The Really Brief — Week of June 8

June 9

Carlsberg Canada‘s cider brand Somersby is introducing a new contactless farmer’s market in Toronto that allows people to order Ontario-grown produce using a pay-what-you-can model.

The “Click & Collect Farmers’ Market by Somersby” will operate in Toronto’s Liberty Village neighbourhood each Saturday until July 18, with customers picking up their order in a way that respects current social-distancing protocols. Upon pick-up, consumers of legal drinking age will be offered a free sample pack of the cider brand.

All of the produce in the packages will be sourced by Veggies Delivered, which specializes in home delivery of fresh produce packages. Proceeds from sales will be donated to The Stop Community Food Centre.

“Farmers’ markets in Toronto have been synonymous with bringing the community, both near and far, together. And in such an unprecedented time, we believe that our new normal has compelled us to recreate the experience in such a way that is safe for both our partners and the consumer,” said John Porter, managing director of Carlsberg Canada in a release.


The Niagara 2021 Canada Summer Games (Niagara 2021) has partnered with design agency Mosaic North America for next year’s games.

Steven Katzman, chief revenue and marketing officer for the 2021 Canada Games Host Society, says that Mosaic will work to help the event achieve an internal objective of being “the most interactive Games ever.”

Mosaic, which has Canadian offices in Toronto, Montreal and Mississauga, will collaborate with Niagara 2021 to produce interactive digital content through an Innovation & Technology Pavilion in Canada Games Park and a virtual torch relay.

“There were existing relationships between the two organizations, so right off the bat there was a fair amount of comfort and an understanding of what our mandates are,” says Katzman. “What really appeals to us is the expertise Mosaic has with building digitally interactive platforms.”

In a release, Niagara 2021 said that Mosaic will be using its capabilities to blend the physical and digital worlds through “large-scale, hybrid programs that Canadians can participate in regardless of where they are.


Toronto agency Rouge380 is asking marketers and other business leaders to think like science-fiction writers in envisioning what a post-pandemic world might look like. The survey is live now through June, and asks respondents to envision what their industry might look like five, 10, even 50 years into the future.

“The world of science-fiction has consistently influenced how technology has developed, so why can’t we all think like science-fiction writers and envision the future of business?” says Rouge 380 founder Stephen Jones.

Among the 18 questions: “What industry hit by the current crisis do you NOT expect to bounce back at all?” and “What science fiction movie do you think hints most at a possible post-COVID future? And why” and “To thrive in the next 10 years what barriers must your industry overcome?”

The first wave of responses has led to some predominant themes, says Jones. The first is a collapse of the commercial and residential real estate markets, particularly as consumers migrate to e-commerce and companies allow more employees to work from home, and the second is greater use of drone and robot technology to avoid human contact.


 

 

 

Chris Powell