For the Record

ADVANTEX, TICKETMASTER LIFT CURTAIN ON AGREEMENT

Advantex Marketing, the company that owns and operates the CIBC Aerogold reward program, recently announced a pact with TicketMaster Canada that will provide CIBC Aerogold cardholders with bonus miles on ticket purchases.

Under terms of the agreement, cardholders will get bonus Aeroplan miles on the purchase of tickets to concerts, as well as sports, family entertainment and performing arts events, provided the tickets are purchased through TicketMaster and paid for with the CIBC Aerogold card.

Advantex chairman and CEO C. Randall Munger says CIBC Aerogold members are an important target market for many entertainment events, and entertainment represents a significant new merchant category with solid revenue potential.

CARLSON ACQUIRES RESEARCH FIRM

Toronto-based Carlson Marketing Group (CMG) has bought research and survey specialist Organizational Studies (OSI) in a bid to increase its emphasis on measurable marketing.

Jim Ryan, Carlson’s president, said in a statement that OSI ‘provides not only the expertise and tools to conduct employee, customer and best-practice assessments, but also the consulting services which enable us to now offer end-to-end design, delivery and measurement for our clients around the world.’

OSI specializes in providing research-validated measurement tools such as employee opinion and customer loyalty surveys. In the Carlson fold, it will become a division of CMG’s employee marketing practice. OSI is based in Toronto and also has offices in Chicago, Wyckoff, N.J., and Bogota, Colombia. Jim Graham, president of OSI, will continue to head its operations under the Carlson banner.

ACNIELSEN GETS PARTNER TO DELIVER PROGRAM

Markham, Ont.-based ACNielsen has teamed up with NCH SmartFocus to deliver the ACNielsen Customer Reach Program, billed as ‘a powerful new approach to loyalty marketing.’

The Customer Reach Program allows information from a retailer’s frequent shopper database to be linked with information from ACNielsen’s Homescan Consumer Panel, which contains purchasing information and attitudinal data. The combination is designed to enable retailers and manufacturers to tailor promotions with more precision. SmartFocus software allows clients to perform customer segmentations and direct-to-consumer promotion analyses from their desktops.

MDC UNIT SCOOPS UP BASSETT DIRECT

MDC’s business and technology unit, Optus, has acquired Markham, Ont.-based Bassett Direct and renamed it Optus Direct Response.

In a statement, Lyle Kerr, president and CEO of MDC’s secure transactions division, said the acquisition is one of several initiatives designed to expand the scale and scope of Optus’ services. Optus will apply Bassett’s expertise in online communications, customer relationship management and statement marketing to the direct marketing world, he added.

MDC is based in Toronto and has operating units throughout Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. The newly created Optus Direct Response organization will continue under the leadership of Rich Bassett, who was president and CEO of Bassett Direct.

Cannes Lions 2025: Canadians nab more medals on final festival day

Strategy is on the ground in Cannes, bringing you the latest news, wins and conference highlights all week long. Catch all the coverage here.

Friday’s batch of Silver and Bronze winners included the oldest category at the Cannes festival, Film, as well as Sustainable Development Goals, Dan Wieden Titanium, Glass: The Lion for Change and Grand Prix for Good. Canadians were recognized with four Lions today: two Silver and a Bronze in Film, as well as a Bronze in Sustainable Development Goals.

FCB Toronto was given yet another nod for its work, “The Count,” for SickKids, bringing the medal count for that campaign to four, including a Gold for Health & Wellness. Another Canadian agency recognized on the final day of the festival was Klick Health Toronto, which earned a Silver in Film for its work “Love Captured” for Human Trafficking Awareness and a Bronze for “18 Months” for Second Nurture. And over in Sustainable Development Goals, the Bronze went to Publicis Canada and its “Wildfire Watchtowers” work for Rogers.

Another massive win for Canada included not one, but two Young Lions (pictured above) taking home medals in the annual competition. In Design, the Gold Young Lion was awarded to Rethink’s senior motion designer Jesse Shaw and ACD Zoë Boudreau. The second, a Bronze in Media, went to Cossette Media’s business intelligence analyst Samuel David-Durocher and product development supervisor Tristan Bonnot-Parent.

Film (2 Silver, 1 Bronze)

1 SILVER: “The  Count” by FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation

“The Count,” a striking campaign from FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation, has earned 1 Gold, 2 Bronze and now 1 Silver for Film at Cannes. If you watch it, it’s easy to see why. The collaboration between brand and agency honoured the hospital’s “VS” platform, while steering it in a new direction from its initial development by previous AOR Cossette. The creative celebrates childhood cancer patients who have to fight for every birthday, while honouring the hospital’s own milestone – 150 years and counting.

 

1 Silver: “Love Captured” by Klick Health Toronto for The Exodus Road

Klick Health Toronto added to its medal tally with a Silver in Film for it’s work “Love Captured” for The Exodus Road. The creative features a romantic getaway that isn’t what it seems in an experiential short film for the global anti-trafficking organization. The experience takes viewers through a tragic and twisting experience of exploitation.

 

1 BRONZE: “18 Months” by Klick Health Toronto for Second Nurture

Klick Health Toronto also won a Bronze in the Film category for its work, “18 Months,” done for the charity organization Second Nurture. The animated film is based on a real-life story in which a same-sex couple adopts a baby found in a subway station, and the 18-month journey into a story of hope.

Sustainable Development Goals (1 Bronze)

1 BRONZE: “Wildfire Watchtowers” by Publicis Canada for Rogers

Publicis Canada landed on the winners board for its work, “Wildfire Watchtowers,” for Rogers. The Canadian-developed wildfire-detection tech – which has been billed as “a fire alarm in the forest” – uses AI-powered sensors installed on 5G towers to monitor vast remote areas in real time. By scanning, identifying and reporting early signs of wildfires (up to 16 minutes faster than other systems), the technology helped prevent 54 fires in 2024 alone.

Catch the Gold winners later today when they’re revealed at the gala in Cannes.