It’s not easy. Agencies contend with a saturated media landscape and distracted, bombarded audiences. As this year’s Media Agency of the Year winners show, content integration is key, and leveraging partnerships and sponsorships in creative ways is often what it takes to get brands at the forefront of the media action. So much so, several of this year’s judges noted that the line between media, creative and content is blurring.
This year, the Gold goes to MediaCom, which moved up the ranks from Honourable Mention last year. Media Experts grabbed the Silver, knocking last year’s winner, Starcom MediaVest Group, out of second place, while Mindshare nabbed the Bronze. SMG is still in the winners’ circle, pulling in an Honourable Mention. And this year, we’re presenting two Media Directors of the Year, with Terry Horton of Cossette Media and Mark Sherman of Media Experts having tied for the title.
Judges commented on calibre of the work from all of this year’s shortlisted agencies, and their ability to use new media without forgetting traditional.
“I’m incredibly impressed by the use of multimedia platforms, combined with good, old-fashioned on-the-street campaigns…giving each the right push to give it life,” said judge Kirstine Stewart, EVP of English services, CBC.
Sandra Sanderson, SVP marketing, Shoppers Drug Mart, also lauded the calibre of media innovation: “From small campaigns that demonstrated
out-of-the-box thinking, to massive campaigns with outstanding content integration across multiple media platforms…clearly, the bar has been raised this year.”
Jump to:
Media directors of the year: Terry Horton, VP, media director, Cossette Media and Mark Sherman, founder, owner, executive chairman, Media Experts
Next Media Star: Shahnaz Mawji, supervisor, communications strategy at Carat
MAOY Gold: MediaCom’s innovation evolution
MAOY Silver: Media Experts stays ahead of the curve
MAOY Bronze: Mindshare dives into digital bridging
MAOY Honourable Mention: Starcom’s streak stays alive
While female-targeted appliance brands typically avoid “male-dominated” environments like sports, data showed that Canadian families – including moms – tune their TV sets to hockey playoffs throughout the summer. MediaCom forecast that the 2011 playoffs would be particularly
well-watched, given Vancouver’s possible chances of advancing.
The agency identified NHL playoff hockey on CBC as the medium, and then secured all remaining inventory, consisting of one 10-second spot per game, with priority first-in-cluster positioning. In the creative, players wearing jerseys emblazoned with the iconic Hockey Night In Canada logo come off the ice to find the Maytag Repairman in their dressing room standing alongside a Maxima duo. The players throw their soiled jerseys in the machines, which, as the voiceover reassures, offer the best cleaning in the industry – tough enough even for a team’s worth of hockey gear.
MediaCom secured rights to the Hockey Night in Canada logo at a substantial discount given the non-traditional revenue source – rights that are typically only available to multi-million-dollar sponsors. It also negotiated three bonus laundry integrations on Steven and Chris – the daily lifestyle show enjoyed by moms 25 to 54.
Sales of the Maytag Maxima doubled during the campaign, and overall brand share saw concurrent double-digit growth. The 2011 NHL playoffs were the most-watched in CBC history, driving a viewership index of 149. Game 7 of the final round was the most-watched HNIC broadcast ever. Most notably, the finals saw a 112% increase in female viewers. The co-branded spot scored as high as the concurrent 30-second brand spot in testing. Now that’s maximum impact.
“A great use of 10-second spots in a high-profile TV event. Clever, impactful and unique.”
–Judge Laura Gaggi, Gaggi Media Communications
