May 10, 2010
Sometimes I feel very lucky. Like the day Craig Brownrigg, our world-famous Creative Director introduced me to Peter Bolt. We spent more than 3 hours talking about work and life and advertising. We should have maybe recorded our conversation. I feel lucky because Peter has agreed to spend some time with PLAY while he is developing his dream project of helping African, specifically Ugandan children have decent schools and homes. He’s cooking up an interesting way of having all of us across Canada help do more for Africa a few easy pennies at a time. Peter will be one of those Canadians to watch as he makes a huge difference.
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May 10, 2010
PLAY has helped Colio Wines of Harrow, Ontario launch a new wine in LCBO stores in Onatrio, Canada called Lake & River series. The wine will be launched in Food & Drink Magazine and on billboards in select Ontario markets. Colio’s Vice President of Marketing, Doug Beatty and his team, well before the Vancouver Olympics lit up the country, a chance to position a wine that is proudly Canadian. “The design of the bottles created by PLAY lead designer Jason Goncalves, will bring each person a personal memory of those uniquely Canadian things we do out in nature,” says PLAY President Brian Torsney. The design features a cedar-strip canoe while the advertising shows a couple canoeing through traffic in downtown Toronto, reflecting the wine label design’s ability to take us somewhere else no matter where we are.
Check it out.
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May 10, 2010
Brick Brewing, based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada has chosen PLAY as its agency starting with a campaign launching this month for Brick’s Red Baron Blonde Lager, Blonde Light and Red Baron Lime. The campaign focuses on the brand’s “blonde” brewing style which creates a smoother, lager taste taste that is better than other lagers offered at the lowest discount price allowed in Ontario. “In considering the strategies available to differentiate this brand,” says PLAY President Brian Torsney, “the folks at Brick and we considered the blonde point of difference the biggest opportunity to grab the interests of younger beer drinkers.” The campaign which rolls across Ontario in most markets uses a combination of outdoor and radio featuring Red Baron as the the right blonde companion this summer.
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February 11, 2010
While big ideas still matter most, digital technology is changing the very nature of advertising. At a conference recently, I got to hear and converse with Pam Evens, Global Web Marketing Manager for IBM. In talking about IBM’s global campaign called “Smarter Planet”, it became clear to me that advertising and branding is no longer about pushing out messages to the right target audience. Digital technology allows marketers to have a conversation with consumers at best, and be part of the conversation at the very least.
Events such as Smarter Planet, which took on a life of its own for IBM including 50 cities developing their own events called Smarter Cities, allowed the company to be at the hub of conversations about problems such as traffic and environmental issues that IBM technology can helps solve. By starting the conversation, and not necessarily controlling it but being at the hub of it, IBM got to listen to consumers, key influencers, and decision makers and leverage IBM’s intellectual capital to help solve problems. It led to huge surges in sales last year for IBM.
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November 30, 2009
Quirky ads are showing up everywhere from those kids whose eyebrows move in crazy ways to prat falls by hockey players heading into the dressing room. Remember what the products were they were advertising? Don’t feel bad if you don’t remember.
Quirky on its own is no way to build brands. Top brand builders know that there is no point in getting people’s attention if the message doesn’t align with a strategic point of difference that resonates and is memorable for the target audience.
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October 14, 2009
If there is one thing you worry about most when you use propane for heat and hot water, it’s running out just when heat is most important. That’s the message in a new series of ads and direct mail developed by PLAY for Superior Propane.
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