Exorcising demons

Don’t worry, the others aren’t out to get you.

For many Canadian exporters, developing countries and their cheap exports are pretty scary. But Montreal-based Quebec Manufacturers & Exporters (MEQ) is on the case, researching ways to address concerns and

remain competitive.

Montreal-based agency Republik played on the industry’s fears in a campaign to promote a May MEQ convention, which included DM and a microsite. Both efforts depict a voodoo doll with flags from various emerging markets like China and Brazil, with the tagline ‘Change your fate.’

‘It’s meant to say ‘exorcise your demons,” explains Daniel Charron, CD at Republik. ‘We thought it would be cool to have the web application be almost like a horror trailer.’

Charron says his team’s original idea was to depict Jesus escaping from the crucifix. While that was a bit too risqué for the client, it certainly made them less nervous about the voodoo concept. ‘Compared to Jesus escaping, this concept was quite tame,’ he says.

client: Valérie Marcoux, events and communications advisor; José-Louis Jacome, VP, development and communications, Quebec Manufacturers & Exporters

CD: Daniel Charron

copywriter: Hughes Chandonnet

AD: Alexandre Jutras

graphic designer: Carl Dionne

account services: Dominique Morin

Bottoms up

Time to crack open a warm one?

You heard right. The latest campaign for Maple Leaf Vienna Sausages spoofs ubiquitous beer ads in an effort to tie the brand to the May long weekend and encourage multiple purchases – like picking up six tins of sausages instead of one.

Target Marketing & Communications tracked down the voice of many Canadian beer ads for the three radio spots, which talk about ‘cracking open a warm one’ for the May long weekend leading up to the tag: ‘Cheers to Maple Leaf Vienna Sausage.’ The three print ads also play on iconic beer ads. One depicts an open tin with wieners arranged in a crown formation with the headline ‘King of Sausages.’

‘Someone [on the creative team] actually tossed someone a can and said: ‘Here, crack open a can,” says Michael Scher, creative group head at

St. John’s-based agency Target, explaining the genesis of the spoof concept. ‘A lot of situations that are consumption opportunities for Vienna sausages are also consumption opportunities for beer – we want to get people to think of Vienna sausages when they think of beer.’

Since over two-thirds of all of the product’s Canadian sales are to Newfoundlanders, the campaign’s media buys are concentrated in that province and in Fort McMurray, Alta. (home of many ex-pat Newfoundlanders). It also includes POP efforts.

client: Kim Barham, assistant manager, consumer marketing, Maple Leaf

CD: Tom Murphy

creative group heads: Brian Sheppard, Michael Scher

copywriter: Kurt Mills

AD: Matthew Perrier

account managers: Laurelyn Priestley, Denise Seach,

Chris Hewlin

Hot ticket

Taxi’s award-winning work for the The Canadian Film Centre’s Worldwide Short Film Festival is definitely a tough act to follow. But, Toronto-based agency Doug has done the client justice with its campaign for the 2006 fest.

‘It really was a daunting task,’ says agency president/CCO Doug Robinson, adding that Taxi did a great job communicating the ‘short’ aspect of the festival, so Doug decided to try a new approach. ‘Strategically, we went after finding the benefits of short…one ticket, many films, with a broad range of genres.’

The TV ads depict various genres in one location. One features a grieving widow entering a funeral home (drama), where her dead husband comes back to life (horror) and grabs her breast (erotica). Six print executions play on the same idea featuring a movie seat in various states. For example, one has a pee stain (comedy), while another is covered in cigarette butts (foreign).

client: Barry Patterson, director of marketing and communications; Jennifer Mason, marketing manager, Canadian Film Centre

CDs: Doug Robinson, Gary Westgate

copywriters: Allan Topol, Brett McKenzie

ADs: Pete Ross, Gary Westgate

prodco: Imported Artists

director: Dale Heslip

photographer: Brendan Meadows

producer: Marion Bern

editor: Brian Wells, School Editing

music: Ted Rosnick

Recycling saves money

The fact that Toronto consignment shop Fashion Go-Round had no budget for their awareness campaign didn’t faze the creative guys at Toronto’s Arnold Worldwide. ‘The campaign probably cost around $100,’ explains Chris Hall, associate CD on the project. ‘It’s literally a rubber stamp and some stickers.’ The strategy, he explains, fell out of the store’s belief that ‘everything gets a second chance.’ In March, the creative team and some of the Fashion Go-Round folks went out to local doctors’ offices with fashion magazines to donate. Flip through the pages of the magazine and you’ll find branded stickers hawking the local consignment store on fashion print ads. The stickers bear the message: ‘Available soon at the Fashion Go-Round Consignment clothing store, where everything gets a second chance.’ Shopping bags and business cards bearing the logos of the Gap and Talbots (among others) got the same treatment. Recycled shopping bags bear Fashion Go-Round’s stickers and the rubber stamps obliterate original business cards culled from employees’ past shopping trips. – Pia Musngi

Client: Joanne Magnoli, owner, Fashion Go-Round

creative: Matt Syberg-Olsen, Chris Hall

CDs: Bill Newbery, Tim Kavander

production: Jane Sallows

account guy: Fil Magnoli

Bud Light gets serious

Free steak is not to be taken lightly.

The latest Bud Light TV spot plays up its apparently unbelievable swag giveaway — steaks in every case of Bud. It features serious-looking men in suits descending on parties to reassure skeptical men that the steak deal is for real.

‘Everyone kept saying: ‘You’re not actually putting steaks in cases!’ – even around our office,’ says Andrew Sneyd, marketing director, light portfolio at Toronto-based Labatt. ‘It was a really fun place to talk to beer drinkers from.’

The campaign launched in May and targets 19- to 34-year-old males. ‘It’s for young guys who are excited about the barbeque season and getting the first steaks on the grill,’ notes Sneyd, adding that one of the campaign objectives is to make Bud Light relevant to Canadian beer drinkers, which is one of the reasons they chose to partner with Canadian brand M & M Meat Shops.

client: Harvey Carroll, VP marketing; Andrew Sneyd, marketing director, light portfolio; Keith Fawcett, national marketing manager, Bud Light; George Dudas, brand solutions manager, Bud Light; Labatt Breweries of Canada

CD: Dan Pawych

copywriter: Shelly Dwyer

AD: Linda Carter

agency producer: Sarah Moen

account managers: Tim Binkley, Sheng Sinn

prodco: Steam Films

director: Mark Mainguy

producer: Rick Jarjora

editor: Mark Paiva, School Editing

sound: Eggplant

You are cordially invited to submit your new, dead clever and previously unrevealed campaigns to: editorial director Mary Maddever at

mmaddever@brunico.com and CD Stephen Stanley at sstanley@brunico.com, co-curators of strategy’s Creative space.