Is it any wonder there is so much confusion over marketing technology?

July 15th, 2014 | ACA Team,

By Darren Woolley, Founder, TrinityP3 One of the biggest challenges for marketers is how to embrace technology. As CMOs are seen to be bigger spenders on technology than their equivalent CIOs or CTOs, many marketers are struggling with the best approach to transforming their digital marketing to marketing in a digital age.

Read More

Let’s Talk TV – The future of broadcast advertising

July 7th, 2014 | ACA Team,

By Bob Reaume, Vice President, Policy & Research, ACA Canada’s broadcast regulator, the CRTC, is having a really good look right now at how the television system operates in this country with its upcoming hearing, “Let’s Talk TV”. Advertisers have a lot at stake. That’s why the ACA invited the Canadian Media Director’s Council to […]

Read More

Spending money to save it: Procurement paradox or sound strategy?

June 25th, 2014 | ACA Team,

By Nick Thakkar, Director, Strategic Sourcing, MDC Partners Inc. I’ve had the great fortune to work with marketers and procurement practitioners in various capacities. My career started in consulting which gave me an “external” view of some great organizations specific to marketing and procurement and how those functions co-exist. Then I was in the industry, […]

Read More


Who Owns Your Brand?

June 10th, 2014 | Tony Altilia, Partner, Maxim Partners Inc.

Do your customers own your brand?

Not really, but they are increasingly more empowered to influence its destiny.

Do your shareholders own your brand?

Not really, but they can surely influence its value and market capitalization.

Do your agency partners own your brand?

No. They never did, but they certainly influence its success.

As a marketer, you may not personally own your brand but you and you alone must assume sole responsibility for its stewardship and success.

More than ever, clients must take 100 percent ownership of their brands. Sure, once upon a time, they could partner with a major agency that would help steward the brand. I started my career as a client. Our agency was Ogilvy and Mather. They helped us with everything from consumer research, package design, sales promotion, media buying and planning and of course advertising.

Read More

If a digital ad falls in the wrong place, does it make an impression?

June 3rd, 2014 | Brent Bernie, President, comscore Canada

We’re all familiar with the philosophical question, “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Striking parallels to this old adage can be drawn in our industry today, where many are asking a similar question relating to the effectiveness of ads in the digital environment. In light of concerns around ad viewability, brand safety and in-target delivery, many are now asking: “If an ad falls in the wrong place and no one has an opportunity to see it, does it make an impression?”

In other words, what is the value of an ad that doesn’t deliver an opportunity to be seen, or worse, is delivered next to brand unsafe content? How should we value an impression that reaches a consumer outside of the intended target?

Read More