TAXI DELIVERS KNOCKOUT PUNCH - Strategy

ENERGIZER HOPS ONTO FACEBOOK
If you’re an admirer of Energizer’s long-eared,
drum-beating brand ambassador, you’ll be
able to make your fan status offi cial this
month, when Energizer Canada launches the
Energizer Bunny Facebook Fan Page.
The page, developed by Toronto-based
Spider Marketing Solutions, will feature “Bunny
Beats,” a drum-themed memory game that
includes a leader board and the ability for players
to challenge their friends. There’s also a click-through
to Energizer’s national “Toy an Hour” promotion, where
consumers can compete in an online game, which sees
the bunny hopping around to catch presents falling from
Santa’s sleigh. Energizer will make an equal donation
to Ronald McDonald House for every toy won.
“We see Facebook as a critical place for the brand play,”
says Spider account manager Josh Dyan. “It’s important not to interrupt what consumers are
doing, but rather harness it – give them the tools to interact with their friends while offering
them value for taking part in what we have to offer.”
The company also plans to leverage Facebook in early 2009 to celebrate the bunny’s 20th
birthday. That program, which is still in development, will revolve around a contest involving a
surprise gift from the Energizer Bunny himself on consumers’ birthdays.
The battery brand is also partnering with yummymummyclub.ca. Until October 2009, Yummy
Mummy blogger Racheal McCaig will take on the persona of the Energizer Mummy, sharing
with her readers different ways that Energizer products can be used in their day-to-day lives.
Consumers will also be able to enter national Energizer promotions directly from the Yummy
Mummy site, and access exclusive contests and promotions throughout the year. JP
DO NOT CALL
BY THE NUMBERS
BY EMILY WEXLER
Since Sept. 30, millions of Canadians have said no to
hearing about Hawaiian vacations or snow removal
services over the phone. The CRTC’s National Do Not
Call List allows people to register their numbers as “do
not disturb,” unless you’re calling from a political party,
charity or newspaper, conducting a survey or already
have a relationship with the person (or feel lucky and/or
litigious). Here’s a look at the DNCL by the numbers:
• 155,000: people employed by the telemarketing
industry in Canada
• $27 billion: amount of revenue generated by
telemarketing last year
• $15,000: amount a company could be fi ned if they
violate the new law
• 145 million: American numbers signed on to the
U.S. DNC registry since 2003
• 2.7 million: phone numbers registered the fi rst week
• 640,000: phone numbers registered the fi rst day
• 18,000: people who tried to register at the exact
same time on the fi rst day
“We see Facebook as a critical place for the brand play”
ALGOMA ISN’T COLOSSAL BY JONATHAN PAUL
Algoma University wants prospective students to know that it won’t force them to conform. The Sault
Ste. Marie-based university, which was established in June, launched a sassy social media campaign
promoting fictional “Colossal University,” a place that churns out cookie cutter graduates.
The campaign, developed by Toronto's McDonnell Haynes Advertising & Design and targeting university-bound kids
in the GTA, uses wild postings and transit ads depicting a cookie cutter, a deli counter number dispenser and a light
bulb with slogans like “Every Colossal U student will turn out exactly the same. We guarantee it.” It also includes ads
on Pizza Pizza’s in-store digital signage network and streaming video banners on social networking sites. “Our target
market lives on Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and MySpace,” explains Anita Dong, president, McDonnell Haynes.
The creative drives traffi c to a microsite for Colossal U, colossalu.com, where a young woman condemns the site’s
“offerings.” An Algoma University logo drops down and the woman begins to explain why Algoma is different, and
suggests watching professors and students talking about the university in video testimonials.
The campaign debuted in September at the 2008 Ontario Universities Fair, where Algoma’s booth presented faceless
mannequins with arms up to ask questions that couldn’t be answered because the “prof” was on a video monitor.
Media buys for the campaign, which runs until mid-November, were handled by Toronto-based Magi
Communications, and streaming video and links will continue to be placed on additional social networking sites.
STRATEGY November 2008 7