How To Lead With Certainty In Uncertain Times

June 23rd, 2020 | Penelope Fridman, President, L’Institut Idée and Mathieu Ouellet, Founding Partner, Tulipe

It’s a challenge to define the core DNA of your brand, let alone do it during a pandemic or extreme social unrest. In the current market environment, a spotlight is shining in dark places, making customers more aware of a company’s values and how it’s interfacing with the world around it. COVID-19 and the fight for civil rights have magnified and amplified the need for businesses to have a purpose beyond just the financial. Now, consumers are making purchase decisions based on your core DNA – what you stand for and how you behave.

Given this, it is necessary to both understand and respond to the evolving marketplace as well as to ensure that your organization has a clearly stated raison d’être to meet the demands of changing customer mindsets. But how?

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Creating A New Experience: Experiential Marketing Engagement in a Low-Contact World

June 15th, 2020 | Nicole McCallum, Group Account Director and Abigail St Pierre, Senior Producer, Diamond

Is experiential marketing (XM) dead? We’ve heard this question since the start of this pandemic. From suppliers, vendors and even clients. Admittedly, it’s a fair question. There are no events and people need to stay at least six feet away from each other, so why would they want to be in a crowded public space, let alone get close to strangers. Is this truly the end of experiential marketing?

The Need for Interaction

The answer is a resounding NO! The truth is we have a natural chemical—Oxytocin—hard-wired into our DNA, which makes us crave social contact on many levels. It’s released in our brain during social interaction and contact, increasing happiness and reducing stress. So on a very base level, we need social engagement and, when we’re deprived of it, we begin to crave it.

Now, the challenge is that COVID-19 has made mass attendance at places like malls and music festivals impossible. However…

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Social Distance from Ethnic Consumers at Your Own Risk

June 2nd, 2020 | Howard Lichtman, Partner and Co-Founder, Ethnicity Matters

One-fifth of the Canadian population is foreign-born…

Chinese and South Asian consumers have high purchasing power — but they have different buyer behaviours and attitudes than the general population…

These are points you may have heard before and it’s no different during COVID-19. Yet little has been said or researched about the ethnic consumer as a “recovery” opportunity post COVID-19. We surveyed 900 Canadians — including South Asian and Chinese respondents — to understand their behaviours during COVID-19 and beyond.

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The Case for a Research Tech Stack

May 19th, 2020 | Steve Mast, President and Chief Innovation Officer, Delvinia

In 2020, finding a marketer who isn’t using some form of Marketing Technology (MarTech) stack would be nearly impossible. In fact, chiefmartec.com says that in 2011 there were about 150 marketing solutions – today they are tracking over 7,000 technology solutions. These martech solutions support all aspects of marketing functions, from content development to marketing […]

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Advertising Effectiveness During the Coronavirus Downturn: The Argument for Staying “On”

May 6th, 2020 | thinktv,

Peter Field, marketing and advertising effectiveness expert, recently joined thinktv for an insightful webinar, during which he made a compelling argument for continuing to advertise during the current crisis.

As part of his ongoing research into advertising effectiveness, Field analyzed the effectiveness of various advertising approaches during the global financial crisis of 2008-09 and shared critical lessons for marketers in the seminal work, Advertising in a Downturn. His most recent paper, Advertising in Recession, Long, Short or Dark? builds on that work to conclude that, although the current crisis is unique, the lessons for marketers from previous downturns still apply. The first lesson: Keep advertising (if you can).

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Managing Uncertainty in the Events Industry

April 29th, 2020 | Francis Dumais, Associate, Elevent

The entertainment industry has been deeply affected by the disruptions cause by the global COVID-19 pandemic, and its repercussions will continue to be felt in the short to medium term.

Thankfully, sponsorship agreements often have cancellation and postponement clauses, but they are rarely used and some could benefit from a little clarification.

Within this context, how can partners agree on the best course of action to minimize the negative consequences of this global crisis? What follows are some topics of discussion to help you analyze your legal obligations and think beyond the contract so you can find solutions that are favourable for all parties involved…

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