Marketing News Roundup: December 14, 2022

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

• MoEngage Achieves Rapid Growth in Canada
• Heineken Canada Encourages End of Hustle Culture
• 1Milk2Sugars Soars Into 2023 Elevated by Major Client Wins & Double-Digit Business Growth
• Samsung Teams Up with SickKids and Ryan Reynolds for Holiday Fundraising
• Alliance for Audited Media, BPA Worldwide Agree to Merge
• Citizen Launches Inclusive Influencer Index
• Reddit and Omnicom Media Group Announce Enterprise Partnership

Read more below!

MoEngage Achieves Rapid Growth in Canada

MoEngage, the insights-led customer engagement platform, has announced that it has expanded its operations in the key market of Canada.

MoEngage has been established in the Canadian market since 2019. In the last year alone, MoEngage achieved a 7x growth rate in revenue across Canada. Recent Canada-based customers include fintech company Plastk; digital publisher Investing News Network; social news app Voco.social; personalized discovery platform Peekage, and the largest retailer in Canada, which holds a portfolio of grocery, food, pharmacy and apparel brands.

An estimated 82 percent of Canadian consumers shopped online in 2020 due to mandatory lockdowns and COVID restrictions, spending a total of $85 Billion. Between November 2020 and March 2021, 9 percent of Canadian consumers bought physical goods online for the first time, and 13 percent ordered groceries online for the first time. Even as COVID restrictions have eased across Canada, consumers are sticking with these newly acquired digital buying habits to engage with brands. For brands to build lasting relationships and loyalty with these customers, they must create highly personalized customer experiences that make customers feel valued - no matter if that’s in-store or online.

Jatin Gera, who recently joined MoEngage as its Head of Enterprise Strategy for the U.S. and Canada is based out of Toronto, continues to develop the company’s growth and build customer relationships across the region.

“MoEngage is investing more resources in the Canadian market due to increased demand. Canadian brands need modern technologies that support and optimize their digital marketing and customer engagement initiatives. As more Canadian consumers use online channels to connect with their favorite brands, marketers need modern, digital-first tools that help them create personalized experiences for customers,” said Jatin Gera, Head of Enterprise Strategy for North America at MoEngage. “Consumers around the world expect brands to share messages and offers that anticipate their needs and make it easy to find what they want, and Canadian shoppers are no different in that regard. That’s why we’re deepening our support for Canadian marketers as we continue to grow in North America.”

“As Canada’s first secured credit card with premium rewards, we recognize the importance of connecting with our customers on a deeper level to build strong relationships,” said Anil Rege, Chief Marketing Officer at Plastk. “MoEngage will help us offer a truly personalized experience for our customers across all channels as we continue to grow and scale our customer engagement strategy in Canada, and help Canadians achieve financial freedom.”

MoEngage is an insights-led customer engagement platform trusted by more than 1,200 global consumer brands such as Ally Financial, McAfee, Flipkart, Domino's, Nestle, Deutsche Telekom, Travelodge, and more. MoEngage empowers marketers and product owners with insights into customer behavior and the ability to act on those insights to engage customers across the web, mobile, email, social, and messaging channels.

Heineken Canada encourages end of 'hustle culture'

As the holidays approach, more than half of working Canadians blame the phenomenon known as "hustle culture" for their lack of work-life balance, saying they feel burnt out, according to a new survey commissioned by Heineken Canada.

Earlier this month, market researcher Maru Public Opinion surveyed employed Canadians nationwide on the impact of hustle culture, a mentality that glorifies overworking, and found that the generation of Canadians in the early stages of their careers feel its impact most strongly.

Heineken Canada launches The Closer with entrepreneur and TV personality Michele Romanow to encourage Canadian workers to log out of work and tune in to time with friends and family.

Nearly half (46 percent) of legal drinking age respondents under the age of 35 reported that they cancel or reschedule plans due to work during the holiday season, and more than one in three (36 percent) said they work more to make up for their time off, logging into email, messaging apps and other work-related programs during the season.

Heineken aims to challenge this status quo through a new partnership and campaign featuring entrepreneur and TV personality Michele Romanow and an innovative and engaging new device called The Closer: a high-tech bottle opener that shuts down work applications when users open a bottle of Heineken with it. Together, Heineken and Romanow are encouraging workers to log out of work and tune in to time with friends and family.

"As an entrepreneur in Canada, I've seen too many people burn out in the pursuit of professional goals," said Romanow, CEO and co-founder of Clearco, the world's largest e-commerce investor. "We can all understand the value of hard work, but too many of us undervalue the need to unwind, disconnect, and prioritize our personal lives and own wellbeing."

The new Heineken campaign serves as a reminder to Canadians to disconnect from work and reconnect with their own wellbeing, friends and family. To support that effort, select Canadians will now be able to get their hands on their own Closer device via Heineken Canada on Instagram by tagging a friend who needs a reminder to switch off.

"In today's digital age of 'always on' remote work, it's clearly a challenge for many Canadians beginning their careers to protect their work-life balance and their wellbeing," said Laurent Delmouly, managing director and CEO for Heineken Canada. "This holiday season, whether you work at home, in the office, or both, Heineken encourages Canadians to disconnect from the grind and connect more with friends and family."

For more information, check out @heinekenca and #WorkResponsibly.

1Milk2Sugars Soars Into 2023 Elevated by Major Client Wins & Double-Digit Business Growth

1Milk2Sugars is heading into the new year with momentum on its side.

Propelled by a record 50% business growth versus last year, 1M2S has achieved its best results on record. The agency’s strategic expansion into new client verticals — from tech to sporting goods to parenting & baby — accounts for much of that success and proves there’s no category or niche the Sugars can’t take on.

“We’re thrilled to be ending the year on such a high and to be riding that momentum into 2023,” said Emma Cusson, Creative Director & Partner, 1Milk2Sugars. “Without a doubt, one of our proudest achievements is how we’ve broadened our portfolio and expanded our reach into entirely new industries. We’re so thankful for the opportunities that have come our way and for our clients' steadfast confidence in us.”

Since July, 1M2S has welcomed the below esteemed clients to its portfolio in the following verticals:

• Digital (Fruitz, dating app owned by Bumble)
• Health & wellness (Genuine Health, NeoCitran & BioK+)
• FemTech (wearable breast pump creator, Willow)
• Haircare & beauty (Better Natured)
• Sporting goods (French athletic goods retailer, Decathlon)

On the strength of its new business growth and client retention, 1M2S has surpassed its original 2022 sales goal in addition to achieving a double-digit (51%) retention rate among 2021 clients.

To find out more about what’s brewing at 1M2S please visit: www.1Milk2Sugars.com or get social with the team on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Samsung Teams Up with SickKids and Ryan Reynolds for Holiday Fundraising

A long-time supporter of SickKids Foundation, Samsung Canada is proud to team up once again with the charity on one of their annual Sweater Love fundraising campaign. This is the third consecutive year Samsung is supporting the campaign as a matching gift partner, matching donations made by the public until midnight on December 24, up to a maximum of $100,000.

This year’s campaign also sees the return of Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, who is donning his famed holiday sweater once more to support fundraising for SickKids Foundation. Ryan has enlisted the support of Canadian actor and his celebrity friend, Seth Rogen, to draw attention to the cause.

Over the course of the campaign, Samsung will also donate $1 for every purchase made online at Samsung.com, up to a maximum of $10,000.

“We’re incredibly proud to step up once again to support critical fundraising for SickKids this holiday season,” said Jennifer Groh, Senior Director of Corporate Marketing and Citizenship, Samsung Canada. “Thank you to all Canadians who come together to support this important cause, which makes an unparalleled impact in helping children and families get the help they need every day.”

To make a donation to SickKids Foundation, please visit the “Help Ryan Help SickKids” page.

Alliance for Audited Media, BPA Worldwide Agree to Merge

The boards of directors of the Alliance for Audited Media and BPA Worldwide have unanimously approved a plan for the two companies to merge.The two not-for-profit media auditing organizations are joining forces to increase trust and assurance across media channels through innovative service development.

The combined not-for-profit company plans to leverage its complementary expertise to provide a comprehensive suite of services to increase transparency and accountability in media, differentiate high-quality media outlets and service providers, and allow buyers to choose quality and maximize return on media investments.

“Demand for increased digital advertising assurance is a driving force in bringing AAM and BPA together,” explained Chris Black, SVP, global lead for Zenith and AAM chairman. “Combining our expertise will be a catalyst for more transparency, better services and increased confidence across the industry.”

“BPA and AAM share a common vision to help buyers buy better and quality sellers sell more,” added David Adelman, founder and CEO of OCD Media and BPA chairman. “Together, we will do this across channels — websites, newsletters, events, print, out-of-home, podcasts and ad tech — and across compliance areas such as advertising, editorial, privacy and sustainability.”

AAM and BPA members will vote on the merger in January 2023. Pending member and regulatory approval, the merger is expected to be completed in spring 2023. AAM’s CEO and managing director, Tom Drouillard, will be CEO. BPA’s CEO, Rich Murphy, will be president. More information is available in the AAM/BPA Merger Resource Hub.

Citizen Launches Inclusive Influencer Index

Earlier in the Fall, Citizen launched a new brand identity, with a renewed commitment to our values of setting the standard, championing equity and doing what’s right. Citzen has now moved one step further in that commitment with the launch of our Inclusive Influencer Index report.

Below are a few key facts from this report:

• WHY: The value of influencer marketing is clear, but many companies still struggle with building authentic relationships with diverse consumers. We were frustrated with the lack of data on how ethnically diverse consumers use and engage with a brand’s marketing. This report aims to address that.
• HOW: We surveyed nearly 2500 ethnically diverse consumers and led focus groups with ethnically diverse influencers across North America.
• WHAT: Our research revealed four cornerstones of creating trust-centered, authentic, inclusive influencer marketing: connections, channels, content & commitment.

The findings of this study have the potential to change how we think about inclusivity in the realm of influencer marketing, and they are eager to get to work. Read the report: https://www.citizenrelations.com/en/influencerindex.

Reddit and Omnicom Media Group Announce Enterprise Partnership

Reddit is thrilled to announce the first-ever enterprise partnership with Omnicom Media Group (OMG), the media services division of global marketing and corporate communications company Omnicom Media Group (NYSE: OMC) in Canada. The country-specific agreement follows the announcement of the US enterprise partnership with Omnicom in March 2021 and will deepen Reddit’s relationship, with locally-focused commercial and strategic benefits for OMG agencies and their clients in Canada.

This partnership will offer clients of OMG Canada agencies OMD, Hearts & Science, PHD Media and Touché, a range of services that will enhance the value of their media spend on Reddit. From priority access to Reddit’s in-house creative agency, KarmaLab, via a dedicated lead; early visibility into and opportunities to partner on key research projects; and custom data and insights with a dedicated lead, to exclusive platform training; and early access to product and feature testing, the partnership aims to uplevel OMG Canada’s already strong client presence on Reddit, and ensure the best possible campaign outcomes in the market.

Reddit established an official presence in Canada in March 2021 with a dedicated sales team focused on connecting local brands with the local communities on Reddit and setting them up for long-term success on the platform. OMG Canada clients have already been a big part of building out local advertising business and engaging with Reddit’s unique community of communities in Canada to build meaningful connections with their customers.

“Extending our enterprise partnership with Omnicom Media Group to include a specific Canadian focus is a natural evolution for us and I am excited to see the upleveled client success on the platform as a result of these strategic and commercial benefits,” said Reddit’s Global Agency Lead for Omnicom Media Group, Andrew Abbott. “With shared values at the global level, particularly when it comes to maximizing advertiser choice and control, this enterprise partnership will further strengthen Reddit and OMG’s relationships as we both continue to scale globally.”

“As brands continue to identify interesting and engaging ways to make emotional connections with their consumers, OMG Canada has identified Reddit, with its unique tools and highly engaged audiences, as a valuable partnership opportunity,” says Nancy Surphlis, Chief Investment Officer of OMG Canada. “This local partnership is another example of OMGs commitment to assuring a competitive advantage for all of our clients.”

Compiled by Emma Whiten, Former Editor of Marketing News Canada