Labatt Breweries of Canada took Best of Show at the 9th annual Sponsorship Marketing Awards (SMAs), winning for a fan-based sponsorship program involving Budweiser and the Winnipeg Jets that exceeded business objectives. The SMAs, presented April 25th at the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada’s annual conference in Toronto, recognize companies that maximize their investments in sponsorship marketing by developing innovative strategies that drive results. Other big winners were BMO and Scotiabank, which each won two awards. Click here for the media release.

The Association of Canadian Advertisers is demanding that proposed changes to the Top-Level Domain (TLD) program be scrapped, warning it would permit applicants to claim virtually any word — generic or branded — as domain suffixes (.coke, .pepsi, .beer, .toys, etc.), supplementing the 22 generic TLDs (.com, .edu, .net, .gov, .org, etc.) now in use. Click here to learn more.

The Association of Canadian Advertisers is part of an eight-member coalition of associations that has announced a framework for industry self-regulation regarding Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA) in Canada. The move is consistent with the ACA’s Board of Directors endorsement in July 2009 of the World Federation of Advertisers’ Global Principles for OBA. “We’re pleased to see the work of the all-industry group ready to go forward, as this initiative enhances advertisers’ commitment to advertise responsibly in all media,” said Bob Reaume, ACA’s Vice President, Policy & Research. Click here for more.

According to the latest Consumerology Report, the environment has lost its status as one of the top five issues facing Canadians, with only 49% ranking it as very important. The report, based on a national survey commissioned by Bensimon Byrne and conducted by The Gandalf Group, indicates that companies should think carefully when focusing their brand positioning or CSR activities around the environment. Click here for more.

John Torella, Senior Partner with J.C. Williams Group, is leading an Association of Canadian Advertisers course on the Fundamentals of Retail Marketing and Marketing Communications this fall. In a video interview, he outlines the steps in an action plan for retail marketing success, with important lessons learned from two case studies, Tip Top Tailors and Indian Motorcycle. (more…)

Canadian online advertising revenues last year exceeded budgeted expectations of $2.1 billion, and grew by 23% to $2.23 billion for 2010, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB).  In terms of share of total Canadian media ad revenue, IAB says the internet has surpassed daily newspapers, and is now second only to television. Click here for details.