May 5
Just weeks after joining No Fixed Address as a partner and creative head, Jordan Doucette already has a new title—president.
Doucette will assume day-to-day oversight for the agency, with co-founder and original president Dave Lafond stepping away from daily duties to focus on bigger growth projects.
Lafond said this was not the intention when they hired Doucette from Leo Burnett a couple of months ago. “It turns out she’s unbelievable,” he said. “She is a complete integrated leader, she is a president.” Lafond and co-founder Serge Rancourt quickly agreed she could take over the daily operations, freeing up Lafond to focus on high-level projects.
“Our goal is to turn NFA into an award-winning, leading global creative agency and to make it the base of a diversified platform of services that thread through the entire communications grid,” said Lafond. “Why not dream big?”
May 4
Kia Canada has appointed Toronto’s Strategic Objectives as its PR agency of record, with a purview that includes media relations, influencer partnerships, special events, auto shows, and CSR initiatives.
Susan Bernardo, KIA’s national public relations manager, said in a release that Strategic Objectives was selected on the basis of its “dynamic strategic thinking, deep understanding of the Kia brand, and their proven ability to execute flawlessly.”
Strategic Objectives has completed several projects for Kia since the two first began working together in 2018. “We are delighted and grateful to make it official with Kia, and to build on the momentum we’ve created together,” said Strategic Objectives partner and co-founder Deborah Weinstein.
Canada’s most famous marketer, Ryan Reynolds, has released a new ad for his American mobile brand Mint. The conceit is that they had just started to make an “epic” ad when the pandemic hit, so Reynolds put together a far more basic slide-based informational ad instead.
He briefly sells the key offer of premium wireless for $15 a month, and spends the rest of the ad in his familiar everyman-meets-A-list superstar persona, making self-aware jokes about his own movies and sliding in at least two reminders that he’s Canadian. (Make sure you pause to read all the folders on his desktop.)
Reynolds took an ownership stake in Mint last November.
Moya Brown, SVP of marketing at IG Wealth Management, has been elected chair of the board of directors for the Association of Canadian Advertisers. Brown has been on the board for five years.
“The ACA’s mission is to help members enhance the performance and return on investment of their marketing spend. This mission is especially critical in today’s extraordinary disorder and we are grateful that Moya has stepped up to help us navigate a relevant course forward,” said ACA president and CEO Ron Lund.
“As the association’s new chair, I look forward to working with the board and staff to ensure ACA continues to lead an industry that is in the grip of dramatic change. This leadership becomes even more vital as we ready for what will likely be a significantly different set of consumer behaviours, needs, and desired experiences ‘on the other side,'” said Brown.
Also joining the board are Tammy Sadinsky, vice-president, marketing communications at Walmart, and Pranav Chandan, marketing director of beauty and personal care at Unilever
Tim Hortons has made its limited-edition Nova Scotia Strong donut available nationally, with all proceeds from the $1.59 menu item going to the Canadian Red Cross Stronger Together Nova Scotia Fund. The donut was first introduced in Nova Scotia to raise funds to support individuals, families and communities affected by the recent tragedy.
Tims has said that the donut’s design will vary by restaurant, based on what supplies owners have available. Several different designs have been sold in Nova Scotia since it was introduced.
The QSR brand also enlisted its two longtime pitchmen (and Nova Scotia natives) Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon to raise awareness of the donut and how it is helping victims (see it below). Tims has previously created limited-edition donuts to lend support to victims of the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash and the 2013 Alberta flooding.
The Hand Sanitizers Manufacturing Exchange, an industry collective created late last month in response to the COVID pandemic, has announced that Canada’s major distillers have committed to supply more than one million litres of high-grade alcohol per month to be used by the country’s hand sanitizer manufacturers.
According to the Exchange, that would have been sufficient to produce the entire 2019 supply of hand sanitizer.
The Exchange is a collaborative effort between Cosmetics Alliance Canada, the Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association, Spirits Canada/Association of Canadian Distillers and Responsible Distribution Canada. Its stated objective is to maximize the domestic production of hand sanitizers.
