Bell Media’s in-house creative agency, the Bell Media Agency, has earned global recognition at the 2013 PromaxBDA Awards in Los Angeles, receiving the Global Excellence Award for “Marketing Team of the Year.”
Bell won 46 medals at the annual show recognizing the best in broadcaster marketing – 20 Global Excellence awards and 26 North American medals. The recognition spanned marketing initiatives for a broad array of Bell Media properties, including its flagship CTV network, TSN, MuchMusic, CP24, Discovery and BNN.
“It was a great range of work, which I’m really happy with,” said Jon Arklay, senior vice-president, Bell Media Agency and brand strategy. “It’s a real testament to Canadian creative talent when you see us up against the big four U.S. networks and the BBC. It’s incredibly gratifying and certainly tells us we’re doing something right.”
MuchMusic led all Bell Media properties with 15 awards for properties including the MuchMusic Video Awards and the annual Big Jingle, as well as marketer-specific initiatives for clients including Workopolis and Subway. CTV collected 11 awards, many for promotion of the 2012 London Olympics, while TSN earned seven awards.
The Bell Media Agency (and its forerunner, the CTV Creative Agency) has won more than 300 awards since 2008.
“Year after year, the team at Bell Media consistently demonstrates creative talent and leadership on an international scale,” said PromaxBDA president and CEO Jonathan Block-Verk, in a release. “The work they deliver is inspiring and speaks to a passion for television marketing and creative.”
The Bell Media Agency is comprised of approximately 200 people working across the entire brand portfolio. Personnel are divided into channel or genre-specific teams, but Arklay said that the company also encourages cross-brand input.
“There’s a shared environment to encourage cross-brand brainstorming and sharing of ideas and techniques,” he said. “It allows us to ramp up for special projects like the Olympics or MuchMusic Video Awards or capitalize on individuals with particular expertise.
“That fluidity keeps things interesting for our creative staff.”
Arklay said that the rise of premium cable – and buzz-worthy shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad – is pushing conventional broadcasters to improve their marketing. Broadcast marketers are also pushing the limits of marketing creativity, embracing everything from social media to apps. Earlier this year, for example, the U.S. channel AMC launched an app called “Dead Yourself” that enabled users to upload a picture and transform themselves into a zombie.
“A creative needs to be pushed creatively – you need that fuel to make you better,” he said. “When you look at shows like The Walking Dead or Dexter or Mad Men, and what they’re doing with their marketing initiatives, it pushes you,” said Arklay.
