Strategy asked the top brass at media agencies across the country to give credit where it’s due and name their brightest young media minds. The winner will be selected by the strategy Media Agency of the Year jury and announced this fall. Here’s the first round of contenders. Stay tuned for the second batch in next month’s issue of strategy.
THE CONTENT MATCHMAKER
Andrea Miliauskas, communication strategies supervisor, J3 Canada
Claim to fame
Communication strategies supervisor at Toronto-based J3 Canada, Andrea Miliauskas knows a thing or two about hooking brands up with entertainment properties.
She led the April launch of online magazine Fora, created by Johnson & Johnson’s Clean & Clear brand in partnership with MTV Canada. The aim was to change teens’ perception of Clean & Clear from simply a purveyor of acne care products to a specialist in teen beauty care. Leveraging a teen content powerhouse like MTV was a no-brainer.
“At the end of the day, teens are about fashion and beauty as much as they are about gossip and entertainment,” she says. “The audience is already there, so why not build something that’s ownable by Clean & Clear and brings new users to MTV?”
TV promos, online ads, PR and in-show mentions from MTV personalities drove to MTV.ca/fora. The digi-mag has three themed issues a year, but content is refreshed on a bi-weekly to weekly basis. Ad space is completely dominated by Clean & Clear, showcasing products not necessarily related to acne care like makeup remover, cleansers and moisturizers.
Back in 2009, Miliauskas turned to Canwest to develop partnerships with Food Network and Canadian Living magazine to create a multi-platform program for J&J’s low-calorie sweetener brand Splenda. Again, the goal was to change perceptions of the brand and create relevancy as consumers eat healthier, touting its versatile potential as a low-cal baking and cooking option. The result was the online video series “Sweet Talk,” featuring TV personality Liza Fromer, on Splenda.ca/sweettalk.
Episodes featured seasonal food trends, such as healthy holiday treats, New Year’s resolutions and summer activities like jamming.
Thirty-second promos on Canwest channels featuring snippets of episode content, as well as online and print ads profiling series guests and recipes, drove to the website and full-length episodes. The site also offered recipe downloads, news, coupons and surveys. A partnership with MSN.ca resulted in an exclusive Splenda diabetes info hub.
“Sweet Talk” garnered 30% more traffic to Splenda.ca, and visitors spent an average of three minutes with the content. By the end of December 2009 there were over 123,000 video views and 148,000 site visits.
The campaign has been extended into 2010, focusing on “aha!” moments where guests including LPGA golfer Lorie Kane and Food Network chefs David Adjey and Roger Mooking explain easy food solutions that helped make a change for the better in their diet. The 2010 version also includes a more robust TV presence. Two-minute vignettes during breaks in Food Network’s top show in Canada, Ace of Cakes, drive back to the extended online pieces.
“It’s taking what worked last year and making it better,” says Miliauskas. “It was great content, we just needed to get to more of an audience.”
More on Miliauskas
Miliauskas, 26, graduated from Centennial College’s advertising program in 2005. An internship working on the IBM account at Mindshare in Toronto turned into a full-time job, which took her to the agency’s office in London, U.K. She returned to Canada in 2008, ultimately landing at J3.
“J3 is really integrated,” says Miliauskas. “I talk to my digital team and my broadcast team every day, we all sit together. It seemed so appealing because you get exposure to everything.”
What are you most proud of professionally?
“Going to London. I think it’s terrifying to pick up and fly halfway across the world to go try out another market. I may not have lasted that long (seven months), but I don’t regret it. It was terrifying and interesting all at the same time.”
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Natasha Stevens, media strategist, OMD Toronto
Anne-Marie Buchanan, media strategist, Bleublancrouge
