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“That was a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a trainwreck!”

Nothing describes 2020 better than Jake Tapper’s reaction to the first US presidential debate. It was a weird year, that’s for sure. Yes, I say “was” because I’m already over it. And our industry is not unscathed. Truth be told, I do not envy marketers who just went through Q4 aka budget season. First, you had to justify what happened during said dumpster fire. Next you needed to request another kick at the can. That is, budgets for next year.

There is no doubt that we are in the most uncertain climate of the last decade. Consumer behaviour is defying all trend-lines, accelerating multiple years into the future. Corporate innovation has accelerated with it, too. All the while we know that the economic and behavioural effects of the pandemic will be felt long after the health crisis is over.

While most marketers have been busy revisiting business plans, modifying marketing activities and coming to grips with the new realities of a COVID world, others have been actively tackling their agency rosters.

And if you’re a marketer who was contemplating an agency search prior to the pandemic but decided to hit the brakes, here’s some good news: It’s not as scary – or as difficult – to undertake an agency search process with rigour and diligence as you may have thought. In fact, it may prove to be easier, less time consuming and more thorough than you imagined.

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising has undergone drastic transformation in recent years. The pairing of OOH with location data unlocked powerful tools that are contributing to the evolution and enrichment of the channel, particularly when it comes to granular audience targeting and measurement capabilities…

Charles Dickens was famous for this opening line in A Tale of Two Cities – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.

Thinking about marketing these days, it does feel like marketers are enjoying “the best of times,” in that messages can be tailored and targeted to very niche audiences, return on investment can be precisely measured and consumers can be reached on-line and off-line.

Yet, some days it also seems like “the worst of times” in that there is so much fragmentation of audiences across multiple platforms that it makes it difficult to promote a brand’s message and map the consumer journey…

Marketing has always been a challenging profession, but no more so than now. During this unprecedented time, marketers face greater downward pressure on budgets and an increased demand for immediate returns-on-investment. How can marketers balance the concerns of the boardroom with the reality of building and maintaining a strong brand? To answer that question – and a few more – thinktv welcomed a stellar line-up of marketing experts at our third annual Media, Marketing & Effectiveness event.

If you missed it, be sure to check out the videos. In the meantime, here are some highlights…

Through our Consumer Complaint Procedure, we review complaints based on the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards. Each year, we publish a Complaints Report highlighting the themes and trends that arise from complaints submitted by the Canadian public about advertising. Consistently, we find that issues of accuracy and clarity, safety, and unacceptable depictions and portrayals are most concerning.

In the world of consumer complaints, this year began like any other. Just like in 2019, the Standards Council engaged in reviews of standard complaints on a regular basis…