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 ACA’s latest Marketer’s Pulse survey suggests Canadian marketers are feeling more optimistic than they were last fall about their business prospects and their consumers’ confidence levels. The findings are based on a survey conducted January 7 – 31 among a panel of 56 senior marketers representing a cross section of industry sectors and MarCom spending. Click here for the Marketer’s Pulse media release.

The ACA has issued a call for nominations for the industry’s highest honour, the ACA Gold Medal Award. First presented in 1941, the Gold Medal is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of marketing communications in Canada. The deadline for submitting nominations is April 5. The 2013 Gold Medal will be presented at the Marketing Awards gala, to be held May 30 at the Carlu in Toronto. Click here for more details.

If you and a buddy are Canadians 30 or under and working in a client-side marketing department, you’re eligible to enter the Cannes Young Marketers competition, sponsored by the Globe and Mail. The prize? In addition to the bragging rights, the winning duo gets a trip to Cannes and the chance to compete in the 2013 Cannes Lions Festival’s Young Marketers competition being held from June 16 to 22. How sweet is that? For full details click here, and click here for the Facebook page.

A panel of leading industry experts has been selected to judge the 9th Annual Sponsorship Marketing Awards, Canada’s premier showcase of sponsorship marketing excellence. The awards are presented by the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada, formed under the auspices of the ACA. This year’s judging panel, chaired by Gavin Roth, Vice President, Multiplatform Sales at Rogers Media, is comprised of senior executives representing a cross-section of Canada’s sponsorship marketing industry. Click here for the full list of judges.

Dan MacKenzie, Vice President & General Manager of NBA Canada, is the incoming Chair of the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada. “There are more opportunities than ever for sponsors to engage consumers, whether through traditional means or constantly changing digital and social media channels,” said MacKenzie. “I am honored to have been chosen to lead such an esteemed board of professionals and to work with them to advance the SMCC’s mandate in the areas of education, networking and celebrating excellence in Canada.”

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ACA staff took up an office collection to purchase a holiday donation of food for Covenant House Toronto, Canada’s largest youth shelter. Covenant House, which has helped thousands of young people move from a life on the street to a life with a future, provides 24/7 crisis care and has the widest range of services under one roof, including education, counseling, health care and employment assistance.

The latest addition to the ACA’s library of best practices publications aims to assist marketers in cracking a tough nut: the ability to measure – and therefore demonstrate – the effectiveness of their marketing communications investments.

Measuring Marketing Communications Effectiveness in an Ever Changing World – The Role of the MarCom Dashboard refines the concepts first advanced in the ACA’s 2005 landmark study Measuring Marketing Communications Returns – ROI or Dashboard?

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The call has gone out for entries to the 9th Annual Sponsorship Marketing Awards. The submissions deadline is January 31, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. Chairing the judging panel is Gavin Roth, Vice President, Multiplatform Sales at Rogers Media. Winners are to be announced at the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada’s annual conference on April 25, 2013.

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Canadian marketers have moderated their expectations for near-term sales and revenue growth, according to the ACA’s most recent Marketer’s Pulse report. A majority of those polled now expect business growth will be stable over the next six months, in contrast to a more optimistic view held by marketers in a May survey.

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