Havas Worldwide yesterday announced the official opening of a Euro RSCG Discovery office in Toronto, joining existing offices in Baltimore, Chicago, Richmond, VA and Mineola, NY.
Euro RSCG Discovery is the CRM and loyalty marketing arm of Euro RSCG Worldwide. The four-person Toronto office was established to service the Canadian Tire loyalty account Euro won last year, and will operate independently of its parent.
Heading the Discovery Toronto office is vice-president, group account director Lori Steiner, who arrived at the agency from Rapp Canada in January. Steiner has extensive experience in the CRM/loyalty space, having worked on the Esso Extra and Aeroplan loyalty programs.
Speaking with Marketing yesterday, Steiner said she was attracted to the Discovery Toronto opportunity because of an “intriguing package” that included not only launching a new agency, but working with an “iconic” brand in Canadian Tire.
Discovery’s immediate priority is on developing a revamped CRM strategy for Canadian Tire, but Steiner said the office could be called upon to provide CRM expertise to existing Euro RSCG clients in the future.
The launch of a new or revamped loyalty program for Canadian Tire poses an intriguing challenge said Steiner, not least of which is the fact that the average Canadian home possesses 9.2 loyalty cards.
“There’s a lot of choice there for consumers,” she said. “So the challenge as a marketer is how do I become first in wallet. If a consumer has that many cards, how am I going to be the one that they keep in their wallet at all times?”
Steiner said that Canadian Tire has one of the original customer loyalty programs in its iconic Canadian Tire Money, and said the retailer has both the clout and presence to significantly deepen its relationship with consumers.
“You’ve got a huge customer base there that they want to enjoy a deeper relationship with, so it’s a great opportunity,” she said. Steiner predicted that Discovery Toronto’s first work for Canadian Tire will appear sometime this year.
The strategy/account service for Discovery Toronto is comprised of Chris Oliver, managing director of Euro RSCG Discovery based out of Baltimore, Steiner and account supervisors Kacy Wilson and Emily Brawner, while the creative team consists of SVP executive creative director Jeff Wygant (Baltimore), senior art directors Stacy Wentland and Dave Wright; and copywriter Al Zizek.
