August 25
EQ Bank is throwing shade at Torontonians as the city reopens. The bank introduced branded umbrellas—all spaced the appropriate two metres apart—at Toronto’s Withrow Park last month, and says they will appear at other locations throughout the city as the summer winds down. The program was developed by Toronto agency Union Advertising.
“We know that people are starting to head outdoors to soak up the sun. We wanted to
help them feel relaxed about physical distancing in a safe, smart way,” said EQ Bank’s SVP of digital banking and strategy, Mahima Poddar.
EQ joins other Canadian brands that have been doing their part to help Canadians practice proper physical distancing as the country reopens.
IKEA Canada is trying to help students get their dorm room (or bedroom) back-to-school ready with a new Pinterest promotion.
It takes the form of an online quiz that asks participants to identify their top priority for academic success and what would make their spot at home more bearable. Completing the five-question quiz generates a Pinterest board of IKEA products that specifically addresses their style preferences.
“This new Pinterest experience combines IKEA’s life at home expertise with Pinterest’s shopping power to take the guesswork out back-to-school shopping,” said Santiago Arbelaez, IKEA Canada’s head of integrated media. “Through this personalized digital experience, we can make it easy, fun and inspiring for both parents and students to shop for all the essentials they need.”
According to Pinterest data, there was a 116% increase in Pinterest searches for “dorm room inspiration,” and an 82% increase in “homeschool room ideas” from July to August.
August 24
Tim Hortons has introduced a new collection of mini hockey sticks for the long delayed return of the NHL playoffs. The sticks come in a miniaturized locker box for each of six big-name players: Sidney Crosby, Nate MacKinnon, Mitch Marner, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin and Carey Price. The sticks cost $5.99 each and there are also special “Golden Sticks” and prize tickets for a Tim Horton 1967 mini replica stick or a Sidney Crosby game-used stick.
To further activate its official sponsorship, Tim Hortons has also had coffee trucks inside the NHL hub cities serving players, coaches, staff and reporters coffee and snacks since Aug. 1.
“We are so proud to be working inside the hub cities with the NHL and we’re excited to be offering these exclusive collectable mini sticks to our guests,” said Hope Bagozzi, Tim Hortons’ chief marketing officer.
Zulu Alpha Kilo has appointed Jenny Luong as its newest associate creative director, where she will partner with another recent hire, Nick Asik.
Luong and Asik previously worked together at Zulu in the early 2010s, developing campaigns including Coca-Cola’s Arctic Home and Corona Day of the Dead.
Luong left Zulu in 2014 and spent four years with John St. before moving to DDB Chicago, where she worked on brands including Mars Wrigley, MillerCoors, State Farm, Jeep and Capital One.
“I really missed the Canadian way of working. I wanted to go back to an agency where the creative process is scrappier and there’s more of a maker mentality,” said Luong, who returned to Toronto in March. Luong most recently worked as a freelance on the ADCC All-nighter campaign, a 24-hour webathon to save the Advertising & Design Club of Canada.
Devyn Perry has been named vice-president, managing director of Carat Canada. “Devyn is known for her unique approach into media lead ideas, innovation and creative solutions,” said CEO Alex Panousis in a release.
Perry will work on the P&G business, working with a senior leadership team that includes VP, client leadership Jeremy Graham and SVP client solutions Sarah Armstrong.
Perry was most recently head of Red Magnet, the Omnicom unit created to service the Rogers Communications business (which moved to a bespoke WPP unit called Theo earlier this year). Prior to joining Red Magnet, she held a senior role at Wavemaker, supporting accounts including BMO and L’Oreal.
“I worked for Alex for five years and she is in a constant state of evolution,” said Perry. “Her focus is always on how do we differentiate ourselves to do better work for our clients and that type of attitude is contagious.”
Fort Langley, B.C.-based Jelly Digital Marketing & PR has hired former Daily Hive editor-in-chief Farham Mohamed as public relations advisor.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Farhan join our team,” said Jelly marketing founding partner Darian Kovacs. “His experience speaks for itself, and we’re excited to learn from his time in the field after helping to build arguably the most read publication we’ve seen in decades.”
Farhan is credited with growing Daily Hive’s monthly audience from 200,000 monthly uniques to more than 6.5 million, turning it into one of the country’s most sought-after vehicles for press mentions.
“I’ve always respected and appreciated the work and relationships the team at Jelly has built over the years,” said Farhan. “They’ve always made smart moves and look for ways to innovate. I can’t wait to share my experiences and see what we’re able to accomplish together.”
