Materne Canada, manufacturer of GoGo Squeez and Puddin’ Squeez, has hired Elevator Communications as its PR agency of record.
The agency, which has offices in Toronto and Montreal, stood out for its work for hummus-maker Sabra Canada as well as its seasoned leadership team, said Pierre-Marc Laforest, general manager of Materne Canada, a subsidiary of France-based Mom Materne Mont Blanc Group.
“They’ve worked with like-minded brands and have been very successful,” he said. “We’re able to piggyback on a lot of those best practices that were learned along the way.”
Materne Canada previously worked with Montreal-based PR firm Nata. Laforest said the company has had great success in the Quebec market, but it wants to expand its reach in English Canada, while keeping the momentum going in Quebec.
Elevator Communications’ efforts will primarily focus on GoGo Squeez, a line of 100% fruit snacks in a squeezable pouch. “Both in the U.S. and Canada, our strategy has always been to take a more grassroots approach; it’s a two-way dialogue rather than blasting TV campaigns,” said Laforest. “We want to maintain that and create an environment where GoGo Squeez is [seen as] a friend… So our whole PR strategy is going to be based on that.”
Plans for 2015 include content development, product launches, CSR campaigns and digital communications support.
“What’s really important to us is that the target purchaser, which is parents, experience the product,” said Melanie Rego, president of Elevator Communications. “The must-do is to create lots of opportunities for tasting and sampling, which is part of what we did for Sabra.”
Rego added that influencer events will be held across the country, and will be tied to product launches.
