For Touché, the tagline “Fueled by data. Driven by creativity” isn’t just a nifty catchphrase. Some of the agency’s best work over the last year clearly demonstrates a clever combo of innovative creative and even better targeting. Case in point: Touché secured its place in the Media AOY awards for the third year in a row largely thanks to three campaigns: Wilson’s “Bugs Out!,” BRP-X’s “Uncharted Playgrounds” and Atmosphere’s “Camping Rituals.”
“They are great examples of how we use the global tools created by the network and leverage them locally to create impactful, data-fueled media campaigns,” explains Touché managing director Samantha Kelley.
“Omni, our people-based marketing platform, combines two key components: an identity graph (future-proofed because it is people-based, yet entirely privacy compliant and non-reliant on cookie-level data) and an inventory graph (a comprehensive marketplace of media inventory). It was at the core of the audience creation for these three campaigns, and it doesn’t get any more targeted: bug-infested neighbourhoods, mud lovers and camping rookies and veterans.”
All three campaigns demonstrate how creative, data and strategy can come together to create breakthrough campaigns. And that’s nothing new for the agency. Touché has prided itself on redefining what creativity means for over a decade now.
“We recently reviewed our most-awarded campaigns over the last decade,” says Kelley. “In 2010, our first internationally acclaimed campaign featured heated transit shelters [covered by] a toque. Fast forward to this year and our award show headline was Wilson’s “Bugs Out!” that used the power of predictive analytics.” Knowing where bug infections would happen before they were a problem allowed the brand to be on the spot with its messaging before its competitors were even warming up.
Touché isn’t just adapting to innovations in media, she says, it wants to lead them. And that comes down to talent and how well they are supported. The Touché clan has access to initiatives such as an internal mentorship program – which recently saw more than 40 mentors and 90 mentees sign up – or training programs like OMGcoach and U2THEMAX, which help each team member continue to develop their hard and soft skills at every stage of their career. The agency also recently launched a unique recruitment and retention campaign backed up by employee testimonials.
Clearly, the talent brings the creativity – but where does the data to fuel it come from? OMG has integrated market-leading data partners such as Environics, Lotame, Pelmorex, Numeris, Vividata and Comscore, and built a completely unique, made-in-Canada data solution.
“All data is brokered by our OMG Centre of Excellence team in Canada,” explains Kelley. “We do not [want to rely on] our own data, as that does not provide the flexibility to access the best, latest and most relevant data in the market. Our “no data stake” approach allows us to gather a market-leading collection of data sources. The sum of all data parts is an identity graph that has thousands of consumer attributes. All of which power the Omni tool that Touché then builds audiences in.”
So, what does the future hold? In the next year the agency is aiming for a 20% growth in staff for its Toronto office – a critical part of its growth strategy which will help drive future success, says Kelley. It also wants to keep on redefining what creativity and innovation mean for its clients, putting to market campaigns that earn consumer attention. “By doing so, we will be staying in the top 10 most-awarded media agencies in the world,” she concludes.
Key New Business
DraftKings, WestJet, Loto-Québec, Cascades, New Look, STM, Guru, Breakfast Club of Canada
New Hires
Warren Ravinsky, Vahini Jeevakaran, Vincent Marois, Kelly-Anne Hamilton, Nadiia Khoteniuk, Nathalie Bilodeau, Cecilia Kyriazis, Alan J. Merrick, Samar Majali, Daniyal Shaikh, Courtnet Rosebush
Office
Montreal
Staff
263
Media AOY Cases
1. For the last 20 years, off-road adventures have become harder to come by. So, BRP wanted to create a way for riders to share great circuits. To do so, it created Uncharted Playgrounds – an online booking system that connects riders to landowners. The campaign has seen bookings increase by 56% while doubling the number of active regions in the platform – and the number of available playgrounds has increased twofold. After less than a year, the community has already expanded to new international markets.
2. Atmosphere and Touché created “Camping Rituals,” an effort aimed at helping outdoor vets pass their skills to new campers. The campaign helped boost camping category in-store sales by +40% and online sales by +161% – and reached more than 2M Quebecers.
3. Wilson’s “Bugs Out!” used data to better target consumers in areas historically likely to be hit by bug infestations.
