michel Protti who already holds the title of Yahoo Country Manager (based in San Francisco), has now also been named VP, Chief of Staff to EVP Americas, a title which Ross once had himself.

Michel has a lot of duties on his plate in the past as he ran Yahoo Canada from arm’s length, so we should not expect to see him crossing the border anytime soon to get his share of beaver tails. Yesterday Yahoo agreed to sell half of its stake in Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba for about $7.1 billion, with most of the cash going to shareholders. With the ink signed on the deal, Alibaba Group will buy back half of its 40-per-cent stake from Yahoo for $6.3 billion cash and up to $800 million of Alibaba preferred shares.

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TC Media Acquires Majority Stake In Redux Media

dforde@profectio.com (Dave Forde) — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:57:55 +0000

TC Media announcd it has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in online advertising network Redux Media, a leading online advertising network. The company delivers over 12 billion monthly impressions to more than 80 million unique visitors in Canada and the US (comScore Media Metrix – April 2012). Redux Media’s Real-Time bidding (RTB) solution enables 5,000 publishers to offer advertisers maximum return on investment across 15 content channels.

“We are eager to start our relationship with Redux Media,” said Dominique-Sébastien Forest, Vice President, National Digital Solutions, TC Media. “This new partnership offers a strong unique proposition to our customers by providing access to Real-Time bidding (RTB), private exchange and arbitrage advertising platforms with cutting-edge network capabilities to better serve advertisers and agencies.”

Real-Time bidding has been greatly changing the face of online advertising and industry predictions forecast exponential growth in coming years. Offering new and highly efficient ways of targeting audiences, RTB allows advertisers and agencies to bid and purchase ad impressions in real time. RTB is a great complement to other digital advertising strategies such as reserved pre-paid advertising space, allowing for a maximum return on investment.

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