Jargon is out and consumer motivations are in, according to media firm Vizeum, which opened its first Canadian branch in Montreal in the spring and plans to open in Toronto next year. Vizeum, created in 2003, now has 42 offices in 36 countries, and is part of London-based Aegis Group, which also owns media giant Carat. It’s all part of a plan by Aegis to have a Vizeum office in every city around the world where there is a Carat office, says Marc Hamelin, strategic director of Vizeum in Montreal. Doing so allows Vizeum to bid for accounts that are off limits to Carat because of conflicts.
Using the tag line, “pioneering the art of connection,” Vizeum claims to use a fresh approach among media agencies by getting a particular message across to its target audience when they are in the right mood. The Vizeum model uses eight drivers of consumer motivations toward brands: recognition, enjoyment, conviviality, belonging, security, control, power and vitality.
Of course, stuff like cost per thousand and reach and frequency all have their place, but “we are basing our recommendations on motivations, on ideas and on insights that we find directly with consumers, which is really fresh to the world of media,” Hamelin says.
David Tremblay, media director of 2B in Montreal says the Vizeum consumer motivations model “could be interesting,” but wonders: “Is it just another buzzword?” Still, he says, there is room for a new media agency given that the Internet is swallowing up increasing space and budgets.
Vizeum’s number one client is convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard and its Dunkin’ Donuts arm. “We were quite impressed with (Vizeum’s) ability to structure our thoughts in terms of creative media,” says Chantale Sajo, marketing director of Couche-Tard. But while Vizeum’s consumer motivation philosophy caught Couche-Tard’s attention, “it’s not something we’ve started to explore with them yet.”
Last summer, Vizeum worked on a MusiquePlus contest for Couche-Tard’s Liposuccion flavour frozen drink. Finalists were challenged to swallow as much Liposuccion as they could in 20 seconds on live TV for a chance to win prizes. “Most of the success was generated by the noise around it rather than the contest itself,” Hamelin says.
Vizeum’s growth strategy is to pursue challenger brands-the second- or third-place firms in the market. Dunkin’ Donuts, which has fallen well behind Tim Hortons, fits that model perfectly, Hamelin says.
But for now Vizeum remains a small player in Canada. While its billings in Europe and Asia Pacific have hit US$3 billion, a RECMA report anticipates Vizeum’s Canadian billings will reach only $5 million this year-well below the $220 million RECMA anticipates for sister shop Carat, or billings of the smallest of the 14 major media agencies in this country, Initiative, with $110 million. Still, Hamelin thinks the sky’s the limit. “We are in several pitches right now, and as soon as we win, you will probably hear from us.”
