Presentation to the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce 2006

SHELF WARS - HOT TOPIC IN MARKETING

Shelf wars, particularly in the food industry, are a hot topic. At Fantail, we proposed to convene a roundtable discussion on in store issues, with our client Onbrand, other stakeholders and Marketing Magazine editors. They agreed. It’s a timely subject, given the convenience, nutrition and shopping habit shifts we're seeing at shelf. Turned out to be quite the discussion!

Here's this week's cover feature from Marketing magazine. Enjoy.

Jan. 28, 2005
Marketing Magazine

Marketing legends honoured

Canada’s marketing industry officially has its own legends.

Ten industry giants were honoured as the inaugural inductees into the Marketing Hall of Legends (MHOL) last night at a sold-out event in Toronto.

MHOL, co-chaired by Stéphan Danis, president and chief talent officer of Mandrake, and Jim Warrington, president of Fantail Communications, was established by Mandrake and the Toronto chapter of the American Marketing Association to “enshrine Canada’s marketing industry and its stars for posterity.”More than 250 executives judged nearly 250 nominations and culled the list down to just 10.

Inductees are divided into four categories: visionaries, mentors, enablers and builders.

Enablers, or agency-side legends, are Paul Lavoie, chair and chief creative officer of Taxi, and Frank Palmer, founder, chair and CEO of DDB Canada.

“It’s hard to be up here as a legend when you’re alive,” Palmer joked, adding that if you hire people who are smarter and brighter than you, you never have to work a day in your life, “and that’s what I’ve done.”

Visionaries include Ron Joyce, co-founder of Tim Hortons; President’s Choice creator Dave Nichol, of Dave Nichol & Associates; Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil; and Michael Budman and Don Green, co-founders of Roots.

In the mentor category, the sole inductee is Alan Middleton, executive director, Executive Education Centre and assistant professor, Schulich School of Business at York University.

Inductees in the builders category are Paul Alofs, president and CEO of The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation; Christine Magee, president, and Stephen Gunn, chair and CEO of Sleep Country Canada; plus Judy Elder, awarded posthumously, for her contributions as a marketing leader at Ogilvy & Mather, IBM and Microsoft/MSN Canada.

David Powell, husband of the late Judy Elder, said Elder’s legacy is the people she’s inspired over the years. The award is a “reflection of the respect and affection so many had for Judy,” he said.

MHOL’s Legacy Program was also announced last night. Created by AMAand Mandrake, the program is a series of roundtables and seminars that will nurture young talent in the marketing industry, and give opportunities for marketers to share insights.

Jan. 28, 2005
The TorontoStar

Drive and charisma define first inductees
Marketing leaders honoured by peers at gala ceremony; Inspiring woman is recognized posthumously
TONY WONG
BUSINESS REPORTER

Judy Elder would likely be bemused — and certainly more than a little flattered — to be one of only 12 people in Canada considered so influential in her field that she would be among the first to be inducted into the Marketing Hall of Legends.

"I think she would have also been overwhelmed, especially since this kind of honour is coming from her peers," said her husband David Powell yesterday.

Powell accepted the award of behalf of his wife last night at a $300 a plate inaugural ceremony at Toronto's Liberty Grand, sharing the spotlight with entrepreneurs who created iconic brands such as Roots, Tim Hortons, President's Choice and Cirque du Soleil.

Elder died from a brain aneurysm at the age of 47 in 2002, after being treated for a rare blood disorder. She was chosen from an impressive field of 250 nominees, which was whittled down to 37 finalists, said Jim Warrington, co-chair of the event and president of Fantail Communications Inc.

"There was a significant need to recognize Canadian marketing practise and people like Judy," said Warrington.

An influential mentor in the marketing field, Elder, known for her drive and charisma, was general manager of Microsoft Canada's consumer products group and the chair of the Canadian Marketing Association at the time of her death.

"I have literally been overwhelmed by people coming up to me to tell me their Judy story, of how she had an impact on their lives," said Powell.

Less than a month before she died, Elder made a speech at the Board of Trade, telling women to "Celebrate the fact that you want to go far ... If you acknowledge the importance and power of your ambition, recognize it is there to drive you to greater achievements and sustain you through the challenges."

The speech was so inspiring that it motivated top Canadian corporations to fund the Judy Project, a leadership forum for executive women at the University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management.

"She was an absolutely brilliant, delightful, perfect person," said York University professor Alan Middleton, the lone academic inducted into the Hall of Legends under the mentor category yesterday. "She truly was one of the superstars of the industry."

Elder also won international recognition for her marketing of Microsoft's Xbox video game system, and helped create a distinct identity for Microsoft Canada. Not surprisingly, she had a reputation for being something of a superwoman.

"She was spending two days a week in hospital, while running three of Microsoft's businesses in Canada," said Powell.

Because she believed family was paramount — the couple has two boys — she would rush home at night to make dinner, calling the butcher on her cellphone on the way home, he said.

"She would wind down the window and they would literally throw the meat in the car and she'd be off," said Powell.

Middleton said yesterday's awards were an important step in celebrating marketing talent. "Canadians haven't been good at promoting ourselves. We've worked very hard on building the better mousetrap, but not telling people how we did it."

The affable Middleton began his career at the J. Walter Thomson advertising agency in London, and ultimately headed up the company's Tokyo operations. After leaving the agency, he earned his PhD in business administration, specializing in marketing at York University's Schulich School of Business.

The awards are broken into four categories. Visionaries are people who have created enduring brands, builders are charismatic leaders who have increased the competitive nature of their organizations, enablers are marketing communication professionals who have excelled, and mentors are those who through philanthropy or academia have provided inspiration in the profession.

"I've loved what I've done for so many years it's almost like a hobby to me in a way, so to receive an award for what you love to do is pretty gratifying," said Frank Palmer, chair of communications agency DDB Canada, who was inducted in the enabler category.

Palmer was the winner of this year's Association of Canadian Advertisers gold medal award, the industry's top annual honour for his contributions to marketing communications and for his philanthropy.

His competitor, Paul Lavoie, chairman and chief creative officer of advertising agency Taxi, was also inducted yesterday.

"I think it's great that we have a forum that addresses the importance of what we do, that communicators have an impact on society," said Lavoie.

Taxi's high-profile accounts include Mini, Molson Breweries, Viagra and Telus. One of the most memorable advertising campaigns the firm has done is pro-bono work for the Athens Olympics, where Lavoie depicted real Canadian athletes in the streets begging for money to put the spotlight on their poverty.

What Lavoie would really like to do, though, is to "brand" Canada itself. "Canada as a brand is still invisible," he says. "But we have some incredible stories to tell the world."

Other inductees yesterday included Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil, Michael Budman and Don Green, co-founders of Roots, Ron Joyce, co-founder of Tim Hortons, Dave Nichol of Dave Nichol & Associates, Paul Alofs, president and chief executive of the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, and Christine Magee and Stephen Gunn of Sleep Country Canada.

Middleton was a little surprised that some other potential marketing legends weren't on the first cut, including Four Seasons chief executive Izzy Sharpe — ("He created the top global brand for luxury hotels") — clothier Harry Rosen — ("He doesn't have a huge national presence, but he has done an incredible job") — and Ed and David Mirvish — ("Ed Mirvish was about the first guy to go and make money out of theatre, and that was through sheer promotion").

"They really had a lot of great people to choose from," said Middleton.

While Middleton and other industry insiders agreed that the awards were overdue, the irony wasn't lost that even the marketing experts seem to have fallen under the Canadian spell of being reticent to toot their own horn.

"I think we've been so busy telling everyone else's story that we forgot to tell our own," said Powell.

MARKETING MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 13, 2004

Clutter control
By Chris Powell

Consumers sift through offers

Bob Westrope estimates that between 10 and 20 billion ad impressions are delivered in Canada every day. "It's more unsolicited stuff being blown at (consumers)," says the president and CEO of a new company called CentrSource. "It's not rocket science; there's just too much."
Soft-launched in March, with a major consumer marketing and PR campaign slated for late November, CentrSource is a permission-based online utility that Westrope calls a "clutter control panel." The site allows consumers to treat these billions of ad impressions as a database they can sift through to extract offers relevant to them.
Participating advertisers, such as Procter & Gamble, will tag their ads with the CentrSource logo-a red- and-white swirl (there's also an audio identifier) that Westrope hopes will become as recognizable as the "Intel inside" logo-which directs consumers to the CentrSource Web site.

There, consumers can browse ads, obtain additional product info, request a sample, get coupons or shop-all within three mouse clicks of the home page. The site also allows marketers to see which offers are resonating with consumers-and they pay only when someone takes an action toward a purchase, such as requesting a sample or a test drive.

"There's been an inherent assumption that the tension between the advertiser and consumer is zero-sum: somebody wins and somebody loses," says Westrope. "We believe there is a model now where everybody wins. If you treat the consumer with dignity and do precisely what the consumer wants, that's the most important place to be for advertisers and everybody that serves them."

The result of over 6,000 development days and more than US$7.5 million (C$9.9 million) in funding, CentrSource is an "unapologetically big idea," says Westrope. And, it's one that dovetails with empowered consumers and increased advertiser demand for marketing that is accountable and measurable.

Patrick Walshe, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group Canada and a member of the CentrSource's advisory board, sees an opportunity for the Web-based service in our complicated advertising environment. "It's often hard to remember who's saying what to whom and what a specific offer is," he says, "I think more and more people are persuaded there's a glimmer of an idea here, and it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out."

CentrSource is actually comprised of two components:

CentrSource.com and a B2B application open to all advertisers, agency and media called Response Exchange. The latter enables marketers to create what Westrope calls "response boxes," a virtual call centre where they can create and track offers. These offers can be tailored right down to an individual street, says Westrope: "We want the local pizzeria in Kapuskasing to be able to use this to post today's specials."
Procter & Gamble Canada is currently using CentrSource for its Olay line of skin-care products, enabling consumers to request a sample.

CentrSource recently retained what Westrope calls a "significant" European investment bank to help raise up to $26.4 million from "tier one" venture capital firms by Q1 of 2005. The securing of funds will coincide with what Westrope calls a "serious push" in consumer marketing.

CentrSource's will launch in the GTA in late fall, followed by the rest of Canada in 2005 and the U.S. by September 2005.

For Immediate Release (November 12, 2003)

FANTAIL HIRES NEW MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER

TORONTO, Ont. - Fantail Communications Inc. has hired Danica Riley as its Media Relations Manager. Danica will develop strategic media relations programs and coach the agency’s clients on how they can best reach target audiences.
"Danica's media relations expertise is a great asset to the Fantail team," said Jim Warrington, President, Fantail Communications. "Her background in journalism and thorough understanding of what makes a strong story will give our clients an insider’s edge that delivers results."

Prior to joining the Fantail Communications team, Danica was an account executive at Goodman Communications Group. She holds a degree in Journalism from Ryerson University and has worked as a reporter in both print and broadcast media.

Fantail Communications Inc. is a Toronto-based consultancy and public relations agency specializing in marketing communications. Its clients include Adecco Canada, Donna Dooher and The Cookworks, World Education Services, Strategies International, Canadian Egg Marketing Agency and ninedots.

PRESS RELEASE

Donna Dooher adds The Cookworks to Fantail Communications' menu. Chef, author and television personality hires first public relations agency.

Toronto, August 28, 2003 - Chef Donna Dooher today announced the appointment of Toronto's Fantail Communications as public relations consultants. Chef, author of bestseller "Out to Brunch" at Mildred Pierce Restaurant, Food Network TV host, and partner in Mildred Pierce selected Fantail following a review of several agencies. Fantail will be responsible for the upcoming launch of The Cookworks with Donna Dooher on Food Network Canada, as well as for building visibility around the showís second season in the United States on Food Network.

"Fantail has the right fit for us,"commented Dooher. "Their team brought forth very creative ideas, they are very committed and theyíre not afraid to go big or go home."†

The first assignment is the Canadian launch of "The Cookworks with Donna Dooher." The prime time television show, produced by Toast Pictures, is based on Toronto's The Cookworks, where Donna Dooher and her team have been teaching individuals and corporate groups that the techniques, ingredients and tools of the kitchen can be presented in a fun and stylish way that both entertains and inspires.

"We're thrilled to play a part in building this great brand,"said Jim Warrington, Fantail Communications President. "Donna is a true entrepreneur; sheís got a lot on the go. This is a great complement to our experience with food brands."

Fantail Communications inc. is a Toronto-based consultancy and public relations agency specializing in marketing communications. Its clients include the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency, Adecco, World Education Services, ninedots, Masterfile and Strategies International.

www.fantailinc.com

Donna Dooher, an accomplished chef, is North America's leading advocate of the rewards and entertainment value of "hands on" cooking. With her 25 years of experience as a chef, partner of Mildred Pierce Restaurant, author, founder of The Cookworks and as a television personality, Donna has been the leader in enabling people to "discover their inner chef."

PRESS RELEASE – March 26, 2003

Turning interview anxiety into opportunity…Fantail Communications and Swiftkicx launch MessageAce™ media preparation software.

Toronto, March 26, 2003 – Two Toronto-based companies today announced the launch of media preparation and training software, designed to assist organizations eager to leverage effective media relationships as part of their communications strategy. MessageAce™ is a simple, web-based software solution developed by Swiftkicx Solutions Inc., powered with the media training and marketing expertise of Fantail Communications Inc.

Effective media relations can be a critical success factor for getting out the message about a product, service, issue or idea. Yet, the prospect of giving an effective interview can be a daunting experience for executives and spokespeople. MessageAce™ helps users know what to expect from media, develop effective messages and rehearse and hone their interview skills.

The MessageAce™ software solution is easily integrated with existing intranet and extranet applications. Utilizing proprietary Swiftkicx content management technologies, MessageAce™ provides non-technical administrators control over content, easily updating and maintaining all content, including audio and video files. With robust tracking and reporting features, administrators can implement specific curriculum and usage tracking.

"With media being so sophisticated now, companies are seeking strategically-sound, flexible tools to better manage their messaging. MessageAce™ is a no-brainer for companies looking to be really effective." noted Jim Warrington, President, Fantail Communications Inc. "It will make ‘getting ready’ both an educational and enjoyable experience."

Paul Lewis, Partner, Swiftkicx concurred. "It is an ‘ever-fresh’ solution. Non-technical people can easily update and maintain content, thanks to simple, web-based interfaces.

The two companies are scheduling meetings and demonstrations for interested organizations. Contact information may be found at www.swiftkicx.com or www.fantailinc.com.

SwiftKicx Solutions Inc. is an online business solutions company dedicated to providing superior value and generating a return from online solutions. They have created and implemented web-based business solutions for a variety of organizations, including e-commerce sites for atresume.com and docubay.com as well as accredited e-learning sites for mdBriefCase.com and Airborne.

Fantail Communications Inc. is a communications and public relations agency specializing in effective message engineering. Clients include Canadian Egg Marketing Agency, Daily Bread Food Bank, World Education Services and Heart and Stroke Foundation.