TAXI DELIVERS KNOCKOUT PUNCH - Strategy

media aoy silver
Sears Canada
Molson
86 STRATEGY November 2008
Rather than buying media to support Sears’ enhanced electronics departments,
Mediaedge:cia chose to sell it instead.
Canwest Media was given exclusive access to Sears’ media assets to promote Global
TV’s new fall schedule. The message – “The best way to experience Global’s fall shows
is on an HDTV from Sears home electronics” – appeared on in-store window displays,
showplace zones and aisle panels, weekly Sears fl yers, in-store announcements and
sears.ca and e-newsletters. As well, a 30-minute HD reel of new programming ran on
the TVs in Sears electronics departments.
In return, Canwest delivered 20-second promos for Global programs with key Sears
and vendor messaging, a four-page glossy insert with Sears messaging and Sony
and Panasonic ads, distributed via Canwest newspapers and street hawkers wearing
Sears/Global outfi ts. Entertainment Tonight Canada created a custom 30-minute
prime-time program covering Global TV’s new fall programming, of which Sears was
the exclusive sponsor. A contest featuring Sears prizing was pre-promoted via on-air
spots, newspaper ads in the largest Canadian markets, on canada.com and in a monthly
newsletter to canada.com subscribers.
Over 90% of the English-Canadian public was engaged by the program, Sears
electronics sales increased 20% and over 98,000 people entered the contest. Sears
also collected over 3,000 names of people who would like to receive more information
about home electronics.
When Molson saw that its male legal-drinking-age-to-29 target was spending more time on social
media sites like Facebook, the brewer wanted to test this channel to connect with its consumers.
To avoid backlash and/or low acceptance of brands and advertising, Mediaedge:cia and Molson
conducted an in-depth analysis, observing and interacting with consumers live within Facebook.
Based on their fi ndings, they developed a plan for two sponsored groups, one for Molson Canadian and
one for Coors Light. In exchange for a media commitment to drive traffi c to these groups, Facebook
provided full access to back-end data and programming resources, category exclusivity and assistance
in the creation of a new age-verifi cation method linked directly to users’ profi le data.
Working with the Molson marketing team and key agency partners, Mediaedge:cia developed
consumer activation plans and created a template for the creative agencies to follow that would
leverage all the tools within the Facebook environment. The Molson Canadian Intern for a Day contest
encouraged users to upload video applications that were voted on by the group’s members. The Coors
Light Name that Caption contest invited users to post captions for an off-the-wall picture, and received
over 800 posts. The Coors Light Action Sports Video contest asked users to post videos of action
sports feats, and the winner was featured on MTV.ca.
Within a short time, Molson’s two groups became the largest Canadian-sponsored groups on
Facebook, nearing 50,000 active members and amassing over 1,500 photo posts, 150 video uploads
and 3,000 posts on the walls and discussion boards.
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