Also in this report:

– Top Client Overall: Richmond Savings’ creative riches p.34

– Top Client, Alcoholic Beverages: Kokanee a beer for B.C. and beyond p.35

– Top Client, Automotive: Toyota shows drive p.35

– Top Client, Food & Beverage: Dairyworld: New frontiers p.37

– Top Client, Restaurants: Food a passion at Earl’s p.37

– Top Client, Retail: Save-On-Foods takes fresh approach to category p.38

– Top Client, Recreation & Leisure: Eye-opening effort revitalizes Playland p.39

– Top Client, Telecommunications: Telus’ branding strategy promotes image of stability p.40

– Top Client, Tourism: Unpaid media has paved way for Yukon gold rush p.40

This issue features a Strategy first: a special Western Canada edition of our annual Top Clients report, devoted to recognizing the accomplishments of the region’s outstanding marketers. (Our inaugural Quebec Top Clients report was published in the March 3 issue.)

Strategy’s selections appear on pages 34-40. Our editorial staff has reviewed the past year’s news, solicited expert opinion and chosen client organizations that stand out as exemplary marketers in a variety of business categories.

It is important to note that the distinction of Top Client is not awarded on the basis of great advertising alone. Rather, our selections are based on what we consider all the fundamental tenets of good marketing: sales results, attention to brand development, innovation and relationships with suppliers.

Measured against these criteria, Richmond Savings Credit Union has clearly earned the honor of being named Western Canada’s Top Client for 1997.

There was a time, not so long ago, when the showcased entertainment at the Calgary Stampede consisted mainly of whatever acts happened to be in town at the time.

That just wasn’t helping draw folks through the gate, says Dan Sullivan, the Stampede’s senior manager of public affairs. So two years ago, the Stampede dropped its rather staid marketing approach in favor of a more sophisticated and aggressive strategy, with a focus on staging entertainment that would attract more locals, as well as those from further afield.

That means bringing in top acts specifically for the event. And it means going after every conceivable age group. Which explains why bands such as 54/40, The Odds and the Waltons ­ acts more Gen-X than rodeo ­ have shown up on the entertainment roster.

‘Now we market to the individuals of the family ­ not the family as a whole,’ says Sullivan.

Research indicates the average age in Calgary is 33, and the Stampede’s marketing and advertising clearly reflect the psychographics of that market.

While ads for the international market still retain the traditional cowboy and mountain imagery, Albertans are being courted with edgier, more contemporary creative from Calgary’s Highwood Communications. The 1996 campaign, for example, featured outdoor promoting the Stampede’s popular pig races, with the line ‘Last one there is a blt.’

The advertising is definitely more fun to create now, says Highwood manager of account services Tim Hansen, who was the Stampede’s ad manager for eight years before joining the agency.

Previously, he explains, the Stampede stuck with standard, cowboy-themed advertising ­ a mistake, as it turned out, since Calgarians had grown tired of seeing and hearing the same old thing. (As one focus group participant put it, ‘Show me another chuckwagon and I’m going to puke.’)

Sullivan says the current advertising is highly targeted, so that nothing is wasted. A spot on a classical radio station, for example, will focus on the Stampede’s respected art exhibit, while one on a rock station will emphasize the midway.

Single-message outdoor is used heavily in the Calgary area, along with radio, tv and print. This year, the Stampede is also promoting itself province-wide through radio. Whereas before, radio spots ran only in the major centres, the new program has spots airing daily and weekly on every station in Alberta. The print ads running across the province, meanwhile, are ‘very direct,’ according to Sullivan, and include a call to action.

Overall, the new approach appears to be working. In the past, Sullivan says, the largest crowd for an outdoor concert at the Stampede was about 3,000 people. Last year’s 54/40 show, however, attracted 7,500.