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As we turn the corner on COVID, where is your growth going to come from? Is it going to come from your existing clients organically? Are you going to be able to win market share from your competitors? Or can you find a “greenfield” opportunity to reach out to customers who may never have heard of your brand? If you’re interested in the third option, then you need to look at the newcomer opportunity.

The ethnic opportunity in Canada is already the size of the population of Quebec. But that snapshot of time is changing rapidly. Over the next three years, the Government will be welcoming 1.2 million permanent residents to our shores. You can add to that the 640,000 international students that grace our colleges and universities on an annual basis…

PC Optimum has landed a top-10 spot in The Most Influential Brands study for the first time. The Loblaw’s loyalty program is the only Canadian brand in the top 10.

“It is very difficult for local brands to obtain and retain a top 10 ranking, and so when we do see a Canadian brand in the top 10, it is really special,” said Steve Levy, COO at Ipsos, at a virtual event on February 2^nd.

Levy said a series of “sincere and caring” emails to members from Galen Weston during the pandemic helped strengthen trust in the brand. PC Optimum is also more than a rewards program and is tied to health and wellness, he added.

Now in its tenth year, The Most Influential Brands study is conducted by the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) and Ipsos, in partnership with Publicis and the Globe Media Group. It evaluates 100 brands on five dimensions: trustworthiness, presence, being leading edge, corporate citizenship and engagement. This year, a sixth dimension was added to reflect the help and caring brands showed during COVID.

In today’s very crowded marketplace, branding is playing an even more strategic role in connecting with people. That said, many organizations use virtually the same branding tools in their efforts to connect with customers. While most understand the importance of using their logos, many focus primarily on their visual branding but have yet to harness the power of sonic branding. With every media platform having sound built in, brands need to have their own voice to connect with customers. Discerning brands treat sound with the same care and discipline as they do their visual brand-building.

What exactly is sonic branding?

It’s the strategic use of music, sound and voice to create rational and emotional connections between people and brands, while also reinforcing your brand’s identity…

COVID-19 has been a media disruptor, but podcasts have emerged as a relatively pandemic-proof way to reach a Canadian audience. As audio continues to explode in popularity, brands are eager to get into the space. But how do you know if a podcast is right for your company? How do you achieve your brand objectives without alienating listeners? And how do you pull it off during a global pandemic?

Here is what you should consider if your company is thinking of creating a podcast this year:

Even though there is reason for optimism with a vaccine on the horizon, these next few months may prove even more challenging for marketing and agency teams. Pandemic fatigue is the new catch phrase. So now more than ever, managing in a time of crisis is a “make or break” requirement.

During the current crisis, businesses have worked faster and better than they dreamed possible just a few months ago. Maintaining that sense of possibility will be an enduring source of competitive advantage.
– McKinsey & Co.

Recently, Aprais undertook an in-depth analysis of our global database of over 21,000 client-agency evaluations to uncover the defining behaviours of resilient teams – those who rebound in times of crisis.

In November 2020, the federal government announced its intention to update our federal data privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which has been in effect since 2000. PIPEDA allows commercial organizations in Canada to be amongst one of only 12 countries deemed “adequate” under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), but it was not without its faults. The law was beginning to show some age, particularly as big data projects began emerging, and so the government announced in 2019 an ambitious Digital Charter for Canada, to which this announcement in November is directly tied.

It is understandable if the average marketer missed the announcement amidst the more urgent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To assist, this article will provide a baseline understanding of what’s in the Act and how it may impact your day-to-day marketing operations if it passes as it is currently written.