RTA Publicite of Montreal has been awarded the Air France account.
The assignment includes national image advertising and Quebec retail work.
Other Montreal agencies on the short-list were: Young & Rubicam, Blouin Coulombe Dube Thompson, Publicite Martin, PALM Publicite Marketing, and Martel et Compagnie Publicite.
Air France reports $55 million in Canadian sales annually.
LA Ads wins broadcast assignment
Business Depot’s aggressive plans for growth in 1993 include the move into broadcast advertising.
Traditionally a print advertiser, the Markham, Ont. company has awarded its broadcast creative assignment to Toronto’s LA Ads/Lawrence Ayliffe Advertising.
The first radio campaign gets under way this month.
Print advertising is handled in-house. Placement agency is Genesis Media.
Two-year-old Business Depot operates 10 business equipment and supplies warehouse outlets in the Toronto area, and plans to open another 16 in Ontario and Quebec in the next year.
Business Depot’s major shareholder is Staples, a Massachusetts-based office supplies business with 160 locations in the northeast u.s.
Corby consolidates with McKim
The toronto office of McKim Baker Lovick/ BBDO will take over most of the Corby Distilleries creative assignment, effective March 1.
The annual budget is valued at more than $4 million.
Placement is handled by Media Buying Services.
McKim will be picking up the business at the expense of FCB/Ronalds-Reynolds and DDB/Needham.
The only brand not handled by McKim will be Canadian Club, which is distributed by Corby, but owned by Hiram Walker.
In Canada, Hiram Walker will be aligning the ad account with the Canadian affiliate of a yet-unnamed u.s. agency.
McKim has been working with Corby for more than 25 years.
Corby owns or represents brands that include Wiser’s whiskies, Walker’s Special Old Canadian Whisky, Beefeater Dry Gin, Lamb’s Rum, Ballantines Scotch Whiskey, Courvoisier Cognac, Tequila Sauza, Polar Ice Vodka, Kahlua, Tia Maria, Drambuie, Black Tower, Harveys Sherries and Moet & Chandon Champagne.
Dole picks Stringer Veroni Ketchum
Dole Packaged Foods Company of Toronto plans to escalate its advertising activity this year and has chosen a new creative agency to assist it – Stringer Veroni Ketchum.
Planning and placement continues to be handled by Media Buying Services.
Two other Toronto shops, Geoffrey B. Roche & Partners and Goodgoll Curtis, also made it to the short-list.
Previous agency was Backer Spielvogel Bates, winner of the $2.5-million Sunkist Growers business last fall.
Dole’s budget will also grow this year in order to fuel new product launches and image building. Annual spending has previously been estimated at about $1 million.
Dole markets a line of chilled, frozen and shelf-stable fruit juices in a variety of tropical flavors, canned Fruit Cocktail and Tropical Fruit Salad, in addition to its complete line of canned pineapple and pineapple juice products.
Communique gets MasterCard
Mastercard Association of Canada has named The Communique Group of Toronto as its English-language agency-of-record after a lengthy review.
The French-language business is handled by LG2 of Montreal.
Annual billings are reported between $3.5 million and $5 million, up substantially from last year’s budget.
In the past, MasterCard has assigned projects to DDB Needham and last year, J. Walter Thompson.
An international account conflict prompted jwt to withdraw from the race earlier.
