CANADA POST BEEFS UP TARGETING

Canada Post Corporation and Toronto-based Compusearch Micromarketing Data and Systems have announced the launch of GeoPost Plus, a service to help marketers cost-effectively target large numbers of prospects by adding Compusearch’s PSYTE neighbourhood cluster system to Canada Post’s Unaddressed Admail service. Marketers using Unaddressed Admail can now target markets and interpret consumer behaviour prior to mailing, Canada Post says. PSYTE classifies Canadian households by postal codes and enumeration areas into 60 mutually exclusive neighbourhood types or clusters.

SOFTWARE PROMISES TO STEM ABANDONED SHOPPING CARTS

The developer of a new software program claims the product can eliminate the customer service crisis in online retailing – when consumers abandon shopping carts before checkout, or give up on online retailing after long waits for e-mail replies. Toronto-based software company e-businessready.com has developed CallMe e-businessready, a customizable, private label sales and customer service automation software tool designed specifically for online retailers. CallMe customers can contact a retailer in real-time while browsing the Web by clicking on the button, according to the company. The product also allows clients to schedule conference calls, monitor Web-based sales call activities, chart sales representatives’ responses to Web-based enquiries, track Web visitor’s IP addresses and browse the Internet.

MIXME SPEAKS UP

Two new Internet marketing tools have been launched that enable e-mail messages to speak to consumers – literally. Los Angeles, Calif.-based MixMe Networks has announced the release of MixMessage and MixMagnet, which create personalized audio marketing messages. Mix Message is a direct e-mail marketing service that merges personalized audio messages with custom animation. It incorporates specific personal information about consumers like name, hobbies and shopping preferences into the e-mail.

ADVANCED GRAPHIC ARTS EXTRANET UNVEILED

Graphic arts, publishing and advertising companies, as well as their clients and suppliers, may soon be able to exchange camera-ready art and other images faster and cheaper than before. Bell Nexxia and Montreal-based Cenosis have announced an agreement to market an extranet for the graphic arts industry through KangaCom, provider of the extranet network solution. The new broadband digital transfer service will allow a graphic designer to transmit the full contents of a magazine to clients or printing firms across the country – reducing production costs and delivery time. The commercial launch is planned for the first quarter of this year.

The Garden promotes two creative directors

ACDs Lindsay Eady and Francheska Galloway-Davis have taken over responsibility for day-to-day creative leadership at The Garden after being promoted to creative director roles.

The pair will also help develop the agency’s creative talent, formalizing mentorship and leadership activities they have been doing since joining the agency four and three years ago, respectively. In addition to creating the agency’s internship program, the pair have worked on campaigns for Coinsquare, FitTrack and “The Coke Challenge” campaign for DanceSafe.

Eady and Galloway-Davis will continue to report to The Garden’s co-founder and chief creative officer Shane Ogilvie, who is stepping back from daily creative duties to a more high-level strategic role, allowing him to focus on client relationships and business growth.

Naked Creative Consultancy names new creative and strategy leadership

Toronto’s Naked Creative Consultancy has hired Yasmin Sahni as its new creative director. She is taking over creative leadership from David Kenyon, who has been in the role for 10 years and is moving into a new role as director of strategy, leading the discipline at the agency.

Sahni is coming off of three years as VP and ECD at GTB’s Toronto office, where she managed all the retail, social and service creative for Ford Canada. She previously managed both Vice Media and Vice’s in-house ad agency Virtue.

Peter Shier, president of Naked, says Sahni’s hiring adds to its creative bench and capabilities, as well as a track record of mentorship, a priority for the company. Meanwhile, Kenyon’s move to the strategy side, he says, makes sense because of his deep knowledge of its clients, which have included Ancestry and The Globe and Mail.

Digital Ethos opens a Toronto office

U.K. digital agency Digital Ethos is pursuing new growth opportunities in North America by opening a new office in Toronto.

Though it didn’t disclose them, the agency has begun serving a number of North American clients, and CEO/founder Luke Tobin says the “time was right to invest in a more formal and actual presence in the area.” whose services include design, SEO, pay-per-click, social media, influencer and PR,

This year, the agency’s growth has also allowed it to open an office in Hamburg, Germany, though it also has remote staff working in countries around the world.

Moray Hickes was the company’s first North American hire as VP of sales, tasked with business development in the region.