A look back at the most-read media stories of the past 12 months
Rogers closing 8 websites including SweetSpot and Branchez-Vous
from May 2, 2012
Rogers Media has announced the closure of eight websites under three of its major online banners.
Set to close are Branchez-Vous.com along with its affiliated sites Ciné-Horaire.com, LeCinema.ca, Matin.qc.ca and Showbizz.net, as well as CanadianParents.com, SweetSpot.ca and SweetSpotQC.ca.
Jason Tafler, chief digital officer for Rogers Media, announced the closures in an e-mail to Rogers employees Wednesday afternoon.
“Decisions like this are never easy,” Tafler wrote. “Leading companies in any industry must take calculated risks and learn from their experiences in the marketplace.[Full story]
Shaw rebrands, launches national campaign
from Nov. 2, 2012
Shaw has unveiled a company-wide rebranding, and is introducing it to current and potential customers through a national campaign.
A new logo, strategic and creative direction for Shaw’s marketing efforts come from the Vancouver-based agency Rethink, who have been confirmed as the telecom’s agency of record.
The strapline for the new campaign is “You won’t miss a thing.”
“We didn’t have a consistent, modern, fresh look and feel to the company,” said Jim Little, chief marketing officer at Shaw. “In a very competitive environment, it felt like we were leaving tools on the table. The goal was to create something that would stand the test of time.”[Full story]
Rogers’ very bad Twitter day
from March 19, 2012
There are fails. And then there are #Fails.
Friday morning fell under the latter category for Rogers Communications after it launched a social media initiative on Twitter promoting Rogers One Number, a new service that allows Rogers customers to text, talk and video call – whether on their computer or wireless phone – using their existing Rogers wireless number. [Full story]
Now what? Industry reaction to the big Bell-Astral deal
from March 16, 2012
Last September, Astral Media celebrated its 50th anniversary with a blowout party at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall that attracted the likes of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, director Norman Jewison and actor Jason Priestly. Few knew it at the time, but it was also something of a farewell party for the company.
It was announced Friday that Bell is acquiring Montreal-based Astral for $3.38 billion, further consolidating its already considerable strength in the Canadian broadcast sector with the addition of Astral’s premium specialty channels including TMN and HBO Canada, 13 specialty services including Teletoon and Canal Vie, 84 radio stations in 47 markets, and one of the country’s premiere out-of-home advertising companies. [Full story]
Related
• Bell “failed to persuade” CRTC on Astral deal
Nissan and OMD win Media Innovation Awards Best In Show
from Nov. 16, 2012
Nissan and OMD drove off with the Best of Show honour at Marketing’s Media Innovation Awards at the Liberty Grand in Toronto Thursday night.
The award was given for the “Innovation that Excites—Altima Launch” campaign, chosen from the 20 Gold winning campaigns by a jury of 12 leading media and marketing leaders.
“There was a lot of amazing work to choose from, and some really great discussion when it came time to choose Best of Show,” said MIAs co-chair and Best Buy Canada marketing VP Angela Scardillo. “But in the end everyone agreed it had to be Nissan. This was the campaign that passed the all-important ‘I-wish-I-had done-that’ test with flying colours.”[Full story]
Don’t forget to check out our 2012 Media Players of the Year shortlist
