Comments Off on Fuse Marketing Group 10 Year Anniversary
Fuse Marketing Group celebrated their 10th anniversary with a big bash at 99 Sudbury last week. Joining them in the festivities were clients, friends and Fuse MG alumni. The evening had a vodka bar ice luge, hors d’oeurves, candy bar, cake, DJ, dancing, and good times. It was also a nice surprise to see friends from Snapz Photo Booth there. It sounds like the party went on late and I wish I could have stayed longer! Congrats on your 10 years, Fuse MG!
Daniel Robinson, president & founder, Antelope Inc
ABOUT FUSE MARKETING GROUP
FUSE Marketing Group (www.fusemg.com) is a creative brand activation agency. Passionate about delivering strategic, innovative and effective marketing solutions, FUSE is a marketing services company with a proven track record as a valued partner to a roster of leading Canadian clients. Working in a climate of true collaboration and creativity, these partnerships drive sales, build brands and grow businesses. To learn more about FUSE Marketing Group, visit www.fusemg.com or www.facebook.com/FUSEmg and find us on Twitter @fusemg.
The Siren Group
right: Daniel Robinson, president & founder, Antelope Inc.
Michael Preston, Stephen Brown
Fuse Marketing Group founders Garo Keresteci, Stephen Brown and chairman, Michael Preston
Comments Off on Google Tops Canada’s Most Influential Brands
Steve Levy, President of Ipsos Reid, presenting the 5 dimensions that contribute to influence: Trustworthy, Engagement, Leading Edge, Corporate Citizenship, Presence
It was a sold out session at the TIFF Bell Lightbox as the audience eagerly awaited the results to be revealed of Ipsos Reid’s 2nd annual “Most Influential Brands” study as part of the ICA’s FFWD Marketing and Advertising Week. The study reveals the most influential brands in Canada with this year’s study having 5,000 Canadians participating in an online survey, 5 times larger than last year’s study. Steve Levy, President of Ipsos Reid, presented the most notable movers and shakers including Bank of Montreal jumping from 94th to 44th and also Samsung jumping from 47th to 18th. Levy then counted down and summarized each of the top 10 brands as follows:
CBC
Air Miles
Tim Horton’s
You Tube
Visa
Walmart
Facebook
Apple
Microsoft
Google
Google overtook Microsoft this year and it’s interesting to note that Tim Horton’s made the the biggest jump on the top 10 list climbing up 7 spots to claim the 8th spot this year.
A key idea that any business can take away is that to be effectively influential at any size, whether big or small, require strengths in one or more of the 5 key influential pillars. Other key ideas Steve Levy mentioned include:
Ad spend alone won’t buy influence and that influence is earned.
Repetition creates influence
National pride plays a role
Creating influence is not easy
How brand influence is measured
According to Ipsos-Reid, brand influence is measured by 5 key dimensions that define and drive brand influence: trustworthiness, engagement, leading edge, presence, and good corporate citizenship. The study showed that all 10 top ten brands have the highest marks in building influence and driving preference in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Steve Levy, President of Ipsos Reid, presenting the Most Influential Brands
World’s Most Influential Brand
Unique to this year the study went beyond the Canadian market with consumers surveyed in 8 other markets including US, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, UK, France, Germany and China to come up with another list of the “World’s Most Influential Brands”. This study also concluded that Google was at the top of this list as well.
“Brands have meaning, personality, and attitude. And because people so often identify with, relate to, and define themselves by them, brands have influence,” said Steve Levy, president, Ipsos Reid. “For a brand to succeed, it has to reach its audience, connect with them, and get them to buy into the brand’s promise. But for a brand to have real influence it needs to win on the crucial dimensions we identified — trustworthiness, engagement, leading edge, presence, and
corporate citizenship. Google is this year’s leading example — not only in Canada but on the world stage.”
About Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada’s market intelligence leader, the country’s leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid’s marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.
To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.
About the ICA
The Institute of Communication Agencies or the ICA (www.icacanada.ca) is the professional business association which represents Canada’s communication and advertising agencies. The ICA’s mission is to champion commercial creativity, amplify the industry’s economic impact, and to embrace and drive change. As such, the ICA promotes thought leadership, higher standards and best practices. It serves as the largest source of information, advice, education and training for Canada’s communication and advertising industry. ICA’s member agencies and subsidiaries account for over 75 per cent of all national advertising in Canada, with an economic impact worth more than $19 billion annually. More information about the ICA and its initiatives can be found at www.icacanada.ca or follow on Twitter @adweekcdn or @icacanada.
Comments Off on TIFF Next Wave: Battle of the Scores
TIFF Next Wave Film Festival is created by young movie lovers for young movie lovers. For the 2nd annual TIFF Next Wave held from Feb 15-17, Battle of the Scores kicked off the opening night festivities featuring 6 high school bands across the city curated by the Next Wave committee at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Each of the bands performed their own unique scores to an original short film created this year by young, emerging filmmaker Ben Roberts. The winner was determined by a panel of professional judges from Toronto’s music and film community including film composer Adrian Ellis and director, actor, choreographer Corey Bowles. There was also an additional prize based on the audience’s votes via texting short codes. The evening was hosted by Sam Sutherland, author of Perfect Youth: The Birth of Canadian Punk and segment producer at MTV News.
Each band did a great job being given only 3 weeks, each showcasing their own interesting style and each accompanied by a unique segment of the original short film. It was entertaining night and it’s great to see TIFF place an importance on being accessible to the next generation of young movie lovers. Congrats to the winning band, Post!
TIFF Next Wave committee
Post
Winning band of the night, Post, with the Next Wave hosts
The rest of the festival showcased 10 international films, a John Hughes marathon, a 24-hour film challenge for aspiring high school film teams, and a Talent Lab for youth aged 14-18.
Comments Off on Dragon Ball 2013 Year of the Snake
It was an incredible night with all the stops pulled out for the 24th annual Dragon Ball in support of the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care with 1,200 patrons.
Highlights include photo opportunities with snakes, the HSBC ice sculpture serving martinis, a raw oyster and clam bar by Raw, a sushi bar, delicious treats by Tundra Restaurant (pleasant surprise seeing you again, Eraj!). There was so much food during the reception that it could have been dinner itself but there was also a 3-course dinner as well. It was great to see the legendary Hazel McCallion, mayor of Mississauga, a regular supporter of Yee Hong. Frank Scarpitti, the mayor of the City of Markham, singing songs in Cantonese. The raffle featured big prizes such as a Lexus CT 200h hybrid and a Caribbean cruise for 7 nights. There was also a large room dedicated to a casino and many items up for bidding in the silent auction. There was a live auction before dinner, too. The evening was hosted by Francis D’Souza and Sangita Patel of City (recently rebranded from “Citytv”, by the way).
I think Lesly Tayles, Vice-President of National Bank, explained Yee Hong’s importance best when she told her story of an English-speaking nurse who said to a Chinese-speaking elder that she couldn’t help if the patient couldn’t speak English. This summarizes the need for providing care with the right cultural and linguistic care and that’s what Yee Hong does with it’s 15,000 seniors.
Kudos to the organizers, sponsors and many volunteers of Yee Hong, as you can tell a lot of effort goes into putting together a gala of this calibre.
Hosts Francis D’Souza, Sangita Patel of City
Lesly and Mike, National Bank
Frog leg delicacies topped with cavier from Tundra Restaurant, Hilton Hotel
The Mayor of Markham, Frank Scarpitti, singing in Cantonese
Yee Hong is a caring community where seniors enjoy a continuum of culturally and linguistically appropriate care. With a client-centered and personalized approach, Yee Hong is currently serving 15,000 seniors and their families across the GTA through its 4 nursing homes, social services and community based programs, as well as medical and rehab services.
With strong roots in the Chinese Canadian community and our respect for seniors, we enable seniors of different backgrounds and needs to live their lives to the fullest – in the healthiest, most independent and dignified way. For more information, please visit www.yeehong.com
Yee Hong Facts
Four Yee Hong Centres in Scarborough, Markham and Mississauga, serving 15,000 seniors and their families each year.
805 long-term care beds with 4,000 on the current waiting list, the longest in all of Ontario
Offers culturally appropriate long-term care services to seniors of different backgrounds, including Chinese, South Asian, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, Filipino and Portuguese
150 social housing units
308 life lease units
Francis D’Souza, Sangita Patel of City
Francis D’Souza, Sangita Patel of City
1,200 patrons at Dragon Ball
The Mayor of Markham, Frank Scarpitti, singing in Cantonese
Each centerpiece of Dragon Ball took 20 hours to make, courtesy of Yee Hong seniors
Comments Off on Motionball 2013: Winter Wonderland Gala
Those that were there knew how lively it was at the annual Motionball gala in support of Special Olympics Canada, with this year’s theme of “Winter Wonderland”. How befitting considering the large snowstorm that had arrived that evening. But that didn’t deter the 2,000+ guests from attending this sold-out charity gala that took over the 41,000 square foot Muzik night club.
The event featured tons of great live music and a silent auction. There was also an Iceberg Vodka bar and a mixology bar hosted by Weslodge.
It was great to see retired Toronto Argonaut, Adriano Belli, who brought out the one and only Grey Cup. Another Argo who attended was wide receiver, Mike Bradwell, with MTV News anchor, Aliya Jasmine Sovani. The evening was hosted by CP24’s Melissa Grelo and TSN’s Cabral “Cabbie” Richards. Other notable guests included Damon Allen and Randal Edwards.
The dance floor at Muzik was large, the crowd even larger and that’s where most guests congregated to dance to some great entertainers including CrashDex featuring Jerzee, performance by a 44-piece symphony orchestra, and DJs Skratch Bastid and Efsharp.
Great news that the event beat it’s target and raised $300,000 for the Special Olympics Canada Foundation!
Crashdex feat. Jerzee Photo: Jason Kwan
right: Damon Allen
44 piece Symphony Orchestra Photo: Gus
Check out the video of the founder of Motionball, Paul Etherington speaking to CTV News.
ABOUT MOTIONBALL
motionball is a not-for-profit organization that builds awareness and raises funds for the Special Olympics Canada Foundation (SOCF), targeting a “next generation” of supporters – Canada’s professional crowd who are not defined by their age but rather their mind-set. To keep up to date with Motionball, click here.
