Marketing News Round-Up: April 20, 2022

Today we feature a round-up of some big events and recent industry happenings.

• Full-motion videos launch inside SkyTrain tunnel
• CAA partners with Shell to bring gas savings to Members
• Elevate Media Group takes LGBTQ2+ marketing in Canada to new heights
• Vistar Launches Dynamic Creative For Digital Out-of-Home Ecosystem
• AntiSocial Solutions Latest Acquisition of Chen Productions
• Vista and IFundWomen Launch “ReferHer” To Connect Women Entrepreneurs Read more below!

Full-motion Videos Launch Inside SkyTrain Tunnel

TransLink has partnered with Vancouver-based company adtrackmedia to illuminate commutes with new innovative technology that will display full-motion videos through SkyTrain windows for customers travelling in the Dunsmuir tunnel.

TransLink is the first transit agency in North America to implement this technology, which will bring in a new advertising revenue source and improve customer communication.

“This new technology provides an innovative and immersive experience for customers travelling along the Expo Line,” says TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn. “This first-in-Canada technology is transforming marketing and communications on transit systems all over the world while also allowing agencies to collect new revenue.”

Local advertising company adtrackmedia has installed and will maintain the technology, while also managing the advertising content. They have seen success implementing this technology in South American, Asian, and European markets before launching this futuristic advertising platform in North America.

“With an established global presence, we are excited that our North American expansion begins here at home in Vancouver with TransLink and Telus,” says adtrackmedia CEO Ken Bicknell. “adtrackmedia’s technology has created a premium media format that is highly in demand in the growing global digital out of home advertising landscape.”

TELUS is the first company in North America to purchase advertising space from adtrackmedia using this new innovative technology. Throughout the first year, commuters will enjoy TELUS content showcasing the brand’s beloved critters. Some of the messaging space is also reserved for TransLink customer communication.

"In today’s world of mass media consumption, we are always looking for new and immersive ways to share our beloved brand with Canadians, with the hopes of bringing a smile to transit riders each day on their commute,” said Lisa Mack, Vice President, Brand Marketing, TELUS. “We are excited to partner with adtrackmedia and TransLink as we embark on this new digital advertising experience."

Installation and maintenance of the technology comes at no expense to TransLink. This technology is first being installed in the Dunsmuir tunnel while TransLink and adtrackmedia work on potentially bringing this technology to other tunnels on the SkyTrain system in the future.

CAA partners with Shell to bring gas savings to Members

The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) and Shell Canada (Shell) have successfully launched a partnership that brings savings to CAA Members for everything from fuel to car washes and in-store purchases. Thousands of CAA Members have already taken advantage of these savings.

“CAA is excited to be partnering with Shell,” said Tim Shearman, president and CEO of CAA National. “Our Members not only benefit from savings, but have access to Shell’s best-in-class products and services.”

CAA Members can save three cents per litre on all fuel grades and get 10 per cent off on car washes and eligible in-store purchases at participating Shell stations. Discounts are applied automatically when Members make purchases with their CAA Membership card at the pump or in-store, or load their CAA Member number into the Shell app and use Shell EasyPay™.

“As a global leader in mobility, Shell’s mission is to make life’s journeys better,” said Kent Martin, General Manager of Shell Canada Mobility. “We are proud to partner with CAA to provide their Members with the kinds of benefits customers are seeking - an evolving range of premium fuels, and a retail experience that offers convenience, quality and choice.”

“It pays to be a CAA Member. Our Members get access to exclusive savings from more than 900 partners at 160,000 locations worldwide,” added Shearman.

This partnership with Shell adds to the many benefits CAA offers to its Members, such as Member-exclusive pricing and discounts on travel and insurance, roadside assistance for their vehicle or bike, rewards and discounts at thousands of retail partners, and more. Shell joins a long list of quality brands offering benefits to CAA Members, including The Source, RW&CO., Enterprise, Via Rail, Best Western, Montana’s, Dulux Paints, Swiss Chalet, Marriott, Harvey’s and more.

These exclusive Member benefits and savings at participating Shell stations are available across Canada to all CAA, AMA and BCAA Members, excluding CAA Quebec Members and Shell stations in Quebec.

Elevate Media Group takes LGBTQ2+ marketing in Canada to new heights

Elevate Media Group is helping brands and the communities they serve through authentic marketing grounded in purpose, with a focus on the LGBTQ2+ community. The rebranded agency has a new name, brand identity and website reflecting its position as an industry leader in marketing to diverse audiences.

With nearly two decades of global experience working in and with communities to provide unparalleled expertise and marketing campaigns for clients like Nike and TD in Canada, the U.S. and beyond, Elevate Media Group is Canada’s leading full-service LGBTQ2+ marketing agency.

Elevate Media Group also publishes IN Magazine, Canada’s leading LGBTQ2+ digital publication, website and community platform, covering beauty and grooming, health and wellness, pop culture, politics, travel and more. The magazine has a reach of over 1.5 million.

Bilal Baig, the first South Asian, queer Muslim actor to star in a Canadian primetime TV series (Sort Of), has been featured on the cover, as has author and Canadian LGBTQ2+ icon Vivek Shraya and Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski.

Elevate Media Group is not your typical marketing agency. The company’s ethos is rooted in the philosophy that authentic and effective marketing can and should go hand in hand. The agency prides itself on creating local and national campaigns that connect with and support diverse communities like the LGBTQ2+ community in a meaningful way.

“We envision more than just a marketing company, but a movement that we co-create in partnership with brands and the communities they serve,” says Patricia Salib, president of Elevate Media Group and publisher of IN Magazine. “We’re out to cause a ripple effect where marketing campaigns use their power for good.”

The Elevate Media Group collective is a small, but mighty team of innovators, changemakers, creators, seekers, storytellers, travellers and lovers of great food who continuously challenge themselves, and their clients, to redefine what’s possible and elevate everything they do.

Vistar Launches Dynamic Creative For Digital Out-of-Home Ecosystem

Vistar Media, the leading global provider of software for digital out-of-home (DOOH), has announced the release of dynamic creative capabilities for any DOOH screen connected to the Vistar supply-side platform (SSP). For the first time, advertisers can now activate dynamic creative campaigns at scale across the full DOOH ecosystem.

From sports scores, weather and traffic to promotional offers, directions to a store and localized imagery, dynamic creative unlocks personalization at scale for marketers. Until now, however, dynamic capabilities were only supported by a limited number of media owner networks. This forced advertisers to choose between scale and variety of inventory included on a plan or dynamic creatives.

“Dynamic creative continues to push the out-of-home industry forward, allowing for messaging that can be highly tailored for relevance in a specific moment in time and use case - without requiring endless manual work,” said Laura Brandes, Group Director at Rapport. “Combining dynamic creative with digital screens in a fully automated capacity unlocks a new way of thinking when it comes to planning and buying out-of-home media.”

“Advertisers today invest heavily in creative strategy for their digital channels, and Vistar's dynamic creative offering now allows us to extend that into the physical world through out-of-home,” said Debbie Drutz, President of Novus Canada. “Our buyers can bring to life extraordinary data-driven campaigns with precision and efficiency.”

Because out-of-home media involves a wide variety of formats, player software and hardware, there is a high degree of complexity in delivering dynamic creative that will display properly across multiple different networks. Digital signage networks use a variety of content management systems (CMS), many of which have proprietary, non-standards support for dynamic content. While HTML5 is standard for online dynamic creative, each CMS in OOH handles support for HTML5 differently, requiring custom creative assets for each network.

Vistar has deep integrations with every DOOH network, both through the highest quality SSP integrations and through ad serving and full-stack network operations software. Using a SSP rendering service, Vistar’s global solution instantly converts dynamic creatives to an image at the moment of transaction, so even media networks that do not directly support dynamic creative can seamlessly display the campaign.

“This is a game changer,” said Ian Dallimore, Vice President of Digital Growth & Programmatic, Lamar Advertising Company. “Providing scalable dynamic creative capabilities puts out-of-home on an even playing field with other digital media channels. Advertisers can create compelling campaigns that respond to real-world data and activate in the real world.”

Vistar has developed a standardized spec for dynamic creative format for DOOH that works reliably on all major DOOH software stacks widely in use today. This solution is built to provide maximum flexibility in working with different external data feeds, whether an advertiser has proprietary or preferred data or wants to work with Vistar to identify a provider.

AntiSocial Solutions Latest Acquisition of Chen Productions

Social media agency AntiSocial Solutions has acquired Vancouver-based studio Chen Productions, with founder Matthew Chen joining as Associate Director of Content. This latest acquisition will strengthen their live-action service offering, raising the bar on AntiSocial’s content production. Focusing on the department development overall, Chen will also work day-to-day with clients such as Oakwyn Realty, Revanesse, and FitXR, to name a few. He will grow the team with top-tier talent, oversee all aspects of content production, and work to position AntiSocial as one of the leading production houses in Canada.

Chen Productions is an award-winning production company that has worked with clients worldwide and empowers them to tell their stories visually with authenticity and impact. Their client lists include Lululemon, DDB Canada, Cossette, Royal Bank of Canada, Netgear, and the David Suzuki Foundation. Their work has garnered awards such as the Lürzer's Archive, Graphis International Summit International, and Applied Arts.

With Chen joining the team, he plans to "make AntiSocial's content production department the benchmark for what's possible in social media content production. Our work with global brands will continue to push the boundaries in the commercial art space."

"Matthew Chen's talent for creating engaging content is well known across Canada. His addition to our team will further elevate the content we create for our clients. We are thrilled he and his team are joining us," says Amir Sahba, CEO of Thinkingbox, the parent company of AntiSocial Solutions.

Vista and IFundWomen Launch “ReferHer” To Connect Women Entrepreneurs With Resources

Vista, the design and marketing partner to millions of small businesses around the world, announced a partnership with IFundWomen (IFW), the world’s largest funding marketplace for women-owned businesses. The “ReferHer” program will connect women entrepreneurs around the world with creative resources, capital and coaching at women’s co-working spaces in five global cities. Participating co-working spaces include The Jane Club (Los Angeles), Mona by My Little Paris (Paris), AllBright (London), One Roof (Melbourne), and Make Lemonade (Toronto).

Through the ReferHer initiative, Vista is inviting women-owned small businesses to apply to be part of an exclusive networking dinner that kicks off “ReferHer” and also nominate a fellow female small business owner from their community to join them. Fifty applicants will be selected, ten per country, along with their plus one, for a total of 100 globally. Those selected will receive:

• A seat at an exclusive networking dinner in their country of residence, along with their +1
• IFW annual membership
• A Vista package of design and marketing resources
• Memberships/resources from the co-working space in her respective market for her and her +1
• Two selected winners in each country will be granted $10,000 towards their business, which will be announced at the dinner

The in-country dinners will be held in May at women-owned local restaurants and hosted by established female entrepreneurs. The attending small business owners will receive personalized coaching from IFW, an introduction to Vista’s creative resources and an opportunity to connect with entrepreneurs in their markets.

“At Vista, we are committed to providing women entrepreneurs with the experiences, tools and resources to help them find success along their journey,” said Emily Whittaker, EVP Commerce at Vista. “By inviting the winning small business owners to bring a plus one, Vista hopes to open dialogues to create networks that will rally around women-owned small businesses across the globe. The ReferHer program plays a part in our larger commitment to supporting women-owned small businesses for years to come.”

Karen Cahn, Founder and CEO of IFundWomen, adds: “We’re thrilled to partner with Vista for this special opportunity to support women small business owners. Through this program, we’ll celebrate and spotlight this group of entrepreneurs as we continue our mission to closing the funding gap for women-owned businesses.”

Women-owned small businesses can apply between March 22-April 15. Experts from Vista and IFW will review the applications and announce the 100 small businesses on April 26. The dinner series will take place in May during US Small Business Month. For more information on ReferHer, selection criteria and how to apply, visit(ifundwomen.com/vista-referher).

Compiled by Emma Whiten, editor of Marketing News Canada