What is it about summer that causes editors to pack up their pencils and head for the hills?
Two years ago, about this time of year, just as strategy was heading into relaunch, our then-editor Duncan Hood decided it was time to move on. I blamed it on the ramp-up to Fall TV. May is when we immerse ourselves in fall launch mode, plan assignments fiendishly to accommodate everyone’s announcement schedules and work to aggressive deadlines in order to turn around our biggest issue of the year. This year our Fall TV issue falls in July, rather than June, as we’ve finally acknowledged that extracting the schedules from the network execs before they are fully formed is too optimistic (and painful) for even the most stubborn Pollyannas.
It is also the time of year that the weather beckons us outside, and confirms for an all-too-brief period that living in Canada is remotely sane.
The two do not co-exist well. This is why I once again blame Fall TV for the sad fact that our current editor, Lisa D’Innocenzo, is moving on now – though not very far. Lisa will be joining strategy’s correspondent fold, and will continue to helm the Biz and Where Next features for us each month. We envy her new at-home office scenario (a wide-ranging series of nomadic options, from her garden, to close proximity to her fridge), and will miss her constant presence here – her infectious smile, those disarming green gumboots and her intriguingly cluttered office (borderline excavation status). Lisa’s commitment to create a magazine that is ‘all killer, no filler’ played a huge role in the successful relaunch, and we are grateful to her for sharing her passion for strategy with the team, and the industry.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Lisa since overseeing the relaunch, so I’m delighted that her ongoing contributions will continue to keep strategy’s ‘bold vision/brand new ideas’ bar high. And I’ll now be stepping in to edit the magazine as well, so please be in touch with all of your news and your feedback – the more industry participation we receive, the better we’re able to shape strategy’s content to cover what’s important to you. We’re now prepping for August’s ‘Brands Giving Back’ feature, and while many of you have been in touch with news of your social responsibility and charitable doings, there’s still time for anyone who missed the call. We’re also looking for candidates for our September issue feature, dubbed ‘Cojones,’ wherein we identify the up-and-comers who are taking a thought leadership role within the industry. So, please nominate anyone you think is Next Gen leader material – the outspoken agents of change, the bold and the big thinkers among you.
We’re also on the prowl for media plans that maximize consumer engagement for our upcoming Media In Canada Forum. The conference, slated for October, is looking at the many novel and effective tools and tactics agencies and marketers are using to increase their odds of engaging their audience. This issue’s Media feature studies some of the methods we’ve uncovered thus far, such as snooping around inside people’s brains to see what medium is most effective for delivering certain kinds of messages. So, check out ‘Getting to Engagement’ (page 28) and then share what you’re up to.
This month once again strategy is heading to Cannes to check out how Canada is stacking up on the world stage, and to bring back big ideas from around the ad globe to inspire our editorial lineup. This issue, to get in the Lions spirit strategy-style, we wondered what the winners circle would consist of if marketers did all the picking. The results start on page 47, so see if your campaign caught our award-winning panel’s attention. And if you are Croissette-bound, we would love to take a break from the heavy conference agenda to hear what you’re up to, so give us a shout and we’ll have a reason to replace a seminar with a cocktail!
Cheer, mm
Mary Maddever, exec editor strategy/MIC, 416.408.0864
