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.

By Karen Howe

I’m attending Cannes from the glory of my dining room table. There’s not a palm tree in sight, yet inspiration and intel are present in abundance.

Cannes Lions is a global cultural pulse check. The social course correction in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and BLM has delivered far greater diversity in the judging panels as well as the work. And we are all better for it.

I’m proud to say that creativity defeated COVID, which speaks to its power. Great work and big ideas flourished, despite unimaginable odds.

The work from the past two years spans a vast emotional range. From the profundity of Dove’s “Courage is Beautiful” to the hyper exuberance of Burberry’s “Festive,” they are opposite ends of the spectrum, but each answered a need in us.

Take note, the ascendency of gaming cannot be understated. Smart brands have embraced the channel. It makes sense, because gamers participate to meet others around the world, not just to play. And they represent a huge and powerful community. That’s why QSR Wendy’s gamified their iconic gal in RPG’s Feast of Legends.

Burger King sponsored the unknown Stevenage Football Club, transforming the team into online heroes and vaulting BK into the fray at the same time. Once again, the brand embedded itself in culture.

The birth of gaming tourism arrived when Xbox snuggled up to travel guides and created a brilliant baby: a travel guide for gaming worlds. It, too, embedded itself in culture.

From the standpoint of social good, Reporter Without Borders showed how it worked with Mindcraft for its “Uncensored Library” to bypass press censorship, with Minecraft providing a loophole to a space where young people could be educated. It provided youth with a powerful tool to fight oppression: truth.

COVID changed us in unexpected ways. We learned how to pay attention again and there was a notable lack of 30-second commercials. Instead, longer format content thrived. Apple’s WFH was seven minutes long. Entertainment reigned king, so we find ourselves returning to our advertising roots.

Seeing competitive brands form partnerships was one of this year’s other great surprises. The brilliantly simple “Beer Cap Project” by Aguila to reduce binge-drinking saw the brand reach out to competitive beers to join in. Aguila put incentivizing (keyword: free) reminders to drink water, eat food and get home safely on its bottle caps from all sorts of fast food chains, ride-share co’s and H2O brands.

On a personal level, I’m so proud of Canada again this year. Given that it was two years of work from all over the world being judged, even making the Cannes shortlist was an accomplishment. Canada is herding in the Lions in tremendous numbers – and it’s not even over. Fingers are crossed.

Karen Howe is a Canadian Cannes Advisory Board Member and founder of The Township Group