By Stan Didzbalis, AgencyLink
Posted September 8th, 2009
Why is it that when folks from procurement knock on a marketer’s door, the marketer is inclined to slither under his or her desk? And when an agency hears that a procurement department is involved in an agency search, they mutter profanities under their breath, but pony up to try and win the business. Come on, it’s not the dentist!
Increasingly the procurement or strategic sourcing department is inserting itself into marketing agency searches, contract negotiations and consolidation exercises. Advances in corporate governance, thanks in part to Sarbanes-Oxley, the current recession and even the Quebec sponsorship scandal, have placed marketing decisions with financial implications under the procurement spotlight like never before. (more…)
In the Downturn Throwdown series, we challenge industry experts to convince us their medium is the best location for advertisers to put their dollars in tough times.
By Suzanne Raitt, Canadian Newspaper Association
Posted September 8th, 2009
Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Rudy Giuliani and Barack Obama. Strong leaders that were (and are) particularly effective when times are tough. The same can be said for newspapers – tough, resilient and stable.
This is why newspapers are an effective advertising medium. Like these great leaders, they are strong yet willing to change and adapt to the future.
And newspapers are sound, despite their bad rap over the past six months. Daily and community newspapers are the largest Canadian medium in terms of advertising dollars spent over the last year. And newspapers and their websites deliver significant audiences through proven, branded products. (more…)
By Ruth Lukaweski, RML Research
Posted September 8th, 2009
Compared to their more polished and chic consumer kin, ads geared to the business-to-business crowd sport a dubious reputation for too often resorting to the trite and the not-so-bright. How bad is it? A while back, a pair of U.S. ad guys named Dave and Alex (from The Dave and Alex Show, a MarCom agency that now goes by the name of The Dave and Eddy Show) rated and sorted 200 B2B print ads as follows: (more…)
Posted September 8th, 2009
In this era of media fragmentation and constant pressure for investment optimization – combined with the growing role being played by digital technology in the advertising world – marketers are asking some very big questions, such as:
- Is it wise to invest half your marketing budget in social media such as Twitter, Facebook or other non-traditional means of communication?
- Should the same message be conveyed through all these communication tools?
- How can you create innovative campaigns without making them too risky, costly or complex?
Enter the YUL-LAB, just launched by the Association of Quebec Advertising Agencies (AAPQ). (more…)
