Table of Contents 3. A Message from the IABC/ President 4. A Message from the OVATIONS Awards Organizers 5. OVATION Awards Gala Sponsors 6. 2010 IABC/Toronto OVATION Award Winners 26. IABC/Toronto Awards of Distinction 26. Bobbie Resnick Philanthropy Award 26. 2010 IABC/Toronto Student of the Year Award 27. Independent or Small Agency of the Year 27. Medium-sized Agency of the Year 27. Large Agency of the Year 27. Corporate Communications Department of the Year 27. People‘s Choice Award

28. 2010 OVATION Awards Winning Entries

Communication Management 28. Community Relations 33. Media Relations with Budget up to $50K 59. Media Relations with Budget of $51K to $100K 64. Media Relations with Budget Greater than $100K 65. Marketing Communications with a Budget up to $50K 70. Marketing Communications with a Budget of $51K to $100K 79. Marketing Communications with a Budget Greater than $100K 86. Special Events with Budget up to $50K 96. Special Events with Budget of $51K to $100K 101. Special Events with Budget Greater than $100K 119. Issues Management and Crises Communication 129. Employee, Member or HR Communication 144. Strategic Management Process 150. Brand Communication 155. Social Responsibility including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development 184. Electronic, Digital and Interactive Communications

Communication Skills 194. Multimedia or Digital Content 198. Publications

Communication Creative 206. Other Graphic Design/3D 209. Photography

Awards of Distinction 212. 2010 IABC/Toronto Student of the Year Award 214. Bobbie Resnick Philanthropy Award 218. OVATION Awards Judges 228. 2009/2010 IABC/Toronto Board 229. 2010 OVATION Awards Committee Members

Created by Katie Fretz and Directed by Beverly Fairclough, IABC/Toronto Volunteers

Message from the IABC/Toronto President

It seems only fitting that in this particular year we are celebrating a program that celebrates excellence. 2010 has seen remarkable achievement, from our athletes shining brightly on home soil in to IABC/Toronto being named International Chapter of the Year by IABC. 2010 is also the 25th anniversary of the OVATION Awards, which IABC/Toronto established to offer communications professionals the opportunity to present their best work and recognize excellence, while at the same time fostering a greater appreciation of the profession. In 1985, I was still finding my way in the world as a teenager growing up in southwestern . Others were just starting out in their communications careers, while others were winning the very first OVATION awards. Some of our current members weren’t even born when those first statuettes were given out. This all speaks to the diversity and strength of our chapter, as does the OVATION program itself. It encourages all levels of the profession, from beginning to veteran communicators, to excel in their work, and to reach for and attain the praise of their colleagues, clients and organizations. This year, communications throughout our chapter further demonstrated that diversity and desire for excellence by submitting a record number of entries, across a multitude of organizational types from the corporate, agency, independent and government sectors and categories (everything from media and government relations to publications and CSR). And the winning entries were just as diverse, from media relations to social media, photography, issues and crisis management, and interactive, to name a few areas. For the first time, we had submissions in the social media category and we will be awarding the very first award of Excellence in that category tonight. The number of submissions doubled in the following categories: Media Relations up to $50K; Employee, Member or HR Communications; and Other Graphic Design/3D & Photography. Even better, entries in the Electronic, Digital and Interactive Communications category tripled. IABC is a volunteer organization, and as such we are indebted to a host of individuals who gave selflessly of their time and expertise to make the 25th anniversary of the OVATION Awards a truly special experience. Thanks go to Linda Andross, ABC, VP Accreditation & Standards and her team of judges, and to Trell Huether, VP Awards, and his team, who left no detail to chance, long before and after the judging process, to make tonight’s gala a success. I also want to express our gratitude to our sponsors, including Translate This Now, , CNW Group, The Canadian Press Images and Fusion Design Group, who helped make tonight possible. On behalf of IABC/Toronto, I want to congratulate all of the 2010 OVATION Award and Awards of Distinction winners. I also want to thank everyone who entered and attended the gala, for recognizing excellence in our chapter and profession. Your dedication is an inspiration to us all.

Brent Carey, ABC President, IABC/Toronto

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A Message from the 2010 OVATION Awards Organizers

The OVATION Awards recognize the high standard of excellence found in the Greater Toronto Area communications community and with each passing year, we continue to be amazed by the creativity and professionalism achieved by each entry. The high caliber of this year’s submissions demonstrates the level of skill required in producing successful communications as the competition for audience continues to grow and become even more important in challenging economic times. As we celebrate 25 years of success in the OVATION Awards, we also celebrate the success of IABC/Toronto, the world’s largest chapter. We can say with great confidence that the work being honoured tonight not only celebrates the best in our local area, but some of the finest creative communications in the world. In 2010 we saw a record number of OVATION entries and in total IABC/Toronto awarded 29 Awards of Excellence and 39 Awards of Merit. It is with sincere gratitude that we acknowledge all of the entrants, judges, advisors, sponsors and volunteer organizers who were involved with the 2010 IABC/Toronto OVATION Awards. Our sincere thanks are extended to the co-directors of judging –Amanda Brewer, ABC and John Cappelletti, ABC, MEd- and the team of more than 30 judges who had the difficult task of selecting this year’s winners. A big thank you also goes out to our amazing team of more than 15 volunteers led by directors Lyndsay Carter, Beverly Fairclough, Amanda Flude, Michael Miller and Emilie Smith. Your creativity, enthusiasm and hard work have gone a long way to make the entire OVATION Awards program a success. We also extend many thanks to our sponsors for their support: Translate this Now; News Canada; CNW Group; The Canadian Press Images (who provided the evening’s photography); and Fusion Design Group (our design partner for the gala and event’s striking creative). We hope you enjoy reviewing the following winning entries and we look forward to seeing your next entry in the 2011 IABC/Toronto OVATION Awards.

Linda Andross, ABC Trell Huether VP, Accreditation & Standards, IABC/Toronto VP, Awards, IABC/Toronto

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2010 OVATION Awards Gala Sponsors We would like to acknowledge our generous sponsors:

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2010 IABC/Toronto OVATION Award Winners COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT This division includes projects, programs and campaigns defined by a communication plan. Entries in these categories: • might include a combination of communication materials, or • might focus on a single communication tool within a larger campaign.

Entrants must demonstrate: • how their project applied a full range of planning and management skills, while the Work Plan addresses how the entry relates to and affects the organization’s overall business strategies.

Community Relations Programs targeted at community audiences, including not-for-profit and volunteer organizations.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist Entrants: Bruce MacLellan, Trish Tervit, Olivia Yu, Lisa Mills, Emily Abrahams, Environics Communications Inc. View Entry Entrant Company: Environics Communications Inc.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Leon’s Furniture Celebrates 100 Years of Making Life More Comfortable for Entrants: The Team at Strategic Objectives Entrant Company: Strategic Objectives

Government Relations Programs targeted at government bodies and government agencies.

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Fairness for Girls’ Hockey in Toronto Entrants: Roanne Argyle, Argyle Communications

Entrant Company: Argyle Communications

Media Relations Programs focusing on the news media as the main channel used to reach target audiences.

4a Media Relations with Budget up to $50K 4b Media Relations with Budget of $51K to $100K 4c Media Relations with Budget Greater than $100K

Media Relations with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Gaming As It Was Meant To Be: The Launch of the Samsung 3D Monitor Entrants: APEX Public Relations Inc. ; Samsung Electronics Canada Entrant Company: APEX Public Relations Inc.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Patak’s Naan Bread: Weston Bakeries Brings Authentic Indian Cuisine to Ontario View Entry Entrants: Roanne Argyle, Emily Hanft, Mackenzie Keller, Kristina Rikunova, Daniel Tisch, Argyle Communications Entrant Company: Argyle Communications

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Nutty and Saucy: Recipe Campaign Promoting Peanuts Entrants: Allison George, Kerry Collings, Janet Grdovich, Ashley Ballantyne, View Entry Danielle Scheinman, Argyle Communications

Entrant Company: Argyle Communications

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Smart, Not Cheap

Entrants: Sarah Hall, Leah Gaucher, Cathy-Anne O’Brian, Julie O’Brian, Lynda View Sydney, BlueSky Communications; Debbie Frye, Callie Hirshe, Flyerland.ca Entry Entrant Company: BlueSky Communications

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Kraft Hunger Challenge 2009 Entrants: Lynne Galia, Mindy Turner, Kraft Canada; Miranda Gersho, Kayley Collum, Food Banks of Canada; Katherine Clark, Sonja Andic, Julie Leblanc, View Entry Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company

Entrant Company: Cowan & Company

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Canadian Tourism Comission: Locals Know Best When it Comes to Exploring Canada Entrants: Martine Lévy, Keka DasGupta, Sarah Waldock, DDB Public Relations Entrant Company: DDB Public Relations

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Lucky in Money, Lucky in Love? What Your Relationships Say About Your Finances. Entrants: Maria Saros Leung, Susan Webb, TD Financial Group; Carolyn Abbass, Tracey Bochner, Karen McCullough, Sinead Brown, Paradigm Public Relations Entrant Company: Paradigm Public Relations

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Rubik’s 360 Canadian Launch Entrants: The Team at Strategic Objectives Entrant Company: Strategic Objectives

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: A Dare to Remember 2009 Entrants: Martine Lévy, James Loftus, Sally Byun, DDB Public Relations Entrant Company: DDB Public Relations

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: TD’s Break the (Piggy) Bank Campaign for Children’s Miracle Network

Entrants: Nancy Evans, Lisa Mills, Sarah McConnell, Anita Lo, Environics View Communications Inc.; Matthew Cram, Tashlin Hirani, Toni-Lynn Raponi, TC Entry Bank Financial Group

Entrant Company: Environics Communications Inc.

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Save the Economy, Show Some Leg View Entrants: Tracey Bochner, Gina Kohn, Paradigm Public Relations; Giselle Entry Smejda, Energizer Personal Care

Entrant Company: Paradigm Public Relations

Media Relations with Budget of $51K to $100K AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: L’Oréal Paris MasterClass in HaireCare & Haircolour View Entrants: Anik Gagnon, Julie Tremblay, Eric Del Monaco, Stephanié Binette, Entry L’Oréal Paris; Graphique M&H & Illya Noble, Graphic Design; Margaret Batuszkin, Sonja Andic, Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company Entrant Company: Cowan & Company

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Poly To Go 2009 Public Relations Campaign Entrants: Jennifer Meehan, Lindsay Williams, Angie Di Rezze, Riddhi Gandhi, Lisa Kimmel, Marie-Anne Grondin, Edelman Canada Entrant Company: Edelman Canada

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Safe Kids Week 2009- Home, Safe Home Entrants: Kate Carroll, David Mircheff, Jennifer Schipper, Environics Communications Inc.; Pam Fuselli, Denyse Boxell, Safe Kids Canada Entrant Company: Environics Communications Inc.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: The Re-Launch of Bio-Oil in Canada Entrants: The Team at Strategic Objectives Entrant Company: Strategic Objectives

Media Relations with Budget Greater than $100K AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: ZANTAC® Chili Challenge View Entrants: Tina Peyregatt, Johnson & Johnson; Marissa Smith, Angie Di Rezze, Entry Julia Alter, Edelman Canada

Entrant Company: Edelman Canada

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: The It’s Canada’s Time to Quit Comedy Tour Entrants: Elisabeth Mozel-Jury, NATIONAL Public Relations (Toronto); Heather Bisset, Pfizer Canada Inc.; Jane McCoubrey, Lynn Bessoudo, Jaqueline Zonneville, Jessica Kaplan, NATIONAL Public Relations (Toronto); Claire Alter, Gwennie Cheung, Alexa Young, NATIONAL Public Relations (Vancouver) Entrant Company: NATIONAL Public Relations

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Leon’s Furniture Celebrates 100 Years of Making Life More Comfortable For Canadians Entrants: The Team at Strategic Objectives Entrant Company: Strategic Objectives

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Purex Natural Elements Little Drops, Big Ripples Entrants: Diana Degan Robinson, Diana Robinson & Associates Entrant Company: Diana Robinson & Associates

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: The pSoriasis Knowledge IN Canada (SKIN) Survey Entrants: Joanna Wilson, Laura Espinoza, Marie-Anne Grondin, Marsha Knoll, Edelman Canada; Lisa Ross, Wyeth, a Pfizer company; Kristy Douglas, Amgen Entrant Company: Edelman Canada

Marketing Communications Programs aimed at marketing products and/or services to an external audience.

5a Marketing Communications with Budget up to $50K 5b Marketing Communications with Budget of $51K to $100K 5c Marketing Communications with Budget Greater than $100K

Marketing Communications with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Smart, Not Cheap

Entrants: Sarah Hall, Leah Gaucher, Cathy- Anne O’Brien, Julie O’Brien, Lynda View Sydney, BlueSky Communications; Debbie Frye, Callie Hirshe, Flyerland.ca Entry Entrant Company: BlueSky Communications

Marketing Communications with Budget of $51K to $100K AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Northern Purse Strings Integrated Campaign View Entrants: Gary Lintern, Janice Tsao, Dan Rempel, Josh McInerney, Tenzing; Entry Liisa Woolley, Northern Credit Union

Entrant Company: Tenzing Communications Incorporated

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) Age Expansion Campaign Entrants: Andrea Montgomery, Kellie Bogle, John Filice, Colin Jameson, Halton View Region; Stephen Benedict, CHCH-TV; Tricia Piasecki, Cossette Entry Entrant Company: Halton Region

Marketing Communications with Budget Greater than $100K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: 50 Unique Entrants: APEX Public Relations Inc., RSA Canada Entrant Company: APEX Public Relations

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Get Smart Toronto Entrants: Catherine Parry, Thelma Hatzis, Marina Tomasone, Chris Wong, Karen Evans, Vanessa Nero, Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems Limited; APEX View Public Relations Inc,; Context Creative Entry Entrant Company: Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems Limited

Special Events Any event marking a significant occasion that supports the goals of the organization, including entries developed and implemented using major events as the pivotal communications tool. Examples include: large fundraisers, cause- related marketing events, an anniversary, official opening, product launch, road show, conference, customer event, employee appreciation event and large marketing-driven sponsorships.

6a Special Events with Budget up to $50K 6b Special Events with Budget of $51K to $100K 6c Special Events with Budget Greater than $100K

Special Events with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: L’Oréal Paris MasterClass in Haircare & Haircolour View Entrants: Anik Gagnon, Julie Tremblay, Eric Del Monaco, Stephanié Binette, Entry L’Oréal Paris; Graphique M & H & Illya Noble, Graphic Design; Margaret Batuszkin, Sonja Andic, Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company Entrant Company: Cowan & Company

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: “Straight From the Fridge”- A Toronto Hydro Pop Up Gallery View Entrants: Tanya Bruckmueller-Wilson, Casey Solomon, Christina Basil, Entry Catherine Parry, Karen Evans, Blair Peberdy, Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited Entrant Company: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited

Special Events with Budget of $51K to $100K AWARD OF MERIT View Title of Entry: Retail Therapy- Jergens and Curel Unveil the Kao Brands Entry Beauty Boutique

Entrants: APEX Public Relations Inc.; Kao Brands Canada Entrant Company: APEX Public Relations

View AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Entry Title of Entry: Panasonic: Sharing the Passion Sponsorship Event Entrants: Amy Gillespie, Ryan Lockhart, Liz Carson, Alison Dresser, Jennifer Lui, Environics Communications Inc. Entrant Company: Environics Communications Inc.

Special Events with Budget Greater than $100K AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Villa Charities Foundation 16th Annual Venetian Ball Communications Campaign

Entrants: Julie Rusciolelli, Kelly Olive, MAVERICK Public Relations; Laura View Dal Bo, Villa Charities Foundation; Lori D’Amore; Villa Charities Inc. Entry

Entrant Company: MAVERICK Public Relations

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: 2009 Ontario Trillium Foundation Great Grants Awards Program Entrants: Sandra Cruickshanks, Lorraine Gandolfo, Alexis Mantell, Angela Kooji, Lori Kay, Diane Sigouin- Daniel, Valerie McCullough, Colleen Coyne, View Shae Zeru, Renée Ouellet, OTF Entry Entrant Company: Ontario Trillium Foundation

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE View Title of Entry: Charitable Fun Day Entry

Entrants: Christine De Siato, Kyla Drewette, LoyaltyOne Entrant Company: LoyaltyOne, Inc.

Issues Management and Crisis Communications Programs whose objectives, strategies and tactics address trends, issues and/or stakeholder attitudes which may have a significant positive or negative impact on the organization. Examples: programs or projects surrounding such issues as labour relations, mergers/acquisitions, crises, change management, the environment or public policy.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Peanuts in Crisis: An Industry Responds to North America’s Largest Food Recall View Entrants: Daniel Tisch, Alison George, Janet Grdovich, Laura LaMontagne, Entry Argyle Communications

Entrant Company: Argyle Communicaions

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Groupe Aeroplan Acquisition of Carlson Marketing Entrants: Michele Meier, Groupe Aeroplan; Anne Lachance, Janine Allen, Fleishman Hillard Toronto; Sue Jolly, Fleishman Hillard St. Louis; Ralph Posner, Felishman Hillard D.C.; Eric Lamoureaux, Fleishman Hillard Ottawa Entrant Company: Fleishman Hillard Cananda

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Get Smart Toronto Entrants: Catherine Parry, Thelma Hatzis, Maria Tomasone, Chris Wong, Karen Evans, Vanessa Nero, Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited; APEX Public Relations Inc.; Context Creative View Entry Entrant Company: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited

Employee, Member or HR Communication Targeted primarily to internal employee or member audiences, entries in this category should be programs that create awareness and influence opinion and/or behavioural change, or focus on management communication, ethics, morale, internal culture or change management. Examples: any type of internal communications program, project or campaign (employee benefits, health and welfare, compensation), or member/employee recruitment or retention campaigns.

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Women@Enbridge Employee Engagement Initiative View Entrants: Maria Morra, Debbie Boukydis, Janet Holder, Enbridge Gas Entry Distribution

Entrant Company: Enbridge Gas Distribution

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: A Proactive Genuine Partner View Entrants: Meridian Credit Union Entry Entrant Company: Meridian Credit Union

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Making Partner Program Entrants: RSA Canada Entrant Company: RSA Canada

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: “Just Clean Them” Hand Hygiene Campaign View Entrants: David Bourne, Anne Marie Males, Cindy Woods, Tracy Huffman, Entry The Scarborough Hospital Entrant Company: The Scarborough Hospital

Strategic Management Process Methodologies and process that enhance or determine effectiveness of an organization’s strategic direction, idea generation, business or service delivery processes, market position, communication audits and plans. This may include communication and/or brand and culture audits, employee and market research, competitive benchmarking and audience analysis. It can also include training programs that enhance communication within an organization or among key audiences.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Richmond Hill Strategic Plan: A Plan for People for Change Entrants: Gwen Manderson, Town of Richmond Hill, Strategic Initiatives; Carol View Moore, Benton Sangster, Carrie Pitcher, Ash O’Malley, Jason Hogg, Town of Entry Richmond Hill, Communications Services; Chris Merkley, Merkley Design; David West, West Photography Entrant Company: Town of Richmond Hill

Brand Communication This category includes strategies for new brands and for repositioning existing brands. Winners in this category demonstrate the research used to shape brand changes. Programs include brand architectures, changes to corporate identities and design solutions that address the challenges of brand communication.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Canadians Love to Snoop

Entrants: Ashley Curran, Johanna Vander-Mass, GCI Canada View Entry Entrant Company: GCI Canada

Social Responsibility including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development Communications on a currently “hot social responsibility topic” that demonstrate efforts by you, your client and/or your employer to build community/public awareness and potentially influence change in one or more areas of: health and welfare, sustainable environmental development, literacy, economic revitalization or cause-related issues in areas such as education, cultural preservation, indigenous/heritage protection, poverty reduction and/or other societal benefits. Programs should be designed to raise awareness and support where the primary objective is to address and enhance the long-term well-being of one or more communities.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Kraft Hunger Challenge 2009 Entrants: Lynne Galia, Mindy Turner, Kraft Canada; Marzena Gersho, Kayley View Collum, Food Banks of Canada; Katherine Clark, Sonja Andic, Cathy Cowan, Entry Cowan & Company Entrant Company: Cowan & Company

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: White Ribbon Campaign Challenges Men to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Entrants: Stephanie Bonk, Jenn Duggan, Lorna Freeman, Environics View Communications Inc.; Nick Rodrigue, Todd Minerson, White Ribbon Campaign Entry Entrant Company: Environics Communications Inc.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Ontario Tire Stewardship Launches the Used Tires Program View Entrants: Josh Cobden, Carrie Makrigiannis, Lisa Mills, Emily Abrahams, Entry Environics Communications Inc.

Entrant Company: Environics Communications Inc.

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Halton Region’s 3rd Annual Be a Hero Be a Voice for Affordable Housing Contest View Entrants: Sadie Drzewiecki, Stephanie O’Keefe, Sharon Will, Halton Region Entry Entrant Company: Halton Region

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Peel District School Board’s Micro-websites in 40 Languages View Entrants: Danielle Norris, Brian Woodland, APR, Sylvia Link, APR, Monica Entry Depta, Peel District School Board; Randall Craig, Ashish Malik, PINETREE Advisiors; Despina Zanganas, Chromatica Design and Communications Entrant Company: Peel District School Board

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: The Body Shop “Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People” Campaign Entrants: The Team at Strategic Objectives Entrant Company: Strategic Objectives

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Purex Natural Elements Little Drops, Big Ripples Entrants: Diana Degan Robinson, Diana Robinson & Associates Entrant Company: Diana Robinson & Associates

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: The Bicycle Factory Entrants: The Team at Strategic Objectives; The Hive, Promotion Agency Entrant Company: Strategic Objectives

Electronic, Digital and Interactive Communications Includes computer-based communication projects produced for internal or external audiences that use electronic production and/or delivery tools for one or two-way communication. This may include electronic newsletters, electronic annual reports, websites, intranet/internet sites, wikis, podcasts and blogs.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Customer Care Home Page - Redesign Entrants: Melanie Esteves, Veronica Noronha, Lizanor Barrera, Priscilla Travassos, Cecilee Bouyea, Hilda Ochangco, Patricia Estabrooks, Rogers Communications Entrant Company: Rogers Communications Inc.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: ABC Microsite Entrants: RSA Canada, Ariad Custom Communications Entrant Company: RSA Canada

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Broker Podcasts Entrants: RSA Canada Entrant Company: RSA Canada

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Toronto Hydro Earth Hour 2009: How Low Can We Go T.O.? Entrants: Vanessa Nero, Denise Attallah, Christine Basil, Catherine Parry, View Casey Solomon, Tanya Bruckmueller- Wilson, Toronto Hydro-Electric System Entry Limited; Context Creative, Ariad Custom Communications

Entrant Company: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Holiday Recipes with Trish Magwood Entrants: APEX Public Relations Inc.; Kellogg Canada Inc. View Entry Entrant Company: APEX Public Relation Inc.

Social Media These programs encompass a fast-evolving range of new tools and practices that allow individuals and groups to collaborate and share knowledge and experiences online. They can be distinguished by a heightened desire to engage a public (whether internal or external) in conversation, as opposed to one-way broadcasting.

Tools & techniques can include (but are not limited to): • conversation-enabled publishing platforms (blogs, podcasts, etc.) • social networks (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) • democratized content networks (wikis, message boards, etc.) • presence networks/microblogging (Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, etc.) • content-sharing sites (YouTube, Flickr, Del.icio.us, etc.).

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Rogers Wireless Android Smartphone Launch Entrants: Keith MacArthur, Elizabeth Hamilton, Odette Coleman, Michelle Ghandour, Rob Manne, Miranda MacDonald, Ashleigh Blackmore, Rogers Communications; Paul Keable, Aaron Michiels, Matt Roth, Jennifer Runza, Marc Esposito, Chloe de Silva, MS&L Entrant Company: MS&L

COMMUNICATION SKILLS These categories look at communication products that highlight such technical skills and expertise as editing, writing, design and photography. They recognize: • importance of project’s goals • demonstration of measurable results • strategic alignment with the organization’s business goals and • emphasis on the creative process of project execution.

Writing Encompasses original material written for a particular communications project, such as: • personality profiles, recurring features or columns • other features, editorials and advertorials • original writing of news stories, news article(s), news releases, or interpretive/expository articles • marketing and sales promotion materials • speeches, scripts • writing for online distribution • technical writing.

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: Lucky in Money, Lucky in Love? What your Relationships Say About Your Finances Entrants: Maria Saros Leung, Susan Webb, TD Bank Financial Group; Carolyn Abbass, Tracey Bochner, Karen McCullough, Sinead Brown, Paradigm Public Relations Entrant Company: Paradigm Public Relations

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Welcome to the New Toronto Entrants: APEX Public Relations Inc.; George Brown College Entrant Company: APEX Public Relations Inc.

Publications External or internal publications in all formats (except electronic): magazines, newspapers, magapapers/tabloids, corporate social responsibility reports, newsletters, annual reports and special purpose publications.

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: 2010 Rate Book & Services Overview

Entrants: Janet Vandehaar, Peter Bromley, City of Hamilton; Eugene View Martinello, Creative Designer – covers; Sharon Lovell, Athens Printing Entry

Entrant Company: Water & Wastewater Group, City of Hamilton

Multimedia or Digital Content Programs using sound, video, film slides, CDs or a combination of all or any of these elements. This includes such projects as video programs, webcasts, audio- only programs, slide and sound programs, and films. AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Why Join IABC

Entrants: Cyrus Mavalwala, Joe Bergl, Kevin Albers, Julie Angle, Advantis View Communications Inc. Entry Entrant Company: Advantis Communcations Inc.

COMMUNICATION CREATIVE Demonstrating effective communication that: • includes innovation, creativity, strategic alignment with an organization’s business goals • showcases creative talent and design. Other Graphic Design/3D This category is for projects that involve creating an organizational brand identity or graphic design project where the creative is the primary communication function, such as cartoons, drawings, paintings, collage, montages, posters, displays, illustrations, bulletin boards, mobiles, invitations, special signs, etc., that appear on: • book and magazine covers • logos for organizational identity • product labels and packaging • direct marketing materials (mailings, branded gifts, etc.), 3-D materials (t- shirts, etc.) • billboards, murals, sculpture, decorations, neon signs, awnings, street furniture, etc. intended for a public audience • outdoor and transport posters (e.g. bus shelters, airport terminals, “wrapped” buildings, etc.).

AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: “Lived It” Lectures Entrants: Megan Durlak, MaRS Discovery District View Entry Entrant Company: MaRS Discovery District

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: Leon’s 100th Anniversary- The Leon’s Living Room Entrants: The Team at Strategic Objectives; Timothy P. Schmalz, Master Sculptor Entrant Company: Strategic Objectives

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: “Straight From the Fridge” – A Toronto Hydro Art Collective

Entrants: Tanya Bruckmueller-Wilson, Casey Solomon, Christina Basil, Catherine View Parry, Karen Evans, Blair Peberdy, Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited; Entry Frank Lam, Zema, Gordon Ball, Ryan Buchnea, Francisco Garcia, Cody Finney, Artists

Entrant Company: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited

Photography Original photography created or commissioned for a particular communication project. This can be a single photo or photo essay. AWARD OF MERIT Title of Entry: The White Cashmere Collection 2009: Fashion with Compassion Entrants: The Team at Strategic Objectives; Peter Papapettrou, Artistic Director; Koby, Koby Inc. Entrant Company: Strategic Objectives

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: AstraZeneca Canada’s Frontline Health Story Project Entrants: Suzanne Senior-Mitchell, Cathy Bright (retired), Nancy Liebs-Benke (retired), Nicole D’Amato, AstraZeneca Canada; Gary Myers, Michael Surgery, Rae Lamm, BaAM Productions; Emily McInnes, Curator; Eric Young, Linda Brown, Nadja Gale, E.Y.E The Social Projects Studio™; Richard Pringle, Helen Seibel, GrantStream Inc.; Paul Hodgson, Graphic Design; John Filleti, Interactive Design; Allison Moss, Journalist & Writer; Jonathan Gallivan, Music; Roger Lemoyne, Photojournalist; David Campion, Christopher Grabowski, Colin O’Connor, Photographers Entrant Company: AstraZeneca Canada

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Title of Entry: 2009 eBay Canada Entrepreneur of the Year Entrants: Andrew Berthoff, APR, Nazia Khan, Elisabeth Napolano, Environics View Communications Inc; Bayne Stanley, Canadian Press Images; Greig Reeckie, Entry Greig Reekie Photography; Andrea Stairs, eBay Cananda.

Entrant Company: Environics Communications Inc.

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION

Bobbie Resnick Philanthropy Award- Making a Difference Winner: Environics Communications Roberta (Bobbie) Resnick, ABC, APR, MC, IABC Fellow, co-founder of the Toronto chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, View is a trailblazer in public relations. Resnick holds over fifty years of successes Entry as a communicator, consultant, entrepreneur, educator, mentor, award winner and volunteer. This prestigious award in her name recognizes outstanding leadership and service to the community. IABC/Toronto is pleased to announce Environics Communications as this year’s recipient for its entry “Walk a Mile In Her Shoes”. An excerpt from the judges’ comments: “Environics embraced the Canadian launch of “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event without an established track record in this country for events of this nature and their efforts translated into a success.”

IABC/Toronto Student of the Year Award Winner: Sheridan College’s Matthew J. Dudman IABC/Toronto is pleased to award Matthew J. Dudman the 2010 IABC/Toronto Student of the Year! This award recognizes a student from an accredited View institution who demonstrates excellence in communications and the greatest Entry potential to be the best all-round future professional. Out of a number of strong entries, Dudman’s news release “Bridging the gap: PR student looks to make the transition” stood out amongst the rest. An excerpt from the judges’ comments: “Strong and very professional entry. We liked the fact that he practiced what he preached and actually runs his own blog.”

The following awards celebrate exceptional OVATION winners. The IABC/Toronto OVATION Awards of Distinction are based on a number of winning entries per organization and a point system. Each Award of Excellence earns three points and each Award of Merit earns one point. Companies in each category with the highest point total win. In the event of a tie, the winner is decided by the median score of the Excellence awards. The results have been secretly tabulated and were announced for the first time at the OVATION Awards gala on May 6, 2010.

Corporate Communications Department of the Year Winner: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited

Independent or Small Agency of the Year Winner: Diana Robinson & Associates

Mid-sized Agency of the Year Winner: Argyle Communications

Large Agency of the Year Winner: Environics Communications Inc.

The People’s Choice Award This award is voted on by the IABC/Toronto membership in an online poll. Members vote for the program they feel was the most successful. Every OVATION Award of Excellence is eligible. Winner: Fairness for Girls’ Hockey in Toronto Entrants: Roanne Argyle, Argyle Communications Entrant Company: Argyle Communications

OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Community Relations AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Trish Tervit

Organization’s Name: Environics Communications

Division / Category: Communication Management / Community Relations

Title of Entry: Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist

Time Period of Project: September – December 2009

Brief Description of Project: Launched in 2008, the annual Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist contest recognizes the incredible local, national and global achievements of Canada’s youth, positioning them as role models for young people across the country. The contest was repeated in 2009 to highlight Mackenzie’s dedication to charitable giving, helping the firm stand out among other mutual fund and investment companies for its creative approach to philanthropy and to bring attention to charitable organizations.

COMPANY OVERVIEW: Mackenzie Investments is a leading investment management firm providing investment advisory and related services. It is one of the largest money managers in Canada, with more than 100 funds sold through 30,000 advisors. Mackenzie is strongly committed to the values of philanthropy, community spirit and volunteerism. As examples, the Mackenzie Investments Charitable Foundation is the central vehicle for Mackenzie employees to volunteer and give back, enabling The Foundation to make high-impact grants to a select number of charities across the country, with a special focus on children and youth at risk. In 2006, Mackenzie launched the Mackenzie Charitable Giving Fund; the first donor-advised fund offered by a mutual fund company in Canada (the fund uses investments to make money for the charities of your choice). One benefit is the ability to establish a charitable fund in your own name, and leave a legacy by passing the fund on to family generations to come.

1. NEED / OPPORTUNITY: Mackenzie has a strong commitment to teach Canada’s youth about the value of giving back. Seeing the need to engage teenagers in Canada, Environics Communications and Mackenzie Financial created a contest in 2008 to find Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist. The contest was so well received that Mackenzie decided to hold the contest annually, with 2009’s contest wrapping up in late December. The success of the first contest positioned Mackenzie as an expert in charitable giving by providing insight into the behaviours of teenagers, a group rarely focused on and often perceived to be selfish versus philanthropic.

Canada’s teens were invited to enter the contest by filling out a simple contest form housed on Mackenzie’s website. Teens were judged based on criteria such as: the breadth of their: volunteering and fundraising efforts; leadership and creativity; and the impact they had on their community and charity. The teen that met and exceeded all of these criteria was crowned the winner, receiving $5,000 for their charity of choice and $1,000 for themselves. Five other exceptional candidates were also recognized for their dedication to philanthropy, receiving $500 each for their charity of choice. The winner and five runners-up were announced in a press release issued in late-December, towards the end of the charitable giving season.

2. INTENDED AUDIENCE: The key target audiences were:

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- Canadian teenagers aged 13-19 - Charitable organizations in Canada - Secondary schools across Canada - Existing and potential Mackenzie investors - Media that reached the audiences above including: television, radio, print, blogs and online outlets across English and French Canada

Research & analysis: To understand teenagers better, a customized, national survey of Canadians aged 13-19 was conducted to build on 2008’s survey and track changes in teen philanthropy habits. The results were also used to create an extra news hook for media, and were utilized in both waves of media relations.

According to the survey, 81 per cent of 19 year olds used Facebook and 30 per cent used Twitter to promote their charitable work. There was also a major change in how teens were donating money and volunteering their time. In 2009, poverty led as the most important cause for teens, overtaking health issues in 2008 – interest in helping charities associated with poverty jumped 16 per cent over 2008 to 38 per cent. The second leading issue for teens was health (36 per cent; 30 per cent in 2008) followed by the environment (30 per cent; 20 per cent in 2008).

The overall survey results revealed teenagers wanted to spread the charitable word quickly and that they were paying attention to what was happening in the world. The survey was used to highlight the work teenagers continued to do in Canada, especially in light of the economic downturn. As a result, Mackenzie encouraged other Canadians to give back to their communities. By recognizing a national role model, Mackenzie hoped to persuade even more people to engage in charitable activities, while continuing to grow the firm’s reputation as experts in charitable giving in Canada.

3. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: The goals and objectives of the campaign were to: -Generate an ROI of at least $0.004/impression (2008’s ROI) -Generate at least 5 million media impressions -Generate positive coverage of the contest, including mention of Mackenzie key messages -Promote the overall Mackenzie brand image as a company that cares about the community -Raise awareness of Mackenzie as the experts on charitable giving, especially around Canada’s youth, while promoting Brad Offman as the premier expert on philanthropy in Canada -Solicit at least 50 contest applications -Secure at least 25 media stories

4. Solution Overview: A central strategy was to build on 2008’s campaign and find out what teens were doing to encourage others, whether they were aware of the world around them and to share the results through this year’s winner and finalists. Tactics to support these objectives and reach target audiences included:

Media relations: Two waves of media relations were used to support the contest. The releases below were sent to print, online, TV and radio journalists who cover lifestyle, charitable giving, family, education and personal finance topics.

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1. First press release, Teens flocking to support poverty causes, new poll shows on September 22, 2009 was issued to announce the contest, the deadline dates and entry requirements. It was designed to encourage applicants from across Canada.

2. Second press release, Ontario Teen Wins Top Teen Philanthropy Search, was issued on December 29, 2009 towards the end of the charitable season and announced the winner and runners-up of the contest. The timing was extremely strategic, as the period between Boxing Day and New Year’s tends to be a slower news time for media and a time of year when people are more interested in charitable stories, providing better odds for story pick-up.

Judging panel: The winners were chosen by a volunteer panel of high profile Canadians strongly entrenched in philanthropic efforts, and associated with Canada’s youth. Many of the judges on this year’s panel were also on board in 2008, with the addition of Jane Wu, Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist of 2008 and Craig Kielburger, Co-founder, Free the Children; Founder, Leaders Today; Member of the Order of Canada; award-winning author and popular speaker. Returning judges included: Monica Patten, President and Chief Executive Officer, Community Foundations of Canada; Danielle Silverstein, Executive Director, Jays Care Foundation; Carlos Bustamante, Host, YTV's The Zone; and Brad Offman, Vice President, Strategic Philanthropy at Mackenzie Investments.

Grassroots outreach: As teenagers are known to be a difficult group to reach, an extensive grassroots outreach program was conducted through various local contacts and outlets across Canada. Contest information and electronic and hard copy flyers were sent to principals, vice principals and guidance counsellors at middle and secondary schools in major Canadian cities, to pass on to students. Local grassroots emails encouraging applicants were also distributed through a wide network of people associated with the campaign.

Contest details were posted on social media forums such as Facebook, and Twitter.

Extensive outreach to local charities and associations was also key; many groups such as local baseball and soccer associations and Boy/Girl Scouts were more than happy to promote the contest internally. Charitable organizations, motivated by the potential donation from the resulting winner(s), disseminated information through their own newsletters.

5. IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES: The implementation and challenges of the project were:

Smaller budget (46% less than the previous year). The budget for 2009 was $25,000 (down from $46,000 in 2009), including all supplier fees, survey research, two waves of media relations and grassroots outreach.

To work with the smaller budget, the solution was to focus the majority of media relations efforts into the winner announcement, towards the end of December. The reasoning behind this was to take advantage of a less competitive story environment, since the holiday season typically means fewer people working and fewer business announcements. Since there was less competing news, there was a greater likelihood of media reporting on this story.

Finding a new and interesting story to tell, as 2009 was not an inaugural year. One of the main reasons to commission a survey of youth ages 13-19 was to see whether or not trends or attitudes changed from 2008 to 2009. It was important to track the trends by asking the same or similar questions year-over-year, but it was also important to create a new story by asking different questions.

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Smaller newsrooms due to economic downturn and cut back. Using the media for national contest awareness was more challenging than anticipated, especially since newsrooms were being reduced. Many reporters were unable to report on the beginning of the contest due to staff shortages and were only interested in interviewing the winners at the end.

Grassroots outreach was a bigger task than originally anticipated, especially to schools across the country - it required a few waves to heighten its success and with tight budgets/ limited resources, it was difficult to follow up with each school.

6. MEASUREMENT / EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES: Since the inaugural campaign in 2008 was such a success, there was increased pressure to at least match, if not surpass those results in 2009.

-Generate an ROI of at least $0.004/impressions: The cost per impression was $0.002 – less than half of the expected cost.

-Generate at least 5 million media impressions: Generated 9,353,261 in 2009. Coverage continued to run in 2010 and generated an additional 976,215 impressions for a total of 10,329,476 media impressions.

-Generate positive coverage of Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropist Contest, including mention of Mackenzie key messages. Media relations efforts secured high profile coverage from outlets such as Canada AM, the and QMI News Service (which feeds into the Sun Media chain). With an extremely capable spokesperson in our winner from Toronto (Sophia Gran-Ruaz) and five runners-up from across Canada, local media were eager to showcase their local success stories. Media coverage highlights include: Toronto Sun, Sun, Canoe.ca, Kingston Whig Standard, Metro Toronto (front page), A-Channel News at 5, Newstalk 1010 and numerous local community papers. There was even cross-border pick-up by the Huffington Post.

-Promote the overall Mackenzie brand image in Canada as a company that cares about the community. The campaign received extremely positive feedback from parents, local and national charities and associations, teens, schools and Mackenzie employees and executives, being recognized as a unique and constructive idea for teens and all Canadians.

-Raise awareness of Mackenzie Financial as the experts on charitable giving, especially around Canada’s youth while promoting Brad Offman as the premier expert on philanthropy in Canada: The campaign received fully branded media coverage, with Mackenzie Investments named in most coverage, along with quotes and key messages from Brad Offman himself on the state of giving and youth in Canada.

-Solicit at least 50 contest applications in the inaugural year of the project: The campaign generated 75 very high-quality and creative contest entries from teenagers across Canada.

-Secure at least 25 media stories: 94 media stories were generated in 2009. Eight additional stories ran in 2010, for a combined total of 102 media stories in broadcast, print and online outlets.

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In addition to the results above, the contest winner provided Environics with an incredible note describing the benefits of the contest. (Please see the work sample for the complete letter)

“The Top Teen Philanthropy Award has been an incredible burst of energy for my efforts with my charity Snug as a Bug, Kids Helping Kids! Every recognition that the charity has received in the past has helped bring attention to what I am trying to accomplish and has attracted support but with the Top Teen Philanthropy award this added support has been ten-fold!

...In summary this award has drawn attention to my charity and what I am trying to accomplish. It reminds people that anyone can become homeless just as my mother and I were and that compassion and understanding is the most important thing that we can give the homeless. It encourages people to support the efforts of shelters and to remember their importance. The award inspires other young people to help in their community and rewards those that do. It shares stories like mine that can inspire people of all ages. On a personal note the award and the response I received from the media and so many strangers made me feel as though I won a gold at the Olympics for my country. It made me feel so very special and appreciated and I cannot thank the award enough for this and for helping further my efforts to help those children and teens in my community that are in a place in their lives where they could use with some comfort.”

- Sophia Gran-Ruaz

32 IABC Ovation Awards Submission Patak’s Naan Bread: Weston Bakeries brings authentic Indian cuisine to Ontario

Entrant’s Name: Roanne Argyle, Emily Hanft, Mackenzie Keller, Kristina Rikunova, Daniel Tisch APR Organization’s Name: Argyle Communications Client Organization: Weston Bakeries Division: 1: Communications Management Category: 4a: Media Relations with a budget up to $50K Entry Title: Patak’s Naan Bread: Weston Bakeries brings authentic Indian cuisine to Ontario Time Period of Project: August – November 2009 Brief Description: Argyle designed a media relations campaign to help drive sales of Patak’s Naan Breads, a new brand from Weston Bakeries in the Ontario market. By linking the campaign to Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights – and using an accessible and articulate brand spokesperson (Anjali Pathak), the campaign more than doubled its media coverage objectives and helped Weston Bakeries achieve its sales targets for launch.

BUSINESS NEED/OPPORTUNITY: In Canada, Indian food is an $18 million business that is growing rapidly each year. As the number of Indian restaurants increases, so does consumer desire to bring these unique flavours home. In grocery, naan bread is among the largest Indian food categories, second only to sauces. It drives 15 per cent of the Indian food business and has a 14 per cent growth rate. In 2009, Weston Bakeries Limited entered into a partnership with AB World Foods to bring Patak’s Naan Breads – a highly-regarded consumer brand – to Ontario.

The Argyle team was tasked with launching Patak’s Naan Breads in Ontario and encouraging product purchase and trial. The public relations program served as the central marketing driver for the launch of Patak’s (the marketing campaign did not include any consumer advertising). Weston saw public relations as the ideal method to seed brand messaging in a credible, cost-effective manner.

Before developing its campaign, Argyle engaged in a series of client meetings to review the overall sales and marketing objectives for the brand and to gain a better understanding of the Indian food segment in Canada. In addition, the team participated in meetings with AB World Foods – Weston’s partner – to better understand the history of the Patak’s line of products and to learn about global marketing plans for Patak’s Naan Bread to ensure cohesive messaging.

Here are the key elements of Argyle’s research that influenced strategic planning for the public relations program: RESEARCH: What we learned ANALYSIS: Impact on plan and messages Consumer need: As the number of Indian Argyle’s campaign messaging would have to position restaurants increase in Ontario so does the Patak’s Naan Bread as an authentic, great tasting, consumer desire to prepare authentic Indian meals restaurant-quality product that is accessible and easy at home. In Canada, Indian food is an $18 million to use at home (e.g., it is made with Ghee and other business growing by 14 per cent per each year. authentic Indian ingredients). To bring the product to Naan bread is the second largest Indian grocery life, we would need to feature simple, Indian-style 33 RESEARCH: What we learned ANALYSIS: Impact on plan and messages category, after sauces. recipes to demonstrate the many uses of Patak’s Naan Bread – for any level of culinary ability. Consumer demographics: The top purchasers and Argyle knew it would be vitally important to secure target market were female professionals aged 25 to media coverage in news outlets that appealed to this 54. demographic. It would also be critical to identify a campaign spokesperson who would resonate with this audience. Brand heritage: The Patak’s brand has a rich Argyle recognized the importance and value of the history based on family, tradition and quality. The brand’s family legacy. Argyle capitalized on this brand’s founding family is still highly involved in element when selecting the campaign spokesperson: every aspect of the business and wants to ensure Anjali Pathak, granddaughter of L.G. Pathak, the every product tastes as it would if they were brand’s founder (the “h” was removed for brand entertaining you in their own home. simplicity). As a modern, urban young woman (and member of the target demographic group), Anjali could genuinely convey the campaign key messages of authenticity, quality and simplicity in a relevant and modern way. Campaign timeliness: In researching key Hindu Although primary campaign messaging would focus on festivals, we learned that Diwali, the Hindu festival of Patak’s Naan Bread, Argyle used Diwali as a timely lights and the largest celebration on the Hindu news hook to demystify Indian cuisine and showcase calendar, takes place each year in mid-October. how easy it was for everyone to have their own Diwali celebration at home.

INTENDED AUDIENCE:  Primary Audience: Female professionals aged 25 to 54. This was established based on research that identified women as the primary shopper. “If we dig deeper, we understand she’s educated and has a household income of $60K and greater. She is an adventurous food lover looking for convenient ways to add flavours to her meals.” (Source: Weston Bakeries)

 Secondary Audience: Mainstream consumer media, as a conduit to our key audience. Targets included Ontario-based daily newspapers, television morning shows and specialty food publications. Research showed that women in the target demographic group seek information about food, lifestyle and trends from these outlets, making them the ideal conduit to the primary audience. The team also recognized the topic would have broad appeal to the television news media – especially morning shows – who would welcome the visual nature of the story and interactive cooking components, which would make for amusing on-air interaction with their hosts. GOALS/OBJECTIVES: Argyle established clear PR objectives, in line with Weston’s stated goal and brand objective.

34 ©Argyle Communications 2010 2 Goal: Introduce Patak’s Naan Bread to consumers in Ontario positioning it as an authentic complement to any meal, making Indian cuisine accessible to all.

Brand Objective: Launch Patak’s Naan Bread in the Ontario market and surpass its key competitor (Dempster’s) in dollar and unit sales as well as market share.

PR Objective: Obtain a Media Relations Rating Points quality score of 75 per cent and reach an estimated audience of 3,000,000 in Ontario through the media, based on the circulation, listenership and viewership of the outlets covering the campaign.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW: Argyle designed a media relations campaign with the following core strategies:

 Use Diwali as the thematic hook to launch the media campaign. The team would bring this to life with colourful media materials, props, food items and recipes.

 Position Anjali Pathak with the media as a compelling Indian food expert visiting Canada, highlighting her family’s unique heritage and culinary experience. The team knew that promoting Ms. Pathak’s biography would be important in helping secure media interview opportunities.

 Feature Patak’s Naan Bread as the natural consumer entry point to Indian cuisine. In doing so, showcase simple Indian cooking ideas involving the product. The Patak’s Naan Bread would be featured as the practical example for home made Indian cuisine.

Recognizing that to be successful our campaign had to reach audiences through a variety of media outlets, Argyle planned a spokesperson media tour. The Argyle team managed:

 Key message development: Before drafting all materials, Argyle worked with Weston to develop clear, concise messages that would serve as the cornerstone of all communications materials.  Media outreach: Argyle developed and distributed a media package featuring a news release, recipes, photography and product and Diwali fact sheets. The team enclosed the package in a colourful Diwali-themed basket that included Patak’s Naan Bread samples, tea lights and brightly coloured silk cloths. In advance of Anjali’s arrival in Toronto, Argyle distributed media materials to print and broadcast media contacts throughout Ontario, and conducted personal follow-up with each one to secure interview opportunities for Anjali Pathak and product coverage of Patak’s Naan Bread.  Diwali entertaining gift baskets: As a value-added opportunity for select broadcast outlets, the Argyle team developed a viewer giveaway package featuring a complete kit for Indian-entertaining at home. The gift basket included Patak’s Naan Bread, Patak’s sauces and recipes, as well as Indian-entertaining accessories like tea lights, incense and brightly coloured silk table cloths and place mats.

35 ©Argyle Communications 2010 3  Spokesperson media tour: The cornerstone of the campaign was a media tour with Anajli Pathak. The team timed the tour to coincide with Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights and largest celebration on the Hindu calendar. To bring the story to life, the team designed interview segments that featured carefully crafted key messages, brightly coloured set props and two interactive cooking demonstrations: an authentic, accessible Butter Chicken Skewer recipe and a Mint Mango Yogurt Dip.

IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES: During the course of the campaign, Argyle encountered two key challenges:

Resources: With a relatively limited budget, the team had to focus carefully on the most efficient, high-impact media. This was a small-budget campaign but there was enough to do the job effectively with careful management. One important strategic decision was to allocate budget for spokesperson training, to enhance Anjali Pathak’s comfort with Canadian media, rehearse lines of questioning and review the on-air segment.

Access: Since Anjali Pathak resides in the UK and was only in Toronto for three days, Argyle had to maximize her time and fill her itinerary with media interviews in advance of her arrival while giving priority to tier-one media outlets. Despite our best efforts, the team had to decline a couple of media opportunities due to scheduling conflicts.

MEASURING/EVALUATION: PR objective As described above, Argyle measured its results against the pre-determined MR2P criteria:  Total audience reach was 6,821,308 – more than doubling the original objective of 3 million. o Ontario outlets: 5,477,037 (55 outlets) o Spill over national pick-up: 1,344,271 (7 outlets)  Argyle’s media outreach efforts secured a total of 62 stories featuring Patak’s Naan Bread and Anjali Pathak.  The MR2P score for the campaign was 81 per cent.

Support for business objective  Argyle’s media relations campaign helped drive consumer awareness and product trial of Patak’s Naan Bread in Ontario. According to sales data, Patak’s Naan Bread has surpassed its major competitor in terms of dollar sales, unit sales and shares.

36 ©Argyle Communications 2010 4 IABC 2010 Ovation Awards Submission Nutty and Saucy: Recipe Campaign Promoting Peanuts

Entrant’s Name: Alison George Organization’s Name: Argyle Communications Client Organization: American Peanut Council Division and Category: Division 1) Communications Management; Category 4a) Media Relations with a budget up to $50K Entry Title: Nutty and Saucy: Recipe Campaign Promoting Peanuts Time Period of Project: Summer 2009 Team members: Alison George, Kerry Collings, Janet Grdovich, Ashley Ballantyne, Danielle Scheinman, Daniel Tisch

Brief Description: The task: On behalf of the American Peanut Council (APC), Argyle’s task was to promote the health, nutrition and taste benefits of quality U.S.-grown peanuts in Canada. The team developed a creative angle to capture attention: a “Nutty and Saucy” campaign centered on original and tasty barbeque rubs, sauces and marinades that featured peanuts or peanut butter as primary ingredients.

BUSINESS NEED / OPPORTUNITY The American Peanut Council is the trade association representing all segments of the U.S. peanut industry. The APC needed to promote the health, nutrition and taste benefits — and therefore increase the overall consumption — of peanuts and peanut butter to Canadian consumers. Canada is the largest importer of USA-grown peanuts, and maintaining consumption in this market is critical to the industry’s success.

1) Overview of the research and analysis that drove Argyle’s “Nutty and Saucy” campaign proposal:

To understand Canadians’ consumption of peanuts and peanut butter, Argyle reviewed extensive research from an annual benchmark survey conducted by Leger Marketing. In addition, Argyle reviewed both the research and the clear, measureable objectives established through the APC’s funding model — a lengthy, research-focused document called the Unified Export Strategy Application (UES).

Research – What Argyle learned Analysis – How these learnings affected the plan Canada is the single largest importer of U.S. peanuts. The Argyle’s focus was to grow the overall category for peanuts and U.S. provides 77% of Canada’s imported peanuts. (*UES) peanut butter, knowing the U.S. peanut industry would benefit. Strategically, the team decided to promote new eating occasions for peanuts and peanut butter. During their evening meal, only 4% of Canadians consumed This was an opportunity. The APC could show Canadians easy, peanuts and only 9% consumed peanut butter. (**Leger) tasty ways to incorporate peanuts and peanut butter into their evening meal – and thus grow overall consumption levels. Nearly nine in ten Canadians (88%) considered peanuts and The APC needed to maintain a health and nutrition message to peanut butter to be healthy food choices. (**Leger) reinforce this important product attribute to consumers. Middle-aged men and women aged 40-54 years were the This was the APC’s bull’s-eye demographic. Argyle’s campaign biggest consumers of both peanuts and peanut butter. therefore had to appeal to this group. Tasty, simple barbeque (**Leger) recipes would be right on the mark. Sources: *APC’s 2009 Unified Export Strategy Application **Leger Marketing omnibus survey of 1,500 Canadian adults, conducted in January 2009.

Argyle presented a research-driven proposal — a “Nutty and Saucy” consumer media relations program — in early January 2009. Following swift client approval, the campaign was targeted for June 2009.

2) Overview of the research and analysis required after the January 2009 salmonella crisis:

Days following the client’s approval of the program, everything changed. On January 9, 2009, the State of Minnesota issued a warning about the possible salmonella contamination of a relatively small brand of peanut butter. It was the first public communication about an outbreak that would be linked to nine deaths and 691 reported illnesses in the U.S. and Canada — requiring a recall of more than 4,000 products at a cost estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

37 The crisis had an instant and dramatic impact in peanut butter consumption. Nielsen data told the story: sales in the United States plunged from $108 million in December to $92 million in January and $88 million in February. The team knew that fresh research was required.

With the APC’s approval, Argyle commissioned consumer research in February 2009 – as the salmonella crisis was at its peak – to evaluate its impact on Canadians. Here is what the team learned: . 75% of Canadians said they were aware of the peanut butter salmonella outbreak in Canada and the USA . Over half of Canadians maintained that their opinion of USA peanut and peanut butter products has not changed (58%) . Seven out of 10 Canadians had not stopped purchasing any peanuts or peanut butter products in recent times (71%) . The intent to purchase peanuts/peanut butter products increases over time: . 52% NET likely to buy in next one month . 71% NET likely to buy in next three months . 81% NET likely to buy in next six months . 85% NET likely to buy in next one year Source: Specially commissioned Leger Marketing omnibus survey of 1,501 Canadian adults, conducted in February 2009.

Argyle concluded that Canadians’ opinions of U.S. peanuts and peanut butter had not been gravely affected by the salmonella crisis. However, a short waiting period of several months after the crisis would be advisable to ensure consumer confidence in the product had returned. The team recommended proceeding with the “Nutty and Saucy” campaign in summer 2009 (a one-month delay).

INTENDED AUDIENCES The primary consumers of peanuts and peanut butter are men and women 40 to 54 years old. (Source: Leger). Argyle had access to rich data about peanuts and peanut butter consumption habits that provided additional insight into the target consumer (and helped identify whom not to target). For example: The team saw the most opportunity in the 40-54 demographic: peanut consumption drops after age 54, and is low among children. Peanuts and peanut butter seem to appeal equally to men and women.

Peanut and Peanut Butter Peanut and Peanut Butter Children Consumption - Males Consumption-Females

Male aged 8% 8% Female aged 13-17 13-17 10% 8% Child/children 8% Male aged under 6 12% Female aged 18-24 10% 8% 18-24 12% 8%

Male aged 23% 25% Female aged 25-39 25-39 23% 21%

Male aged 29% 27% Child/children 16% 26% Female aged 40-54 27% 40-54 age 6-12 18% Male aged 21% 22% Female aged 55+ 55+ 22% 22%

Peanuts Peanut Butter Peanuts Peanut Butter Peanuts Peanut Butter

Argyle also explored Canadians’ attitudes toward peanuts, to better understand their mindset and anticipate key messages that would resonate – or gaps in information that the program could address. For example, the research revealed the reasons Canadians consider peanuts healthy: peanuts are high in protein (52%), they are nutritious (23%), they are natural (7%), they are OK to eat in moderation (7%), they provide quick energy (7%).

The research also showed why some have concerns about eating peanuts and peanut butter: Within the sample of Canadians who did not consider peanuts to be a healthy food choice, just over half based their decision on the fact that peanuts are high in fat (52%). Another one in five expressed misgivings over they are not good for people with allergies (20%) and that peanuts are high in cholesterol (14%).

38 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Goals: Education: Educate consumers and influencers about the health benefits of peanuts and the quality of U.S. peanuts. (Measurement: survey research on health perceptions of peanuts/peanut butter; quantity and quality of media coverage). Consumption: Grow the overall category for snack peanuts and peanut butter by motivating consumers to increase their consumption of U.S.-grown peanuts and peanut butter. (Measurement: survey research on consumption). And because of the post-crisis environment, an additional goal was to: Issues management: Manage issues through proactive and responsive communications and education, customized to specific target audiences. (Measurement: survey research on perceptions of the safety of peanuts/peanut butter).

Objectives: Argyle worked against objectives set out in the APC’s annual UES funding application. In 2009, the APC’s performance objectives were that the percentage of Canadians consuming peanuts and peanut butter at least weekly should reach 48% and 72% respectively, and the percentage of Canadians consuming peanuts less than once a month should be 32%. In addition, Canadians who perceive peanuts and peanut butter to be healthy should reach 92%. (To be measured by the annual Leger survey). These objectives tied directly back to the campaign need: To promote the health and nutrition benefits, and to increase the overall consumption, of peanuts and peanut butter to Canadian consumers.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW Argyle’s strategy focused on using targeted media relations to: Reach consumers with valuable and persuasive information about U.S. peanuts. Reinforce the nutrition messaging and encourage increased use of peanuts and peanut butter. Provide inspiration for consumers to eat peanuts and peanut butter during and underperforming time – dinner.

The team brainstormed various campaign theme ideas, always considering not only the ultimate consumer, but also uniqueness and appeal to media who would be the conduit to consumers. Health and nutrition messages would be important, along with an appeal to both male and female consumers. Through this process, Argyle conceived the campaign theme: “Nutty and Saucy”, featuring flavourful rubs, marinades, dips or sauces for tasty and healthy summertime picnicking, grilling and outdoor entertaining. In the execution phase, Argyle undertook the following tactical activities: Recipe development: Oversee the development of original recipes and gorgeous photography that fit the campaign theme. The three recipes were: Mango Peanut Salsa, Peanut Hoisin Barbecue Sauce, and Thai Peanut Marinade. Media kit: Create compelling media materials, including our recipe images, recipes, news release and peanut nutrition fact sheet. Spokesperson: Research and secure a high-profile campaign spokesperson. For this campaign Argyle secured the services of food blogger and chef Dana McCauley. Spokesperson training: In addition to campaign messages, the team considered how to handle questions about the safety of U.S. peanuts, in light of the crisis. Argyle also prepared its spokesperson to address some of the consumer concerns addressed in the research, including questions about fat, allergies and cholesterol. Media tour: Secure broadcast placements for spokesperson and manage food styling and set up for all appearances. Media outreach: Pitch the recipes and story angle to print and online media to extend campaign coverage.

IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES The biggest challenge: salmonella. As noted above, Argyle carefully considered the affect of this crisis on Canadian consumers before launching the program, and ensured its spokesperson was prepared to address any questions about the safety of U.S. peanuts. The other notable challenge was actually finding a spokesperson. Because of the crisis, Argyle had to postpone the campaign. As a result, the search for a suitable spokesperson began later than usual, and it was difficult to find someone with the required credentials. Fortunately, an Argyle employee followed the chef on Twitter, and saw her tweet that one of her clients had just cancelled her spokesperson contract, and she was therefore looking for new opportunities. After a quick direct message and phone call, McCauley was on board — within 20 minutes. (Of note, several media interview opportunities were also secured through Twitter).

39 Timeframes: Because of the crisis, Argyle was delayed in the initial stages of our campaign – but adjusted quickly upon seeing the results of the post-crisis market research. In a nutshell, here were the key timelines:

Campaign concept developed and presented December 2008 Program approved January 2009 Recipe development and photography January 2009 Crisis research February 2009 Materials preparation March 2009 (Had planned to do this in February) Spokesperson identification April 2009 (Had planned to do this in February) Long-lead outreach April 2009 (Had planned to do this in March) Spokesperson tour May/June 2009 Short lead outreach June 2009

MEASUREMENT/EVALUATION Measurement of public perception was done through a Leger Marketing research study in January 2010. Measurement of media coverage was done using the Canadian Public Relations Society’s Media Relations Rating Points (MR2P) system.

Education More Canadians believe peanuts and peanut butter are healthy. Despite extensive negative media coverage about the record-sized recall, in January 2010 nine in ten Canadians (90%) considered peanuts/peanut butter a healthy food choice — a 2% increase. While that is within the margin of error and slightly lower than the overall campaign objective (92%), the objective was set before the crisis and is a very positive result under the circumstances. In addition, when Argyle dug further into the demographic results, the team noted that 92.3% of respondents in the target demographic of men and women aged 40 to 54 responded ‘yes’ when asked if they thought peanuts and/or peanut butter was a healthy snack or food choice. Source: Leger survey of 1,500 Canadians, January 4 to 7, 2010. 62 media outlets picked up the “Nutty and Saucy” story and recipes, resulting in more than 14 million impressions as measured by the Canadian public relations industry standard measurement system, Media Relations Rating Points (MR2P Data). Based on pre-determined criteria, key message delivery and more, the campaign also achieved an MR2P Quality Score of 100%. Argyle successfully secured five broadcast media interviews for our campaign spokesperson in the Greater Toronto Area (single market spokesperson campaign).

Consumption Argyle’s measureable objectives related to peanut consumption levels were surpassed. 49% of Canadians now report they consume peanuts at least weekly (objective was 48%); and 73% of Canadians report they consumer peanut butter at least weekly (objective was 72%); and only 31% of consumers reported consuming peanuts less than once a month (objective was 32%). Source: Leger, January 4 to 7, 2010.

Issues management Argyle’s January 2010 research showed a significant drop in the percentage of Canadians who have stopped purchasing peanuts in recent times, compared with the crisis period. In the January 2010 wave of research, only 4% of respondents said their purchasing behavior of peanuts and peanut butter has changed, a vast reduction from the one in five Canadians (21%) who reported so in February 2009. Source: Leger, February 2009 and January 4 to 7, 2010.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry

Communication Management Media Relations with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Sarah Hall Organization’s Name: Flyerland.ca Division/Category: Division 1: Communications Management – Category 4 Media Relations, 4a Media Relations with budget up to $50k Title of Entry: Smart, Not Cheap Time Period of Project: May 2009 – December 2009

Brief Description: BlueSky Communications was engaged by Flyerland.ca to help increase consumer traffic and advertisers on its site. BlueSky implemented a multi- faceted campaign that included media relations, brand communications/message development, customer communications and writing services.

1. Business Need/Opportunity: Flyerland.ca launched in 2008 offering value-conscious consumers easy, quick and timely access to flyers and coupons. Within one year it became the leading flyer/coupon website representing 80 per cent of major Canadian retailers and tracking 380,000 unique visitors monthly. In a competitive market, the company had a window of opportunity to solidify its leadership position by growing traffic and securing more advertisers, nationally and in the local markets of Ontario, and BC. Although Flyerland.ca had a strong national presence due to the number of large Canadian retailers advertising on the site, awareness in local markets needed improvement. A scan of social media sites and blogs found that this was a reoccurring criticism of coupon sites. One blog, newspapertiger.com, stressed the need for sites like Flyerland.ca to “microtarget” (i.e. provide stronger local content) to be successful. Research into consumer behaviour during a recession demonstrated that there was an opportunity for Flyerland.ca to grow its service. According to digital tracking firm comScore, online coupon sites were the fastest growing web category used by Canadians. There were almost 2.6 million unique visitors in Canada to online coupon sites in December 2008, up 60 per cent from December 2007. According to Andrew Lipsman, director of comScore's industry analysis: “Clearly, the global economic crisis is having a significant impact on the retail economy and even more specifically on the online retail economy. So one of the behaviours we've seen really take off this year in several markets in both the U.S. and Canada is online coupons." (Canadian Press, Feb 20, 2009) Competitive analysis found that although there were many other competitors (SmartFlyer.ca, RedFlagDeals.com and SmartCanucks.ca) offering benefits such as greater interactivity allowing consumers to post comments and chat online, Flyerland.ca was the only site with direct relationships with retailers. This meant that they offered more credible, localized content with greater depth, scope and search capabilities. These findings would help in developing key messages, identifying opportunities and devising an overall communications strategy. 2. Intended Audience(s): Ontario, Alberta and were the key markets for Flyerland.ca in 2009. The primary audience included consumers and media. The consumer demographics were 30- 49 year olds, particularly mothers with young families and an average household income of $83K. In the midst of a recession, these consumers were looking to save money and find the best deals. Research also showed that the target audience was already using

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coupon sites extensively. National and regional media, including print, television, radio and online were the focus, with television emerging as a priority. This was a result of BlueSky’s experience with other web-based clients showing that when an online company is mentioned on air there is a spike in website traffic. The secondary audience were businesses. This audience included retailers who, as potential advertisers on the site, were revenue generators, as well as other online entities with significant traffic, such as Sympatico.ca, who Flyerland.ca could partner with and explore co-marketing opportunities.

3. Goals: 1. Increase user traffic and advertisers on the site. 2. Raise brand awareness of Flyerland.ca and position the company as the leading destination for Canadians to save money.

Objectives: 1. Drive traffic to the site with the goal of reaching 1 million unique visitors by December 2009 (In June, 2009 unique visitors totalled 462,441). 2. Secure 30 media stories between June –December 2009 and a minimal Media Relations Rating Points™ (MRP) score of 75. 3. Raise awareness locally in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia by increasing website traffic in each of those regions by 50 per cent. 4. Establish a business partnership with other high-profile, online entities such as Sympatico.ca allowing for co-promotional opportunities. 5. Establish spokesperson Debbie Frye as a shopping expert.

Flyerland.ca wanted to reach 1 million unique visitors, secure 20 per cent more national advertisers and 30 per cent more local advertisers by the end of 2009. Increasing traffic to the site was the number one business goal, and all activity would be measured on how it contributed to this goal. Raising brand awareness of Flyerland.ca was key in driving visitors to the site and getting the attention of potential advertisers. Once visitors were on the site, Flyerland.ca wanted to increase the conversion rate from users to registered members because an engaged, membership-oriented audience would be attractive to advertisers. Measuring the increase in new members was essential because it would show retailers/potential advertisers that Flyerland.ca was quickly becoming a leading destination for Canadians to save money. It was important that retailers/potential advertisers saw Flyerland.ca as a simple, cost effective way for them to expand their ad, flyer, deal or coupon program. Securing media stories and showcasing how consumers can save money by visiting Flyerland.ca would help communicate this message. The number of new advertisers, both nationally and from key local markets, would be evaluated. The media coverage would be evaluated based on the MRP, and factors such as spokesperson quotes, key message pick-up and brand mention, as well as whether television spots resulted in a spike in website traffic.

4. Solution Overview: A fully integrated strategy was developed that included both media relations and marketing communications. THE PR PLAN - The first step was to schedule a briefing to understand Flyerland.ca’s business and marketing plans so that the PR program developed was aligned. In the midst of a recession, there was an opportunity to leverage a cost savings message as consumers and retailers were eager for advice on how to save money, and media were covering the topic extensively. The tagline, a phrase often used by spokesperson Debbie Frye, “smart, not cheap” became the overarching theme for all communications initiatives.

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MEDIA RELATIONS PROGRAM - A media relations program was developed that focused on national, mainstream media as well as outlets in the identified local markets. Story angles were developed that were consistent with the “smart, not cheap” theme and were pitched during special occasions such as Father’s Day, Canada Day, back-to-school and Halloween. BlueSky developed key messages and Q&As to support the spokespeople in media interviews and compiled editorial calendars in all targeted media. This helped with scheduling the media pitching, but it also allowed Flyerland.ca to plan relevant promotions and work with retailers on special deals that tied into the upcoming editorial topic. With the only spokesperson residing in Ontario, it was necessary to arrange a media tour in British Columbia and Alberta, with messaging around a special promotion from a local retailer in order to make the story relevant to these regional press. BRAND THE SPOKESPERSON - A charismatic, media savvy spokesperson who resonated with the target audience, General Manager Debbie Frye was positioned as a shopping expert offering valuable advice to the cost-conscious shopper. BlueSky developed an expert source list outlining all the topics Debbie could address and issued it to media. To further brand Debbie as a shopping expert BlueSky wanted to secure a high profile column/blog, which would also drive people to visit Flyerland.ca on a regular basis. A full day media training session was held to ensure Flyerland.ca’s key messages were being effectively communicated. This allowed Debbie to practice the key messages and enhance her interview skills while learning how to address difficult questions. This training provided her with the skills to excel at the television interview. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH RETAILERS -Working closely with the Flyerland.ca marketing team, well-timed, themed story angles that were developed for media relations were also leveraged as special promotions on the site. For example, grocery flyers were featured on the site when a story around cost-effectively planning a family Canada Day barbecue was pitched to media. This integrated approach delivered a value-add to retailers because the spokesperson would mention the online promotion during media interviews. Press releases were used primarily to speak to a business audience announcing Flyerland.ca’s new partnerships and retailers, emphasizing the business benefits of advertising and/or partnering with the company. WEBSITE VALUE-ADDS - To further the objective of attracting website traffic and encouraging return visits, BlueSky recommended creating a “Gifts from the Heart” coupon book and cards that could be downloaded for free. For the holidays, users could download coupons to give a loved one that offered breakfast in bed or a special homemade dinner. This unique concept was also used for media pitching by offering the idea to holiday gift guides in newspapers and magazines instead of a regular product placement. 5. Implementation and Challenges: The budget - Within a budget of $45k, a PR strategy was developed and all the above tactics were implemented, including regular status meetings and brainstorming sessions. Each month, 3-5 story angles were developed and pitched and 2-3 editorial calendar and guerrilla opportunities were pursued. In addition, when an opportunity to regularly contribute to a high profile website was secured, BlueSky wrote 4-5 short articles each month. Timeframes - Meeting the 1 million unique users before 2010 was an important objective. To put this in perspective, when the PR program was launched with BlueSky in June 2009, Flyerland.ca had 462,441 unique visitors (unique visitors are the number of individuals who visited the website, and each visitor is only counted once). BlueSky had seven months to implement an effective PR program that would meet this ambitious goal. (To further illustrate the scale of this goal, the shopping section on MSN.ca has just over 1 million unique visitors and Sympatico.ca, which is Canada’s most visited website and has existed since 1995, has 17 million unique visitors.)

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From a media relations standpoint, one challenge identified was that Flyerland.ca is a division of Metroland Media Group, which is owned by media company Torstar Corporation. There was concern whether competing media would cover Flyerland.ca given this ownership, and even sister media outlets seemed hesitant when first contacted about covering the company. A Toronto Star reporter commented that, “covering Flyerland.ca would be too incestuous”. Identifying this as a potential barrier to successfully securing media stories, BlueSky pitched angles that offered consumers a strong cost-savings angle, offering unique and practical advice that would be compelling for any journalist covering recession-related stories. Spokesperson limitations - Only one spokesperson, Debbie Frye, was designated to speak on behalf of the company and she was based in Toronto, yet Alberta and BC were also important markets. Without a local spokesperson in these other areas there was concern over whether the media would be interested. Therefore, the stories pitched focused on the local retailers and deals available in those areas. Lastly, there was a concern that having only one spokesperson would limit the media relations opportunities, particularly because Debbie travelled frequently. Reviewing Debbie’s schedule on a daily basis and communicating regularly what was being pitched allowed for media expectations to be managed up front. No interview opportunity was lost because of spokesperson unavailability. No sales team in two target markets - Raising brand awareness in Alberta and BC was an objective; however there was no sales support team in place yet in these provinces. Therefore, new retailers/advertisers in these markets were reached through PR only, without the support of any proactive salesforce. Realistic revenue targets, given this limitation, needed to be devised. 6. Measurement / Evaluation: BlueSky relied on Flyerland.ca’s web analytics tool SiteCatalyst to track online traffic, which is the company’s most important measurement, in addition to revenues. The Media Relations Rating Points™ system was used to analyse the media coverage and qualitative observations such as client insights, perceptions of Debbie Frye as a shopping expert and interest expressed from potential business partners were also evaluated. Either meeting or surpassing all objectives, the PR program demonstrated an efficient use of every dollar in the budget. Objective: Raise brand awareness of Flyerland.ca in order to drive traffic to the site with the goal of reaching 1 million unique visitors by December 2009. • 1,070,000 unique visitors were reached in early December 2009, surpassing the goal by 7 per cent, a full month earlier than planned (total unique visitors have increased more than 130 per cent) • since starting the PR program, revenues have doubled • unique visitors increased an average of 17 per cent per month. Prior to implementing PR, unique visitors were increasing at an average of 2 per cent per month.

Objective: Secure 30 media stories between June-December 2009 and a minimal Media Relations Rating Points™ (MRP) score of 75 per cent. (full MRP results are included in the work sample): • 35 media stories were secured (17 per cent more than the objective), averaging four articles a month (which positively correlated with a steady increase in website traffic) • more than 40 per cent of the coverage was in television - 16 TV interviews were secured in total • a MRP score of 89 per cent was achieved (more than 22 million media impressions) • with a total budget of $45k, each contact cost Flyerland.ca less than 0.002 cent

Objective: Raise awareness locally in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia • advertisers from each of these regions increased by 50 per cent • site page views increased by more than 50 per cent in Alberta and British Columbia after media coverage was secured in those regions (prior to the PR program, page

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views in the west were averaging 555,000 per month and post the PR program, more than 1 million page views per month resulted) • in Ontario, page views increased by an average of 60 per cent per month after the PR program launched, with December page views reaching an all-time record of more than 18 million • 40 per cent of the media stories secured were in these local markets

Objective: Establish a business partnership with a high-profile, online entity • Flyerland.ca was brought to the attention of Sympatico.ca and MSN.ca through a press release announcing Flyerland.ca’s partnership with Black Press. Sympatico.ca and MSN.ca approached Flyerland.ca for a partnership and a regular blog from Debbie Frye was secured on Sympatico.ca.

Objective: Debbie is becoming recognized as a shopping expert. • Global TV News booked a series of interviews with Debbie giving cost saving advice • CITY’s BreakfastTV Toronto invited Debbie back for a second spot and opportunities on City’s Lunch TV Vancouver and CITY’s BreakfastTV Calgary followed. (These spots resulted in a significant spike in site traffic on the day they aired.) • Debbie was quoted in 80 per cent of coverage. • media, without being pitched, are now contacting BlueSky to request an interview with Debbie Other noteworthy results: • in one month during which five media segments were aired on TV in Alberta, Save.ca, an Alberta coupon offering on Flyerland.ca, increased revenues by 50 per cent over the previous month • national advertisers increased by 25 per cent since the PR program began • according to the client, Debbie Frye, “BlueSky has become an extension of our team” helping Flyerland.ca overcome a resource issue and execute more marketing activities. BlueSky will continue to work with Flyerland.ca in 2010 • Flyerland.ca’s key messages were published in 94 per cent of the media coverage

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Media Relations with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company Organization Name: Kraft Canada / Cowan & Company Division/Category: Division 1/Category 4a: Media Relations with budget up to $50,000 Title of Entry: Kraft Hunger Challenge 2009 Time Period of Project: February 2009 – June 2009 Brief Description: A national annual fundraiser to support Canadian food banks, the Kraft Hunger Challenge required a refresh for its fifth year to continue to engage donors, food banks and Canadian media in challenging economic times. Business Need/Opportunity

In the midst of a recession, 2009 was a critical year for Canada’s hungry. Food bank usage across Canada was up an average of 20 per cent and Canadian non-profit organizations were reporting a significant decrease in corporate and personal donations. Kraft Canada knew these factors would weigh heavily on its annual Kraft Hunger Challenge. The Kraft Hunger Challenge is an annual national matching gift program in partnership with Food Banks Canada where Kraft Canada matches Canadians’ donations – dollar for dollar – up to a maximum of $150,000. Overseen by Food Banks Canada, funds raised through the campaign are shared among Provincial Members and food banks across the country to purchase much needed food to keep food bank shelves stocked. At a time when donations were so desperately needed, we wanted to freshen up the campaign to ensure it continued to engage donors, food banks and media alike. A core component of the strategy development for the 2009 campaign was to address feedback Food Banks Canada had sourced and received from the food banks and Provincial Associations who had participated in previous KHC campaigns to make the program more efficient and easier for them to implement at the grassroots level. As the local food banks are the primary drivers of promotions and media relations for KHC each year their involvement in the campaign is essential for its success. In their feedback, food banks indicated the timing of the campaign (traditionally it ran for the month of September with a Back-To-School theme) was challenging because many food bank volunteers are on holidays in the summer months leading up to the campaign and because it was close to the busy Thanksgiving food drives. Additionally, based on PR firm Cowan & Company’s (C&C’s) media discussions and insight generated over the three years working on this campaign, we knew September was a challenging time to generate media coverage as many competitive charitable drives were running. The economic climate had also had a toll on the media community, and there were fewer media available to cover this type of story than in previous years. Based on research and learnings acquired working with other charitable groups and campaigns, we also knew that to raise the target donations in the difficult economic

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climate of 2009 it was essential to stand out and educate the public about the growing need of Canada’s hungry. Entrants’ Role in Project • Lynne Galia, Kraft Canada – Strategic direction and overall project management • Mindy Turner, Kraft Canada – Project management and implementation • Marzena Gersho, Food Banks Canada – Strategic direction and project management • Kayley Collum, Food Banks Canada – Project management, food bank/provincial association liaison and coordination, and media relations • Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company – Strategic planning, communications management, media relations • Katherine Clark, Cowan & Company – Strategic planning, message development, materials development, media relations • Sonja Andic, Cowan & Company – Media relations • Julie Leblanc, Cowan & Company/Girafe Communications – Quebec media relations • Provincial Associations and Food Banks across Canada – played an instrumental role in implementing the program from coast-to-coast

Intended Audiences

With a focus on raising awareness of the campaign and maximizing donations, the primary intended audiences for the Kraft Hunger Challenge are:

• General adult public residing in communities with food banks across the country • Food bank donors • Media – with a primary focus on local community media, secondary focus on national media

An equally important audience is the Food Bank staff and volunteers who run and implement the Kraft Hunger Challenge each year. As there had been concerns raised during the previous campaign about the effort levels required to implement the campaign at the grassroots level, it was very important this year’s recommendations address the food banks specific needs and requirements as well in order for the campaign to be effective. Goals/Objectives

• Leverage Kraft Canada’s financial donation to raise exponentially more money to help feed Canada’s hungry. Goal was to raise more than $300,000 for food banks and ideally exceed last year’s total dollars raised through the campaign despite the challenging economic times. • Highlight Kraft Canada’s support of food banks and create coast-to-coast media coverage of the hunger issue in Canada – particularly at the grassroots, community media level -- to get people to donate to their local food bank through the campaign. Goal was to ideally exceed the campaign’s best ever media relations results from the 2007 campaign which succeeded in generating 46 media hits and 3.1 million impressions with local media across the country. • Maximize the number of food banks participating in the campaign in order to maximize awareness and donations through the campaign.

Solution Overview

In developing the solution, we developed and adopted the following strategies:

• Streamline initiatives to make it easier for local food banks to communicate and participate in Kraft Hunger Challenge.

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• Tie campaign to more newsworthy theme/date to increase media coverage and public awareness. • Empower local food banks to promote Kraft Hunger Challenge (KHC) and National Hunger Awareness Day with local media.

In the analysis of Food Banks Canada’s research and evaluation of the calendar of charitable events, we identified June as a key month for the campaign, primarily to tie it to National Hunger Awareness Day on June 2 - a campaign led by Food Banks Canada to raise awareness of the issue of hunger in this country. It was a perfect fit as Kraft Canada was one of the national sponsors of National Hunger Awareness Day. At the time, National Hunger Awareness Day was a recognized National Day but there was fairly low awareness of it among the Canadian public. An opportunity existed to use National Hunger Awareness Day to educate Canadians about the problem of hunger at home and to position KHC as a key call-to-action – by donating to the KHC Canadians could help the problem of hunger in Canada. National Hunger Awareness Day was also seen as fresh, newsworthy ‘hook’ for media than the previous Back-to-School theming. Additionally, because local food banks were currently being asked to initiate awareness campaigns for National Hunger Awareness Day in June, KHC in September and then their own food drives in October – we believed that by somewhat consolidating these campaigns (although National Hunger Awareness Day remained a separate campaign of its own managed by Food Banks Canada) it would help to ease the overall work load of the food banks which would increase participation. In light of this research and analysis, we moved the Kraft Hunger Challenge to June and adopted National Hunger Awareness Day (June 2) as the theme for the campaign. In response to food banks’ concerns about the length of time of the campaign (which previously ran almost the entire month of September) and the required resources for this length of campaign, we also shortened the campaign’s timeframe to 10 days. Through a range of local and national initiatives, the Kraft Hunger Challenge kicked off on National Hunger Awareness Day/June 2, 2009. Canadians were invited to make a donation online at www.foodbankscanada.ca, by mail, phone or in person at a participating food bank in order to qualify for Kraft Canada’s matching donation from June 2 to 12, 2009.

Implementation and Challenges

To communicate all the details of the campaign, we first soft sounded the changes with food banks/Provincial Members and then sent an email from Kraft Canada to officially announced the new dates and engage the food banks. We edited and updated PR materials from previous campaigns to reflect the new National Hunger Awareness Day theme and timing and initiated media relations in Toronto and Montreal. The national news release was distributed over the newswire in English and French on June 1 to announce the start of the campaign on National Hunger Awareness Day, the following day. Each year the local food banks do an exceptional job generating awareness, media coverage and donations through this campaign. To help the local food banks raise as much money as possible and generate coverage with local media across the country, Cowan & Company created template media materials with a strong emphasis on National Hunger Awareness Day. In each piece KHC was positioned as a call to action. Template materials included a Community News Release, Media Alert, Story Ideas and Media Pitch Script, Donor Letter, and Ad Mats. These templates were designed so they could be easily tailored for each food bank with minimal time requirements. To provide more assistance and tools for the food banks to help drive donations, we also developed a matte story, focused on National Hunger Awareness Day with KHC as the call to action, and distributed it to English and French community newspapers across Canada through Canadian Community Newspaper Association. This was successful in

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generating pickup of the article both online and in community papers. We also developed and issued a photo alongside the news release to provide artwork to accompany the story and draw more attention to KHC as well as creating online ads to promote the campaign on kraft.ca. The corporate branding of this campaign remains a key challenge to generating media coverage for the campaign. However, as raising profile for Kraft Canada’s leadership is a core objective there is little that can be done about this except to continue to stress the campaign’s altruistic nature. This is more of a concern with “national” media than community media which is one of the reasons community media is a primary audience. Timing was a key restraint for this campaign as we did not decide to move up the timing of the campaign (from September to June) until February which meant the majority of long lead media deadlines had passed. Although Chatelaine did run a mention of Kraft Canada’s work with Food Banks Canada in its December edition based on our media outreach. While we did not see any media coverage of the photo we issued for this campaign, several media expressed interest in it during our follow up and we believe it was helpful in raising media awareness and overall coverage for the campaign. Measurement/Evaluation

In measuring the success of this campaign we succeeded in achieving – and surpassing! - our objectives: Goal: Raise more than $300,000 for food banks. √ The 2009 campaign was successful in surpassing the fundraising targets and reaching a total of $590,582 for food banks across the country including Kraft Canada’s matching donation. The results of this year’s campaign were slightly more than last year’s results ($2,000 more raised this year). Although these levels have not matched previous year’s KHC campaigns, they were still a very positive result in the challenging economic times of 2009 when so many fundraising campaigns and charitable organizations found it exceptionally difficult to raise funds. Goal: Generate best-ever campaign media coverage to create awareness of hunger issue in Canada and create awareness of Kraft Canada’s support.

√ The campaign successfully generated more than 98 media hits and more than 10 million impressions for the Kraft Hunger Challenge across the country which played a key role in generating awareness of the campaign and the hunger issue in Canada. This compares with more than 1.75 million impressions and approximately 40 media hits in 2008 and more than doubling the results of the most successful media relations efforts from the 2007 campaign. The 2009 campaign was successful at generating local coverage from coast-to-coast with local media. Although community newspapers may not have huge readerships which impacted the total impressions for the campaign, they are well read by their local residents who were a key target to securing donations for their local food banks. This astounding increase in media coverage can be directly tied to our successful strategy to combine KHC with National Hunger Awareness Day and make the campaign simpler for food banks to promote through consolidation, template tools and overall PR support. Goal: Maximize number of participating food banks. √ Approximately 40% more food banks participated in this year’s campaign than in 2008 demonstrating the success of our strategy and efforts to simplify the implementation of the program and address the specific needs of food banks. The increased number of participating food banks also played a key role in surpassing our targeted media relations and fundraising goals.

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These exceptional results demonstrate the strategies we adopted for this year’s campaign - tying the campaign to National Hunger Awareness Day to both create a stronger media hook, simplifying the campaign requirements for food banks and supporting the campaign with strong media relations outreach and tools – paid off. Not only did the campaign succeed in achieving Kraft Canada’s goals, but more importantly the Kraft Hunger Challenge succeeded in helping to feed the more than 750,000 Canadians who use food banks each month.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Media Relations with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name: Nancy Evans

Organization’s Name: Environics Communications Inc.

Client Organization: TD Bank Financial Group

Division / Category: Division 1(Communication Management) / Category 4a (Media Relations with budget up to $50K)

Title of Entry: TD’s Break the (Piggy) Bank Campaign for Children’s Miracle Network

Time Period of Project: November - December 2009

Brief Description: To launch TD’s Children’s Miracle Network’s Holiday Drive, a campaign was developed to educate parents and children on making charitable giving an ongoing part of their lives. Cross-Canada events were held with children breaking piggy banks for charity. The campaign was designed to raise awareness and participation in automatic monthly donations through TD bank accounts for Children’s Miracle Network. This year’s campaign encouraged families to embrace the spirit of giving during the holiday season, rethink overspending on gifts and focus on meaningful ways to spend money.

1. Need / Opportunity:

TD Bank Financial Group has been one of Canada’s largest annual contributors to Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) since partnering in 1994, raising more than $32.8 million to date. With 100 per cent of customer and employee donations going directly to local children’s hospitals, TD’s support makes a difference to thousands of children and their families not just during the holidays, but year round as ongoing donations help purchase life-saving equipment, patient services and medical research.

Every year, TD holds a campaign to ask customers to set up automatic monthly donations (AMDs) to the CMN program from their TD account, and to raise awareness of TD’s support of the 14 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals across Canada.

Competing with an abundance of other corporate giving stories in the November / December period, TD needed a different approach to garner quality coverage that would provide a call-to-action. Our approach involved expanding the story beyond the promotion of the CMN program, holding media-friendly events, designing and executing a media relations strategy focused on teaching children the value of giving, and leveraging a respected TD financial expert.

By conducting simultaneous media relations around the local events and the national story of monthly donations as part of family money management, our 2009 campaign produced quality coverage that captured TD’s key messages and resulted in a record number of AMDs being initiated in 2009.

The whole program was executed for a modest budget of $21,500 and delivered from concept to execution in just three weeks.

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2. Intended Audiences:

TD’s primary audience was current TD customers who could easily set up automatic donations online or at their local branch. The secondary audience was potential TD customers who were looking for services to increase the ease with which they are able to incorporate charitable giving into their financial plan.

As these audiences were so broad and diverse, we determined it was important to focus our campaign on a core sub-set target that could be reached with a compelling and coherent message. To that end, we decided to focus our messaging primarily on families with school-age children.

The campaign budget and timeline did not permit market research, so we had to rely on our understanding of this market. Most parents are engaged to some degree in teaching their children about money by providing allowances or engaging them in shopping decisions. We also knew that understanding money and spending are encompassed in most grade-school curriculums. From past experience, we knew that credit counselors advise that the earlier children learn how to handle money, the more likely they are to establish good money management habits in life. This gave us reassurance that our message was appropriate and would resonate with our target audience.

Past experience has dictated that media has an interest and appetite for stories targeted at family financial issues. In fact, a number of media outlets have expanded their coverage of this dimension of financial topics in recent years.

In addition, we expected parents in particular to appreciate and be motivated by TD’s support of children’s hospitals.

We used media as the primary conduit to reach this audience as it would be the most effective for budget and timing.

3. Goals / Objectives:

As a long-time supporter of Children’s Miracle Network, the primary goal for TD was to get customers to establish regular withdrawals from their accounts and, by doing so, raise funds for CMN hospitals.

The campaign success would be measured by the quality and reach of the media coverage generated and the number of TD AMDs established:

Goal: Increase awareness of the availability of TD AMDs as a compelling feature of TD’s banking services for clients. Objective: Secure quality TD-branded coverage with campaign messaging. Seventy- five per cent of coverage should include TD-branding and campaign messaging. . Objective: Set new record for the number of AMD’s opened in 2009. The previous record was 16,351.

Goal: Help augment TD’s corporate reputation as a socially responsible organization and engage communities to support their local CMN hospital through TD. Objective: Generate at least 30 branded stories across the 12 key markets that encourage TD customers to set up AMDs for CMN. Objective: Generate good ROI on TD’s investment with a CPI return of less than $0.01.

4. Solution Overview:

Recognizing the abundance of stories about charitable giving and corporate philanthropy in November / December and the commercial element of the story, we needed a media

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relations strategy with a less-commercial message in order to secure coverage but that would still made the link to TD. Our approach to this solution was as follows:

1. Develop new messaging. Past campaigns had focused specifically on TD’s AMD program which made for a commercial story with less media appeal. We changed the focus this year to a campaign about teaching families how to incorporate charitable giving into ongoing financial planning with a focus on engaging children in the discussion. We positioned regular, pre-planned donations as the solution for managing charitable giving with TD automatic monthly donations to CMN as the example. Additionally, we leveraged TD’s expertise in financial planning advice to position them as a credible source.

2. Photo opportunity. To add appeal to the story, we developed a multi-market photo opportunity. Local children broke open piggy banks at 12 TD branches and donated the contents via the TD program to local CMN hospitals and set an example for Canadians of all ages. The theme of breaking the (piggy) bank emphasized that it only takes a little to do a lot and aligned with the message of getting the whole family involved in the spirit of giving. We tapped into the TD branch network’s ability to stage these events using an event guide we provided. This stretched the small budget to give us local news angles.

3. Work with a respected financial expert. Engaging Patricia Lovett-Reid, well-known TD financial expert, allowed us to provide advice to support the initiative, engage media and aid in the development of quality coverage. Our supporting media materials included a pragmatic list of tips about good giving habits from Lovett-Reid including: planning donations in advance as part of regular expenditures, rather than waiting to use left-over funds; involve children in the decision about which charities to support; and if children are writing a wish list of desired gifts ask them to also write a “give list.”

5. Leverage the economic environment and the time of year. We used the holiday season timing to talk about rethinking overspending on gifts and instead spending money on things that are truly important and meaningful. The direct consumer call to action was to teach children about starting the habit of regular donations - suggesting an automated donation through a TD account as a good way to start.

5. Implementation and Challenges:

Budget: $21,500

The budget included: • Development of plan • Coordination with the client of media events in 12 markets across Canada • Development of supporting event and media materials • Proactive media relations surrounding the launch of TD Financial Group’s Children’s Miracle Network’s Holiday Drive • Tracking and assessing media coverage to present in a report to the client upon program completion

Key Challenges: • Tight timeline: the coordination and execution of events at TD branches across Canada in the 12 key markets identified by the client - Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, St. John’s, Hamilton, London, Edmonton and Montréal - took place within three weeks. This involved sourcing and shipping the event materials (piggy banks, bats, protective eyewear, etc.), coordinating local children, determining and message training local spokespeople in each market, designing the event flow and site map and developing supporting event and media materials.

• Tight budget: recognizing the tight budget for this campaign, we created a thorough critical path that divided responsibilities between us and our client to

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ensure that there was no duplication of tasks. We leveraged TD’s ability to stage modest events in regional branches. To ensure consistency of execution, we developed a comprehensive event guidebook for branch staff that also offered a detailed timeline both prior to and on the day of the event. We made sure that the development of media materials respected the traditional timelines for the various levels of client approval required and had spokespeople informed and briefed with key messages at the onset of the campaign.

• Commercial nature of story: we knew that a story based on automatic donations would be too commercial to generate significant media coverage. Conducting a media audit on coverage from previous years, we saw that even though the program was mentioned, it was not the focus as spokespeople were often asked to comment on topics outside of the campaign. It was critical that our materials and spokespeople stay on-message and weave the story of the automatic donation account into the larger focus and theme we developed for this year’s campaign.

• Limited spokesperson access: as the campaign came together so quickly we had limited access to Patricia Lovett-Reid so had to ensure compelling, ready-to-use content in media materials, and prioritize interviews to key media. • Safety: we knew the image of children breaking piggy banks would be great for the media but we also had to ensure that the activity was safe. We provided all participants with child-sized safety goggles, included full briefings and guidance to branches re: safety components; and did ‘practice smashes’ with piggy banks prior to the events to ensure we knew what would happen when they were broken

6. Measurement / Evaluation:

Detailed media coverage and analysis was handled by TD according to their established media analysis protocol. We could not apply the MRP model to tone and track coverage.

We met and exceeded our quantitative objectives for both increasing the number of automatic monthly donations that were initiated and for media relations. Also, the coverage was both extensive and of high quality. The results achieved supported both internal business and campaign objectives:

Goal: Increase awareness of the availability of TD AMDs as a compelling feature of TD’s banking services for clients. • Objective: Secure quality TD-branded coverage with campaign messaging. Seventy-five per cent of coverage should include TD-branding and campaign messaging. 100 per cent of coverage reflected campaign messaging of the family giving dynamic, TD’s support of CMN hospitals or AMDs as part of personal money management. Coverage weaved our concepts of using this time of year to teach children about the importance of giving to those in need and restructuring family budgets to reflect monthly charitable donations. Patricia Lovett-Reid was quoted only in relation to the CMN campaign in all coverage generated.

• Objective: Generate good ROI on TD’s investment with a CPI return of less than $0.01. A total 5,335,649 media impressions were generated, equating to a CPI of $0.00403 – far lower than the target of $0.01.

Goal: Help augment TD’s corporate reputation as a socially responsible organization and engage communities to support their local CMN hospital through TD. • Objective: Set new record for the number of AMD’s opened in 2009. The previous record was: 16,351. The 2009 campaign was highly successful through a number of measures: o More than 20,500 AMDs were initiated exceeding the previous record and increasing almost 30 per cent over 2008: . 2009: 20,531

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. 2008: 15,853 . 2007: 16,351 o The target number of automatic monthly donations for the 2009 campaign was exceeded. . 20,531 new automatic monthly donations were initiated achieving 102.4 per cent of TD’s goal. o The week of the media relations launch gave TD their best-ever single week of AMD initiations for CMN in the history of the campaign. . 6,265 automatic monthly donations were initiated during this week. This is 58 per cent more than the highest ever week of enrolment in previous years.

• Objective: Generate at least 30 branded stories across the 12 key markets that encourage TD customers to set up AMDs for CMN. We generated 42 TD-branded stories - exceeding the goal by 140 per cent and exceeding last year’s coverage by 230 per cent. Media was in attendance at events in all markets and event coverage included the consumer call to action.

. 55 OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Media Relations with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant Name: Tracey Bochner Organizations: Paradigm Public Relations / Energizer Personal Care Division/Category: Division 1: Communication Management Category 4a: Best Use of Media Relations under $50K Title: Save the economy, show some leg Time Period: March 2009 – June 2009 Brief Description: How do you create interest in a razor? Through a mid-recession tongue-in-cheek media relations campaign encouraging women to improve the economy by “showing some leg”. The campaign played on the “hemline theory”, which indicates that women’s skirt lengths rise and fall with the stock market, suggesting women should raise their hemlines to boost the economy.

BUSINESS NEED/OPPORTUNITY: How do you create interest in a razor? This was the challenge Paradigm Public Relations (PPR) faced in 2009. As the agency of record for Schick, PPR was charged with developing a cost-effective media relations campaign to support the Schick Quattro for Women razor – a great product, but one where there had been no innovation for several years. No changes. Nothing new at all. This meant that the traditional channels for generating media coverage (women’s magazines) were out. With nothing new, there was no reason for the magazines to feature the razor in 2009. But, how do you generate coverage, about a razor, in non-traditional media, with a very, very small budget and no news?

At the start of 2009, Canada was deep in the recession and the news was gloomy. Media coverage contributed to the sense of helplessness Canadians were feeling – they were losing their jobs, their investments, their retirement dreams – and there was little they could do about it.

Unusual inspiration for a razor campaign? Absolutely.

RESEARCH In looking for a solution to its challenge, PPR conducted research into the “hemline theory” – a concept created by economist George Taylor in the 1920s that proposed a correlation between hemline length and stock market performance. According to Taylor, hemlines rise when the economy is strong and skirt lengths get longer the worse the economy gets. A retrospective analysis of key stock market booms and recessions matched with skirt lengths demonstrated that the correlation had played out over the past 100 years – the 1920s boom featured flapper fashion with knee length dresses and the subsequent crash in the ‘30s saw women’s hems drop to the ankle. The booming economy of the ‘60s gave birth to the mini, and during the recession in the ‘70s the maxi dress was invented.

The team at PPR wondered, does the hemline length follow the stock market or lead it? What if fashion leads the economy, instead of following it? And, if so, if Canadian women raised their hemlines, would the economy improve?

INTENDED AUDIENCE(S) For its 2009 activities, Schick Quattro for Women identified its target audiences as the following: • Women 18-35 (bulls eye: 18-24) who are confident, fun, sexy and bold • Women who want to look and feel their best

56 • Fashionable and urban…an audience referred to by Schick as the “Sex and the City” woman

GOALS/OBJECTIVES: Schick set the following program objectives for the Quattro for Women brand for 2009: • Generate a total of 5 million impressions from all media relations activities for Quattro for Women (The 2009 goal was to realize a total of 10 million impressions for Schick’s women’s brand(Quattro and Intuition), which was determined to be 5 million for each, an increase from 2008 goals) • Realize a cost per contact of $0.01 or less • Boost awareness for the Quattro for Women brand through media relations • Reinforce the Quattro for Women brand personality: fun, sexy, bold and confident

SOLUTION OVERVIEW:

STRATEGY Using the results of the research, PPR recommended the following strategy: • Create a tongue-in-cheek media relations campaign encouraging women to help boost the economy by “showing some leg” • Develop the Schick Index, an indicator of the correlation between skirt length and stock market fluctuations (based on historic timelines), as a vehicle to ensure branded mentions in all media coverage • Generate awareness through a media relations campaign featuring a tongue-in-cheek call-to-action to Canadian women to “raise those hemlines” to boost the economy (and keep their legs smooth and sexy with Schick Quattro for Women)

TACTICS To successfully implement the strategy, PPR executed the following tactics: • Created the Schick Index, a timeline graphic depicting the rise and fall of the stock market over the past 100 years and the corresponding skirt lengths • Developed a tongue-in-cheek media release with the headline “Save the economy, show some leg”, featuring a call-to-action for women to raise their hemlines to help boost the economy (and to keep their legs smooth and sexy with Schick Quattro for Women) • Secured a third party spokesperson – Wolfgang Klein of Canaccord Capital - to lend financial expertise to the campaign. Wolfgang was quoted in the release validating the historical correlation between hemlines and the stock market • Distributed the materials to target media (short lead business, lifestyle and beauty media plus key beauty bloggers) across Canada via wire and hard copy packages of the materials • Within an hour of posting the news release on the wire, media outlets started responding to the story by writing stories of their own • Over the next week, Paradigm conducted media relations that resulted in coverage from coast to coast

IMPLEMENATION AND CHALLENGES:

BUDGET Schick allocated an annual budget for PR for its women’s brands: Intuition Plus and Quattro for Women. In 2009, there was big news on Intuition, leaving little funds available to support Quattro for Women outside of standard holiday ‘stocking stuffer’ media relations and some experiential support.

The total budget available to execute the “Save the economy, show some leg” campaign was originally $13,000 – with the client’s permission, PPR ‘borrowed’ an additional $6,000 from the Intuition budget which was just enough to cover the newswire costs,

57 creation of the media materials, design costs for the Schick Index graphic, the media kits and agency fees for media relations.

CHALLENGES The main challenge the team experienced for this campaign was a fear of the unknown – would media, and particularly business media, play along with the campaign? Would they be receptive to a campaign--no matter how tongue-in-cheek -- that suggested women wear shorter skirts? Or, would the coverage be negative? The advantage PPR had was a media savvy client at Schick who was open to new and creative ideas -- and to taking a calculated risk.

MEASUREMENT/EVALUATION:

Generate a total of 5 million impressions from all media relations activities for Quattro for Women Canadian media coverage from just the “Save the economy, show some leg” campaign generated a reach of more than 6.6 million (reach calculated using audited data from the CPRS Media Relations Rating Points system)

Realize a cost per contact of $0.01 or less The cost per contact for the campaign was significantly less than one cent at $0.003

Boost awareness for the Quattro for Women brand through media relations Between March 31 to June 4, there were 41 Canadian news stories including stories filed by CanWest that appeared nationally, the Financial Post online and the front page of the Windsor Star’s lifestyle section. The story was also picked up worldwide on international websites like Eco89, a Paris-based website, The Wall Street Journal Digital Network and United Press International online.

Reinforce the Quattro for Women brand personality: fun, bold, sexy and confident 95% of the media coverage was balanced and 5% was positive. There was no negative media coverage.

This is what media had to say:

“You have to hand it to those PR people at Schick. Not only is the Quattro for Women one of the best selling razors in the free world, they always have some clever little campaign to convince you that a close shave can solve almost anything […] the Quattro is a good friend.” – Windsor Star

“Schick Index: Connecting skirt length with GDP: Just in time for April 1 […] Schick Quattro has produced the following chart…” – Financial Post online

“OK, I rarely pass on press releases pretty much verbatim but this one was so amusing that I’m going to do it”… “We loved the Schick index and wrote about it on our website” – More.ca

“That's funny! Thanks for this information.” – Lipstick Powder N’ Paint

“Thanks so much for keeping us in the loop! […] definitely a funny look at historical trends…” - Sweetspot.ca

“Such a cute idea! I will feature it” – urbanmoms.ca

“I loved the idea” – Sunmedia

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Media Relations with Budget of $51K to $100K AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company Organization Name: L’Oréal Paris / Cowan & Company Division/Category: 4b: Media Relations with budget $50 - 100K Title of Entry: L’Oréal Paris MasterClass in Haircare & Haircolour Time Period of Project: November 2008 – March 2009 Brief Description: Media relations campaign developed to launch new products from L’Oréal Paris and increase its haircare and haircolour coverage by offering tips, tricks and first hand experience. Business Need/Opportunity

In fall 2008, L’Oréal Paris and its PR firm, Cowan & Company began planning the media launches of two major new product lines for 2009:

• EverPure Sulfate-Free Colour Care System – an entire new line of Premium mass haircare products (shampoos, conditioners and treatments) designed for colour- treated hair. • Excellence to-Go – a 10 minute at-home haircolour that delivers rich, radiant colour, fortified hair, anti-damage protection and 100% grey coverage.

At the onset of the launch, based on detailed research of the most prominent women’s magazines in the country, we knew that mentions of haircare and haircolour were low compared to other beauty categories. In fact, haircolour coverage makes up less than 1 per cent of all beauty-related Canadian editorial coverage according to TNS. In doing soft sounding research directly with targeted beauty media, we found that they were interested in these categories, but felt they didn’t have a lot of new or interesting content worth sharing with their readers about at-home haircolour and haircare. Careful analysis of the research, compared with L’Oréal Paris’ sales which indicated strong consumer interest, pointed to an opportunity to educate the media about the consumer interest levels along with the advancements in haircare and haircolour. By taking ownership of this ‘education’ we believed we could increase media interest and coverage of both categories while highlighting L’Oréal Paris’ new products and overall category leadership position as well. We knew if we could not get the media excited about these categories it would jeopardize the media coverage potential for the new products as well as L’Oréal Paris’ coverage opportunities throughout the year. The million dollar question was: How do you get media excited about shampoo (and other haircare products) and at-home haircolour? Entrants’ Role in Project

• Anik Gagnon, L’Oréal Paris – Strategic direction, presentation development, and overall project management • Julie Tremblay, L’Oréal Paris – Event coordination and media relations, Press Dossier management

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• Eric Del Monaco, L’Oréal Paris – Presentation Development & Spokesperson • Stephanié Binette, L’Oréal Paris – Presentation Development & Spokesperson • Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company – Strategic planning, project/event management, presentation development • Margaret Batuszkin, Cowan & Company – Strategic planning, messaging, media relations & writing • Sonja Andic, Cowan & Company – Event coordination and media relations • Illya Noble – Event Graphic Design • Graphique M&H – Press Dossier Graphic Design Intended Audience

While the target market for both products are women aged 25 – 40 (or 49 for EverPure) – there are significant psychographic differences that needed to be communicated through the event. Both targets are time conscious, working to balance home and work lives, and have appreciation for quality, technologically-advanced products that promote the health of their hair. However, EverPure customers are likely willing to pay more to look and feel their best with Premium products and experiences than Excellence to-Go customers who are more focused on convenience and cost. In creating the invitation list for this Media Launch event, we targeted media who specialize in writing about Beauty – and who cater to these target markets – so that by educating their media touch points we would reach our targeted consumers. Goals/Objectives

L’Oréal Paris’ goals for this media relations campaign were to:

• Secure 15 key beauty media attendees at launch event. • Generate best-in-class media coverage for both products targeting 15 – 20 million impressions. • Elevate L’Oreal Paris’ standing in 2009 to one of the top 3 beauty brands covered in editorial haircolour and haircare categories in 2009 - as ranked by TNS independent analysis – up from its position in the top 15 in 2008.

Solution Overview

To achieve these goals and answer the million dollar question, C&C’s recommended strategies were:

 Up Close and Personal – Create an opportunity for media to personally try and connect with products.  Content is King – Position product news and messages in context of overall hair education to make more appealing and interesting – and generate more editorial coverage. This strategy was behind our recommendation to combine both product announcements into one large event.  Science Rocks – Provide detailed information about science and technology behind these products to substantiate key differentiators.

In order to maximize media interest, awareness and coverage of these product launches, Cowan & Company (C&C) recommended to kick off these launches with one hair-focused event to heighten interest and awareness of the overall haircare and haircolour categories, demonstrate the expertise of L’Oréal Paris in both categories and officially launch both products. By combining two product launches into one event we also had the added benefit of budget efficiencies – as well as increasing our attendance rate as media wouldn’t have to schedule in two L’Oréal Paris events in the same month which would undoubtedly have resulted in some media choosing to attend only one event given their busy schedules.

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The concept for the Media Event was developed to escalate the profile of haircare and haircolour categories by giving media a unique opportunity to connect with and experience the products through hands-on use. We believed that creating an opportunity for media to try at-home haircolour was paramount to getting them to write about it - as many had no first-hand knowledge of this product category as they chose to get their hair coloured at salons. The Masterclass in Haircare & Haircolour experiential event concept we created was designed to elevate these categories - beyond just the normal product launch pitch – by providing general content, new and innovative tips, advice on all areas of these categories and give media the opportunity for hands-on experience – while featuring our new products. The highlight of this Experiential event was providing media with the opportunity to actually use and apply at-home haircolour themselves – without having to apply to their own hair (which many are reluctant to do). This was achieved by offering a mannequin head for each reporter’s use during the demonstration. Additionally, key to the objective of planting the seed for year-round coverage of these under-covered categories, we also featured expert tips and insights in both presentations to provide more widespread coverage fodder for the media throughout the year – and positioned our spokesperson as a go-to expert for all of their hair-related coverage throughout the year. Implementation and Challenges

The launch event was held at the L’Oréal Academy in downtown Toronto on December 10, 2008. Presentations were conducted by L’Oréal Paris’ Official Hair Artist and Colourist, Eric Del Monaco and L’Oréal Paris’ Hair Marketing Director, Stephanie Binette and included product introductions, sessions on the “Top Five Haircolour Mistakes and how to avoid them” and “Top Five Deadly Haircare Sins”, hands-on hair colour application from Eric on mannequin heads set up at each journalist’s desk and a shampoo demonstration with tips and tricks for achieving the perfect shampoo. In addition to media relations surrounding the media launch event, which was created as the focus of the campaign in order to enable media to try the products first hand, we supported the launch event with a range of post-event media relations initiatives focused on educating the media about new hair tips and tricks from our expert. These initiatives included coordinating post-event interviews with several media – including tip-focused interviews with our expert for Canada AM and flare.com and others unable to attend the event. We also developed 2 bylined hair-focused articles for our expert published in Canadian Health & Lifestyle Magazine that featured product mentions along with other content developed for the event. Additionally, we developed 2 matte stories based on the haircolour and haircare tips developed for the event presentations, that we distributed to English and French community papers across the country through Canadian Community Newspaper Association that was successful in generating pickup of the articles both online and in community papers. Two separate Press Dossiers were produced to provide media with detailed information about each new product line in a high-energy, comprehensive format. These Press Dossiers were mailed directly to targeted media as a key part of the overall media relations campaign – as well as being distributed to media at the event in the gift bags. As mentioned earlier, the main challenge of this media relations campaign was how to excite and inspire media to write about the beauty topics of shampoo and haircolour. The results generated by this campaign demonstrate that our unique, hands-on, informative yet fun approached truly moved the mark for our targeted media and made them more interested in covering these categories.

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From an event perspective, one of the main challenges was how to launch these two very different products together – for all the strategic reasons outlined above - and yet still communicate the significantly different brand images and unique selling proposition of each brand. And importantly, still generate coverage for both brands. A special “Masterclass” logo was created for the event to emphasize the unique offering and approach to the event. This logo appeared on event elements including the evite, PowerPoint presentations, and event signage. Onsite event hostesses had their hair coloured with Excellence to-Go in advance of event to showcase the products’ end results. And each product line had its own room at the venue featuring décor and a room set up that reinforced each brand’s unique attributes. There were considerable time restraints in launching this campaign and media event, as we needed to wait to ensure early product availability for the event – since the products wouldn’t be shipping until February there was uncertainty what kind of quantities we could have in hand for a December event. This resulted in us having less than 4 weeks to pull the event together once we had confirmation that we would have products to showcase and distribute in time for the launch. One of the steps we took in managing this tight timeline was to ask our key targeted media to ‘save the date/time’ as soon as planning began in early November since we knew that December was a very busy month for media events tied to the holidays – so they wouldn’t confirm for a different event while we were waiting for product confirmation and before an official evite could be issued. The campaign had a budget of approximately $80K. Approx. $50K of the budget went to the event including approx. $20K in professional fees for the launch-related media relations and event management, and $30K in out of pocket expenses including venue rental, décor, A/V, catering, graphic design, media travel expenses and general coordination expenses. Approximately $12,000 went to writing, designing, printing and mailing the 2 product Press Dossiers. The remaining approx. $18K of the budget went to post-event media relations follow up, interview coordination, pitching, 2 matte stories and 2 bylined articles. This event budget was a constraint – especially when needing to create two different brand environments to communicate the unique product attributes for each product line. We used the budget very efficiently, and actually came in slightly under budget in the end. The client had originally hoped hold media events in both Toronto and Montreal – but due to the budget constraints we decided instead just to invite and pay for travel costs for a few targeted Montreal journalists to attend the Toronto event for maximum budget efficiencies. Another challenge was the snowstorm that happened the morning of the event – the joys of having an event in Canada in December! When faced with this, we brought out the catering a bit early and delayed the start of the first presentation by 25 minutes to allow for more media to make it through the bad weather and roads – and then we shortened the break slightly and, knowing that many media had Holiday Lunch event immediately following ours, we gave media the option of staying for Eric’s shampoo demo or leaving at that point in the presentation. Approximately half of the media stayed – and this more intimate group actually resulted in a prolonged discussion and Q&A session with Eric for an additional 45 minutes than what was originally scheduled! After the event, we initiated follow up with the media unable to attend the event to provide all the valuable information shared at the event. Measurement/Evaluation

From an event evaluation standpoint, we know the event was a great success based on the unparalleled buzz and excitement in the room when the normally-reserved media were elbow deep in the haircolour demo applying the new product to mannequin heads – as well as the attendance which included almost every major women’s publication in the country. It was amazing to watch the media’s mood move from reserved during the initial presentation to gleefully giddy as they got into their haircolour demo – and you could literally see their opinions about these categories and their media coverage

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potential changing before your eyes. We succeeded in achieving – and surpassing – the objectives for this event:

 Secure 15 key beauty media attendees at event. √ We targeted the event to top tier Beauty Media and succeeded in securing attendance of 18 media (despite the snow storm the morning of the event – 25 had originally confirmed) including Hello! Magazine, Glow Magazine, Flare Magazine, Fashion Magazine, Chatelaine Magazine, Canadian Health & Lifestyle Magazine, Cosmetics Magazine, Lipstickpowdernpaint.com, Imabeautygeek.com, ELLE Canada Magazine, LOULOU, Elle Quebec and Vita.

 Generate best-in-class media coverage for both products targeting 15 – 20 million impressions. √ √ Equally shared between the two product lines, coverage has generated more than 42 million impressions with a more than 40 media hits including Canada AM, flare.com, Canadian Health & Lifestyle Magazine, Metro, Elle Canada, More, Canadian Living, Toronto Star, Metro, Glow, Chatelaine (French and English), Coup de Pouce, LOULOU, and Flare.

 Elevate L’Oreal Paris’ standing to one of the top 3 beauty brands covered in editorial haircolour and haircare categories in 2009 - as ranked by TNS independent analysis. √ √ √ According to TNS research, following this media event, in 2009 L’Oreal Paris was the #1 brand most mentioned in key Canadian magazine editorial covering hair (hair styling, shampoo and haircolour) – an amazing elevation from being in the top 15 brands most mentioned in Canadian magazine editorial covering hair in 2008. This dramatic increase in overall coverage can be largely attributed to the success, buzz and hands-on trials generated from this event and its supporting media relations initiatives. Our media launch event generated so much interest and buzz, that even those who weren’t able to attend took note. For example, shortly after the event, Canada AM followed up with us to request that Eric appear on their program to discuss tips for at- home haircolouring – which demonstrates the success of the MasterClass concept in making media – both mainstream and beauty media – look at the topics of haircolour and haircare in a different light! Indeed, this is all 100% proof that we succeeded in our goal of getting media excited about shampoo and at-home haircolour!

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Media Relations with Budget Greater than $100K AWARD OF MERIT

Together, Edelman and Johnson & Johnson created the ZANTAC® Chili Challenge, an ownable platform for the ZANTAC® brand to establish a compelling link between heartburn and food. With cooler weather, the fall season is a time when consumers begin preparing comfort foods. Recognizing the transition that many people make with their food choices during this time of year and leveraging the football season, we developed a way to show Canadians that they could still enjoy their favourite comfort food classics without having to worry about heartburn. As a popular spicy food for many at this time, chili was a natural fit.

The ZANTAC® Chili Challenge is a cross-Canada chili competition inviting consumers to submit their best original chili recipes and compete in a live cook-off competition for the chance to win a grand prize. For the general public, a microsite – www.chilichallenge.ca - was created to serve as a portal where visitors could not only submit their best, original, chili recipes and vote for their favourites but also learn about tips for making great chili and for preventing heartburn. Celebrity chef Anthony Sedlak acted as program spokesperson to help bring the competition to life and get Canadians fired up! The ZANTAC® Chili Challenge was a success by all measures and targets in every category were achieved and surpassed.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Marketing Communications with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name Sarah Hall Organization’s Name Flyerland.ca Division/Category Division 1: Communications Management – Category 5 Marketing Communications, 5a Marketing Communications with budget up to $50k Title of Entry Smart, Not Cheap Time Period of Project May 2009 – December 2009

Brief Description BlueSky Communications was engaged by Flyerland.ca to help increase consumer traffic and advertisers on its site. BlueSky implemented a multi-faceted campaign that included media relations, brand communications/message development, customer communications and writing services.

1. Business Need/Opportunity: Flyerland.ca launched in 2008 offering value-conscious consumers easy, quick and timely access to flyers and coupons. Within one year it became the leading flyer/coupon website representing 80 per cent of major Canadian retailers and tracking 380,000 unique visitors monthly. In a competitive market, the company had a window of opportunity to solidify its leadership position by growing traffic and securing more advertisers, nationally and in the local markets of Ontario, Alberta and BC. Although Flyerland.ca had a strong national presence due to the number of large Canadian retailers advertising on the site, awareness in local markets needed improvement. A scan of social media sites and blogs found that this was a reoccurring criticism of coupon sites. One blog, newspapertiger.com, stressed the need for sites like Flyerland.ca to “microtarget” (i.e. provide stronger local content) to be successful. Research into consumer behaviour during a recession demonstrated that there was an opportunity for Flyerland.ca to grow its service. According to digital tracking firm comScore, online coupon sites were the fastest growing web category used by Canadians. There were almost 2.6 million unique visitors in Canada to online coupon sites in December 2008, up 60 per cent from December 2007. According to Andrew Lipsman, director of comScore's industry analysis: “Clearly, the global economic crisis is having a significant impact on the retail economy and even more specifically on the online retail economy. So one of the behaviours we've seen really take off this year in several markets in both the U.S. and Canada is online coupons." (Canadian Press, Feb 20, 2009) Competitive analysis found that although there were many other competitors (SmartFlyer.ca, RedFlagDeals.com and SmartCanucks.ca) offering benefits such as greater interactivity allowing consumers to post comments and chat online, Flyerland.ca was the only site with direct relationships with retailers. This meant that they offered more credible, localized content with greater depth, scope and search capabilities. These findings would help in developing key messages, identifying opportunities and devising an overall communications strategy. 2. Intended Audience(s): Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia were the key markets for Flyerland.ca in 2009. The primary audience included consumers and media. The consumer demographics were 30-49 year olds, particularly mothers with young families and an average household income of $83K. In the midst of a recession, these consumers were looking to save money and find the best deals. Research also showed that the target audience was already using coupon sites extensively.

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National and regional media, including print, television, radio and online were the focus, with television emerging as a priority. This was a result of BlueSky’s experience with other web-based clients showing that when an online company is mentioned on air there is a spike in website traffic. The secondary audience were businesses. This audience included retailers who, as potential advertisers on the site, were revenue generators, as well as other online entities with significant traffic, such as Sympatico.ca, who Flyerland.ca could partner with and explore co-marketing opportunities.

3. Goals: 1. Increase user traffic and advertisers on the site. 2. Raise brand awareness of Flyerland.ca and position the company as the leading destination for Canadians to save money.

Objectives: 1. Drive traffic to the site with the goal of reaching 1 million unique visitors by December 2009 (In June, 2009 unique visitors totalled 462,441). 2. Secure 30 media stories between June –December 2009 and a minimal Media Relations Rating Points™ (MRP) score of 75. 3. Raise awareness locally in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia by increasing website traffic in each of those regions by 50 per cent. 4. Establish a business partnership with other high-profile, online entities such as Sympatico.ca allowing for co-promotional opportunities. 5. Establish spokesperson Debbie Frye as a shopping expert.

Flyerland.ca wanted to reach 1 million unique visitors, secure 20 per cent more national advertisers and 30 per cent more local advertisers by the end of 2009. Increasing traffic to the site was the number one business goal, and all activity would be measured on how it contributed to this goal. Raising brand awareness of Flyerland.ca was key in driving visitors to the site and getting the attention of potential advertisers. Once visitors were on the site, Flyerland.ca wanted to increase the conversion rate from users to registered members because an engaged, membership-oriented audience would be attractive to advertisers. Measuring the increase in new members was essential because it would show retailers/potential advertisers that Flyerland.ca was quickly becoming a leading destination for Canadians to save money. It was important that retailers/potential advertisers saw Flyerland.ca as a simple, cost effective way for them to expand their ad, flyer, deal or coupon program. Securing media stories and showcasing how consumers can save money by visiting Flyerland.ca would help communicate this message. The number of new advertisers, both nationally and from key local markets, would be evaluated. The media coverage would be evaluated based on the MRP, and factors such as spokesperson quotes, key message pick-up and brand mention, as well as whether television spots resulted in a spike in website traffic.

4. Solution Overview: A fully integrated strategy was developed that included both media relations and marketing communications. THE PR PLAN - The first step was to schedule a briefing to understand Flyerland.ca’s business and marketing plans so that the PR program developed was aligned. In the midst of a recession, there was an opportunity to leverage a cost savings message as consumers and retailers were eager for advice on how to save money, and media were covering the topic extensively. The tagline, a phrase often used by spokesperson Debbie Frye, “smart, not cheap” became the overarching theme for all communications initiatives.

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MEDIA RELATIONS PROGRAM - A media relations program was developed that focused on national, mainstream media as well as outlets in the identified local markets. Story angles were developed that were consistent with the “smart, not cheap” theme and were pitched during special occasions such as Father’s Day, Canada Day, back-to- school and Halloween. BlueSky developed key messages and Q&As to support the spokespeople in media interviews and compiled editorial calendars in all targeted media. This helped with scheduling the media pitching, but it also allowed Flyerland.ca to plan relevant promotions and work with retailers on special deals that tied into the upcoming editorial topic. With the only spokesperson residing in Ontario, it was necessary to arrange a media tour in British Columbia and Alberta, with messaging around a special promotion from a local retailer in order to make the story relevant to these regional press. BRAND THE SPOKESPERSON - A charismatic, media savvy spokesperson who resonated with the target audience, General Manager Debbie Frye was positioned as a shopping expert offering valuable advice to the cost-conscious shopper. BlueSky developed an expert source list outlining all the topics Debbie could address and issued it to media. To further brand Debbie as a shopping expert BlueSky wanted to secure a high profile column/blog, which would also drive people to visit Flyerland.ca on a regular basis. A full day media training session was held to ensure Flyerland.ca’s key messages were being effectively communicated. This allowed Debbie to practice the key messages and enhance her interview skills while learning how to address difficult questions. This training provided her with the skills to excel at the television interview. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH RETAILERS -Working closely with the Flyerland.ca marketing team, well-timed, themed story angles that were developed for media relations were also leveraged as special promotions on the site. For example, grocery flyers were featured on the site when a story around cost-effectively planning a family Canada Day barbecue was pitched to media. This integrated approach delivered a value-add to retailers because the spokesperson would mention the online promotion during media interviews. Press releases were used primarily to speak to a business audience announcing Flyerland.ca’s new partnerships and retailers, emphasizing the business benefits of advertising and/or partnering with the company. WEBSITE VALUE-ADDS - To further the objective of attracting website traffic and encouraging return visits, BlueSky recommended creating a “Gifts from the Heart” coupon book and cards that could be downloaded for free. For the holidays, users could download coupons to give a loved one that offered breakfast in bed or a special homemade dinner. This unique concept was also used for media pitching by offering the idea to holiday gift guides in newspapers and magazines instead of a regular product placement. 5. Implementation and Challenges: The budget - Within a budget of $45k, a PR strategy was developed and all the above tactics were implemented, including regular status meetings and brainstorming sessions. Each month, 3-5 story angles were developed and pitched and 2-3 editorial calendar and guerrilla opportunities were pursued. In addition, when an opportunity to regularly contribute to a high profile website was secured, BlueSky wrote 4-5 short articles each month. Timeframes - Meeting the 1 million unique users before 2010 was an important objective. To put this in perspective, when the PR program was launched with BlueSky in June 2009, Flyerland.ca had 462,441 unique visitors (unique visitors are the number of individuals who visited the website, and each visitor is only counted once). BlueSky had seven months to implement an effective PR program that would meet this ambitious goal. (To further illustrate the scale of this goal, the shopping section on

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MSN.ca has just over 1 million unique visitors and Sympatico.ca, which is Canada’s most visited website and has existed since 1995, has 17 million unique visitors.) From a media relations standpoint, one challenge identified was that Flyerland.ca is a division of Metroland Media Group, which is owned by media company Torstar Corporation. There was concern whether competing media would cover Flyerland.ca given this ownership, and even sister media outlets seemed hesitant when first contacted about covering the company. A Toronto Star reporter commented that, “covering Flyerland.ca would be too incestuous”. Identifying this as a potential barrier to successfully securing media stories, BlueSky pitched angles that offered consumers a strong cost-savings angle, offering unique and practical advice that would be compelling for any journalist covering recession-related stories. Spokesperson limitations - Only one spokesperson, Debbie Frye, was designated to speak on behalf of the company and she was based in Toronto, yet Alberta and BC were also important markets. Without a local spokesperson in these other areas there was concern over whether the media would be interested. Therefore, the stories pitched focused on the local retailers and deals available in those areas. Lastly, there was a concern that having only one spokesperson would limit the media relations opportunities, particularly because Debbie travelled frequently. Reviewing Debbie’s schedule on a daily basis and communicating regularly what was being pitched allowed for media expectations to be managed up front. No interview opportunity was lost because of spokesperson unavailability. No sales team in two target markets - Raising brand awareness in Alberta and BC was an objective; however there was no sales support team in place yet in these provinces. Therefore, new retailers/advertisers in these markets were reached through PR only, without the support of any proactive salesforce. Realistic revenue targets, given this limitation, needed to be devised. 6. Measurement / Evaluation: BlueSky relied on Flyerland.ca’s web analytics tool SiteCatalyst to track online traffic, which is the company’s most important measurement, in addition to revenues. The Media Relations Rating Points™ system was used to analyse the media coverage and qualitative observations such as client insights, perceptions of Debbie Frye as a shopping expert and interest expressed from potential business partners were also evaluated. Either meeting or surpassing all objectives, the PR program demonstrated an efficient use of every dollar in the budget. Objective: Raise brand awareness of Flyerland.ca in order to drive traffic to the site with the goal of reaching 1 million unique visitors by December 2009. • 1,070,000 unique visitors were reached in early December 2009, surpassing the goal by 7 per cent, a full month earlier than planned (total unique visitors have increased more than 130 per cent) • since starting the PR program, revenues have doubled • unique visitors increased an average of 17 per cent per month. Prior to implementing PR, unique visitors were increasing at an average of 2 per cent per month.

Objective: Secure 30 media stories between June-December 2009 and a minimal Media Relations Rating Points™ (MRP) score of 75 per cent. (full MRP results are included in the work sample): • 35 media stories were secured (17 per cent more than the objective), averaging four articles a month (which positively correlated with a steady increase in website traffic) • more than 40 per cent of the coverage was in television - 16 TV interviews were secured in total • a MRP score of 89 per cent was achieved (more than 22 million media impressions) • with a total budget of $45k, each contact cost Flyerland.ca less than 0.002 cent

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Objective: Raise awareness locally in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia • advertisers from each of these regions increased by 50 per cent • site page views increased by more than 50 per cent in Alberta and British Columbia after media coverage was secured in those regions (prior to the PR program, page views in the west were averaging 555,000 per month and post the PR program, more than 1 million page views per month resulted) • in Ontario, page views increased by an average of 60 per cent per month after the PR program launched, with December page views reaching an all-time record of more than 18 million • 40 per cent of the media stories secured were in these local markets

Objective: Establish a business partnership with a high-profile, online entity • Flyerland.ca was brought to the attention of Sympatico.ca and MSN.ca through a press release announcing Flyerland.ca’s partnership with Black Press. Sympatico.ca and MSN.ca approached Flyerland.ca for a partnership and a regular blog from Debbie Frye was secured on Sympatico.ca.

Objective: Debbie is becoming recognized as a shopping expert. • Global TV News Edmonton booked a series of interviews with Debbie giving cost saving advice • CITY’s BreakfastTV Toronto invited Debbie back for a second spot and opportunities on City’s Lunch TV Vancouver and CITY’s BreakfastTV Calgary followed. (These spots resulted in a significant spike in site traffic on the day they aired.) • Debbie was quoted in 80 per cent of coverage. • media, without being pitched, are now contacting BlueSky to request an interview with Debbie Other noteworthy results: • in one month during which five media segments were aired on TV in Alberta, Save.ca, an Alberta coupon offering on Flyerland.ca, increased revenues by 50 per cent over the previous month • national advertisers increased by 25 per cent since the PR program began • according to the client, Debbie Frye, “BlueSky has become an extension of our team” helping Flyerland.ca overcome a resource issue and execute more marketing activities. BlueSky will continue to work with Flyerland.ca in 2010 • Flyerland.ca’s key messages were published in 94 per cent of the media coverage

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Marketing Communications with Budget of $51K to $100K AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Gary Lintern Organization’s Name: Tenzing Communications Inc. and Northern Credit Union Division/Category: Division 1, Category 5b Title of Entry: Northern Purse Strings Integrated Campaign Time Period: October 2009 to present Brief Description: Providing the tools for Household CFOs to share financial advice. 1. Business Need/Opportunity: Northern Credit Union faces massive competition from the five, major banks. The banks have scale and they have effective communications. Northern needed to differentiate their offer in order to stay competitive. The impact of not differentiating their offer would impact everything on the IABC’s list: reputation, profits, performance… 2. Intended Audience(s): Informal research showed what both Northern and Tenzing long suspected: moms were now in charge of the household purse strings. A November 2007 survey by Babycenter.com reports that 49% of moms are solely responsible for paying bills, managing bank accounts and investments. This group makes the decisions on where the family banks. We call them Household Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) This research showed this group needed support. They wanted to know more about managing money and felt that being able to manage money better would make a significant difference in their lives. Moms swap advice on many things – from child rearing, to recipes to exercise plans – so why weren’t they talking about finance? Another psychographic characteristic found in this audience that shaped our solution is scarcity of time. Our solution had to be time flexible. The information had to be available at the time that suited their needs.

We also learned that a large portion of this audience preferred communicating with social media. 278,140 women, aged 25-54, with HHI +$50K that are living in Northern’s branch communities are on Facebook (September 2009). On average, each woman has 130 friends each – a big network to spread good reviews of Northern.

3. Goals/Objectives: Our primary goal was to provide genuine support to Household CFOs. We knew if we could help them then we were different than the banks. The banks push products and look at short-term gains. Northern has a stake in the communities’ financial well being because they are based in the community. When the communities do well, Northern does well. This mutual success is captured in Northern’s mission: Building financial futures, together. We planned to measure this success by the up-take in the tools provided. By offering genuine help – as opposed to pushing product – we would achieve our second goal of creating goodwill towards Northern. We knew if we tailored this support to meet audience’s needs (like time flexibility), then Household CFOs would tell their friends, which would create new business opportunities for Northern. We

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planned to measure this success by the number of people inviting Northern to join their savings group. Our objectives were to (1) reach women aged 25-50 in Northern’s branch communities, (2) provide tools for these women to form money saving groups to share advice and take control of their financial futures and (3) measure goodwill by seeing if the audience would invite Northern to offer advice. 4. Solution Overview: The core of the campaign is a peer-to-peer online community Tenzing created for Northern called Purse Strings. The site included a framework for how to form a savings group, a guiding book and some suggested questions to get things going. Tenzing created an integrated awareness campaign at launch time to drive people to the site. The campaign included two waves of unaddressed postcards dropped in a five km radius around each branch, in-branch posters, radio ads, newspaper ads and online display ads in the appropriate media channels. By touching our target audience many times within a short time span and in multiple media, we created a layering effect that improves the effectiveness of each medium. 133 people signed up during the first three weeks of the campaign, which was a success. Our key message was trade financial advice between your friends like you would any other type of advice. The creative executions of this message included: ‘Learn to Power-Walk the Financial Talk’ and ‘Swap Financial Advice Like You Would Recipes’. Our project manager ensured all timing, budget and resource allocations goals were met. In discussion with our key stakeholder at Northern about the themes coming out of the site, we knew we could go further and offer the audience more support. This approach took the form of an accessible, practical advice book edited by a Household CFO who understands the challenges of living in Northern’s communities. This book, Northern Cents, outlines a process to understand what’s coming in and what’s going out and to take control of it so you are spending less than you earn. The book has been promoted through radio ads, in-branch posters and with bookmarks distributed in monthly statements. Newspaper ads promoted that you would receive a free copy of Northern Cents by attending your branch’s annual meeting. Meeting attendance has doubled year-over-year. Northern staff are also giving previews of Northern Cents Boot Camps at these meetings. Based on the book, boot camps are in-person presentations designed to help you get your financial life in order. In terms of effectiveness, uptake of the tools has exceeded expectations. Tenzing’s POD system, with cooperation from a patient stakeholder, ensured deliverables were on time, on budget and on strategy.

5. Implementation and Challenges: To make an efficient use of the budget, Tenzing built the Purse Strings online community on the NING platform rather than starting from scratch. We estimate we saved between $10,000-$15,000 in coding time by not recreating the wheel. The NING platform includes coding for these functions: discussion forums, posting photos and videos, forming groups and creating member pages. NING is flexible enough that we could customize the interface to have synergy with the rest of the campaign.

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We used this savings to build in extra training required to make the site a success. Ongoing participation and moderation is key to keeping an online community vital. Northern’s frontline staff’s participation in the site was essential but this was new territory. New skills were required but we also had to overcome concerns. There were concerns that this was something only young people did. There were concerns about personal information being out there on the internet. With Northern’s marketing department, we had ‘super user’ training sessions well in advance of the launch date so there would always be a resource for staff using the site. Then Northern’s marketing department and Tenzing presented the site in a company wide meeting. The presentation included the reasons why Northern had to start communicating with social media, why staff participation was essential as well as a demonstration on how to use the site. User guides were distributed to all and many staff visit Purse Strings daily.

6. Measurement/Evaluation:

We measured the campaign’s results primarily with tracking software on the site. We reached the right people: 176 members are females aged 25-50 in Northern’s branch communities. We also succeeded in overcoming many of Northern’s staff uncertainty about participating: 137 members are Northern staff. To evaluate our engagement goal, we measured the number of people joining the site. To date, we have 326 members and 50 active groups. The year-over-year attendance change at branch annual meetings that offer Northern Cents books is a positive, early indicator of the book’s value. To evaluate the success in building a positive, helpful association between Northern and financial advice, we measured how many groups invited Northern guides to join their groups. Groups who invited Northern to join them were eligible to win a contest. 92% of groups invited Northern to join. Each group has on average seven people so that means we created opportunities among 287 to create more business for Northern.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Marketing Communications with Budget of $51K to $100K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name: Andrea Montgomery Organization’s Name: Halton Region Division: Communication Management Category: Marketing Communications 5b (budget greater than $50K up to $100K) Title of Entry: Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) Age Expansion Campaign Time period of Project: April 7 – December 31 2009 Entry Description: There are few things more demoralizing than being too embarrassed to smile so no one can see your teeth because you can’t afford proper dental treatment. This entry is about a communications campaign to raise awareness that financial assistance is available to the growing number of lower-income youth who need urgent dental care. Work Plan

Business Need/Opportunity Opportunity

No one should go without access to basic health care. Children and youth should not have to suffer the embarrassment or pain often associated with having a dental issue that they do not have the means to rectify. Providing affordable public health and social services to the community, including dental health services, is a core goal of Halton Region’s Health Department. So, in January 2009, the Health Department welcomed the opportunity to provide more youth in Halton with financial assistance to treat their urgent dental needs, thanks to the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion (MHP). MHP made new funding available to municipalities to expand the current maximum age serviced by the Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) dental financial assistance program from age 13, to include youth under age 18. Although Halton Region had been filling this age gap for teen financial assistance for a number of years through the fully Regionally-funded Teen Dental Program (TDP), the age expansion of CINOT helped the Department better respond to the increased demand on social assistance programs during the economic downturn and helped more youth in need. This entry is about ensuring youth and their families were aware of the availability of this service. Given that Halton Region is one of the fastest growing regions in all of Canada, as its population continues to grow—17% increase from 2001 to 2006—so do the number of households living in poverty (2007). With poverty being one of the most influential social determinants of health1, the need to help those without the financial means, nor dental insurance to treat their needs, continues to grow. History with TDP also showed a strong need in the community for this service in the latest years of the program. Each year, most available funding (i.e., $25,000) was easily and appropriately spent, despite limited program promotion. Statistics also

1 Reports from the World Health Organization (2008) and the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada (2008)

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showed that the number of teens screened at Halton dental clinics has consistently increased, doubling in the last two years, significantly increasing the demand on the teen assistance program.2 Intended Audience(s) Primary*

Audience Key Characteristics – based on our research described in Section 4

Youth from lower- • Most have a strong desire to fit in; i.e., will likely hide financial issues income families • Dental issues are embarrassing—won’t want to talk about them, nor seek help • Advertising seen as “entertainment”: inundated with posters; need additional means • Frequent malls and cinemas to hang out with their friends • Take public transit (not all drive or have access to a car) • Rely heavily on online content and social media • Sceptical and respond best to what is real and honest; yet most trust the “government voice” in relation to support programs • Greater prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle behaviour (i.e., higher rates of smoking and alcohol consumption that negatively impact oral health) Lower-income • Communication between parents and their children often becomes more parents of youth limited as they get older; i.e., parents may not be aware of a dental issue • May be too proud to seek financial assistance or think the process is too complicated • Daily life is hectic (e.g., may be juggling more than one job or working shift work) • Meeting other needs (e.g., rent and food) may supersede dental health • May have lower education levels (i.e., unaware of proper dental hygiene techniques) • High viewing of local television news programs; take public transit; read local papers

Secondary

Audience Key Characteristics

Health care • Extremely busy professionals* • Limited office space for promotional materials • Inundated with information on a daily basis Halton Region • Majority are women; sensitive to community needs/concerned about health Public Health issues Nurses (PHN) • Very busy day-to-day schedules and not always in the office • Work directly with youth and school professionals in high schools School • Inundated with information from the Region and community agencies professionals • Prefer to receive information that is “ready to use” • Recognize they are a natural partner to the Region in many ways Community • Main priority is to promote and run their own programs partners • Often have limited space for advertising/promotional materials *MHP communicated directly with dental professionals about the CINOT age expansion

2 Council Report #MO-12-08 - Children's Oral Health Programs in Halton Region, March 27, 2008

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Goals/Objectives The overarching strategic goal of the Health Department is to provide affordable public health and social services to the community, including dental health services. The associated business objective for the CINOT initiative was to use 15% of the approximately $342,000 provided by MHP for CINOT dental treatment by the end of 2009. The targeted percentage may seem low. However, based on history with the TDP, it was identified that Halton’s total allocated amount from MHP would be far more than sufficient to cover the treatment costs of the program. The communications goal was to raise enough community awareness about CINOT to increase participation in the program enough to meet the goal of the Health Department, using the artwork provided by MHP as the program branding and staying within the allotted budget for promotional work (initially $1,500 of Regional money, then increased to $68,500 provided by MHP). The specific communications objectives were: To raise awareness so that the number of youth CINOT claims increased by 50% by Dec. 31, 2009 To raise community awareness and service uptake so that the amount of dollars spent on the program for youth increased by 50% (i.e., from $25,000 to $50,000) by December 31, 2009

Measurement of these objectives included: tracking of the number of CINOT youth claims in 2009 and the use of the funding; website and YouTube statistics; earned media; call centre statistics; feedback from Public Health Nurses, Dental Health staff and community partners; feedback from patients or their families who used the service. Solution Overview Using the RACE—Research, Analysis, Communication, Evaluation—formula (as described in Sections 4, 5 & 6 in this Work Plan), the solution for this project really boils down to creatively meeting the needs of the target audiences and the community partners we relied on to help get our key messages out. Research: In order to develop an effective strategy, we needed to find out everything we could about our audiences. We built on the focus testing that MHP had done with youth for the artwork they created and added several additional research methods. Below are the methods we used. The results of which are indicated in the breakdown of the target audiences in Section 2. We consulted with Dental Hygienists who work directly with and regularly treat lower- income youth. We scanned media and searched online (e.g., YouTube) for public health messages aimed at the youth market, and looked at what other jurisdictions across Ontario were doing for their CINOT campaigns. We talked to the PHNs who work with youth in regional high schools about what they knew about this audience and how best to reach them. We did historical analysis and reviewed our own communications training from youth engagement workshops, local media readership statistics etc. We engaged our internal Social and Community Services department communications staff, along with local community partners (i.e., those working in supportive housing). Finally, we also examined the history of the Teen Dental Program and their past communications efforts. Analysis: Based on the results of the research, we then developed carefully thought-out key messages and tactics that would respond to what we found out in the research. The initial plan evolved to be in two phases over the eight-month timeframe due to a drastic shift in the budget situation, but the results of the research remained the driving factors as new tactics were included in the second phase. For example, we determined that the youth we had serviced in the past were often embarrassed by their dental issues and that families who already knew about the program thought it would be a

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difficult process to get the financial assistance. Therefore, our key messages included, “Confidential. Simple.” The word “Free” also resonates well with youth, so it was bolded in the messaging as well. We knew we needed to be where youth and their parents were likely to be, so we chose to advertise inside public transit, in the local papers, on local news channels, in movie theatres and malls, and at schools, youth drop-in centres, community centres, churches and libraries. We also broadened our reach in the community to include tattoo parlours. Dentists’ and doctors’ offices were also supplied with materials. To respond to the growing reliance on online content, we included enhancements and promotion of the Halton Region website, and the use of other online tools as key tactics in the communications plan. Despite the challenges listed below, the overall solution effectively met the stated business objective related to the use of the MHP funding for treatment costs to provide dental financial assistance for youth. Dental costs for youth in 2009 amounted to nearly 18% of the funds (objective was 15%). The campaign stayed within the allotted budget during both phases: $1,478.40 of the $1,500 allotted by the Health Department in the first phase; and all of, but not exceeding, the $68,500 allotted by MHP for promotions in the second phase. Finally, all communications activities were completed by December 31, 2009, with the main thrust of the campaign running mid- October through December. Implementation and Challenges Communication: In the implementation of the communications plan, we adapted the MHP artwork to meet our audience needs, both the youth and their parents, along with the partners we relied on to get our messages out. For example, we knew our tactics needed to both get their attention, yet allow for some discretion with any takeaways to respond to the associated embarrassment and pride issues. That’s why we added small tear-off pads or tabs to posters that were easy and discreet to take away so a person could follow up later to get more information about the program. We also distributed small informational business cards that could easily fit in a back pocket or wallet. In terms of paid advertising, we chose to place ads inside public buses and in strategic locations in local malls knowing that lower-income families are more likely to take public transit, and that teens are likely to frequent malls in groups—usually hanging out near food courts. To respond to our community partners’ needs, we offered three varying sizes of posters that gave us flexibility depending on the space available at the location where they would be posted in; e.g., cooperative housing, churches and libraries have limited space, so we had smaller posters available to them; youth drop-in centres offered more prominent space, so we also made a larger 12”x18” poster available. The most unique tactic we developed was the 30-second commercial we aired on a local television station, at teen-frequented movie theatres, and on YouTube. We chose to air the commercial on television both during local news programs that reached over 750,000 viewers, most being adults in the age range we targeted, but which did not require expensive additional cable services for viewing, and during three movies of the week targeted to the youth audience. The cinema airtime was in conjunction with the fall youth-targeted blockbuster movies of Twilight Saga: New Moon and 2012 where 77% of the target demographic is youth ages 12-17. We aired it during the pre-show time period knowing that 94% of the audience would be captive (i.e., 0-7 minutes prior to show time). In writing the script for the ad we chose a teenaged female actor to give honesty to the campaign (i.e., a youth speaking to youth). The scenario and messaging spoke directly to the common teen issues of not fitting in or feeling embarrassed. Based on surveying other health units, we are one of the only jurisdictions to have used this tactic.

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Challenges: The key issues faced during the project were threefold: budget restrictions/changes, time limitations, and limited organizational adoption of social media to date. Budget: Initial direction from MHP stated allotted funding could only be used to cover CINOT treatment costs. However, the need to raise awareness was great, so the Health Department was limited to use funding already approved in the Regional budget. Therefore, phase 1 of the project employed low-cost communications efforts (e.g., media releases, community posters, leveraging internal staff and community partners, enhancing website content). Then, in September, MHP made $68,500 available for promotion, with the caveat that the campaign was to end December 31, 2009. Because of the extensive research completed in the first phase, determining effective tactics to develop a phase 2 broader campaign was relatively easy—increase and refresh the locations where we had our posters (add tattoo parlours and churches), and include transit, malls, TV and cinemas. The key decision became how best to leverage the cinema and TV opportunity in a cost-effective manner to balance the other vehicles. By having CHCH-TV produce the 30-second commercial, they increased our flight pricing and airtime with them. We also had them produce a video that could be used in cinemas and online. We kept costs down with a simple, effective script, only shooting in one location. In the end, the budget breakdown for Phase 2 was as follows:

Creation and Reproduction of Materials: $1939.34 Paid Advertising Campaign: $49,898.55 Staff Resources: $16,656.70 Grand Total (appropriately using all available funding): $68,494.59

Time: Although MHP announced the CINOT program change in January 2009, the Health Department’s business case and communications plan were not fully approved until April. So, our first time challenge became customizing and adapting the MHP materials with one month remaining before summer to campaign in the schools: our key partner in reaching youth. Teaming with the PHNs in the schools and in sexual health clinics, along with writing an article for the school board newsletters and websites, we were able to reach the youth quickly and effectively. The second major time restriction was to use all additional promotional funding announced in September within three months. We initially wanted to team up and pool financial resources with other regional health units near Halton to produce a joint video, but given the time needed to write and approve a script, and produce the spot, we opted to do it ourselves with a smaller budget to ensure we could maximize our airtime on the expensive cinema and TV campaigns. Social Media: Although Halton Region has recently begun exploring the effective use of social media within the organization and has a draft policy in the works, to date Regional departments have needed to be cautious in using tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. For example, Halton Region, nor any of its five departments, does not have a Facebook page. Knowing so many youth are active on Facebook, we did consider some options for using Facebook (i.e., a dedicated page and/or an ad on the site). However, because we were not looking to engage youth, nor their parents, in conversation about this program, we felt confident we could reach our audiences using other means. We did post our 30-second ad using YouTube, linking it to our website. Measurement/Evaluation At a time when the economic reality for many families became and continues to be a challenging one, providing financial support to teens needing urgent dental care and helping relieve a potentially painful and embarrassing situation for youth, the services related to this campaign became more crucial than ever. Using the identified evaluation measures, a significant impact was clearly made in the community with the CINOT campaign, and we are pleased with the results:

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More than double the number of youth had their urgent dental care needs met in 2009 compared to 2008: 98 in 2009 vs. 43 in 2008, or 128% (objective was 50% increase in the number of youth claims) Funding analysis showed that 2009 dental costs for youth amounted to $48,946 of the $273,978, or almost 18% of the funds (objective was to use 15% of the funds) Website statistics show that we had 71 visits to the “youthdental” webpage during the month of May when it was initially published. However, at the peak of the campaign, that number rose dramatically to 463 in October and 352 in November. The overall average of website visits, including January 2010, has been nearly 65 visits per week. (objective was 40 visits/week)

In addition to these results:

• We garnished over $4500 of earned print and television media, along with over 215 views on YouTube. • Call centre activity in 2009 related to dental financial assistance inquiries peaked in June, with the overall number of remaining slightly above average (approximately 5% higher - including January 2010). • Dental Health staff tracked where youth had heard about the program: prior to the campaign three or four mentioned from a flyer/brochure. From July-December 2009, that number more than tripled to 13 (citing the poster/info. card) • The video also garnered much word-of-mouth feedback not tracked (e.g., dental clients, other health units). Several other regions contacted us to get more information about it with the potential to adapt it for their use in the future.

We know that the effectiveness of the campaign is still being measured as staff report that inquiries continue to come in from youth who are now aware of this service. Happily, more and more Halton youth are smiling again!

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Marketing Communications with Budget Greater than $100K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name Catherine Parry Organization: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro) Division/Category Div. 1: Communication Management, Cat. 5c Marketing Communications Title of Entry: Get Smart Toronto Time Period of Project: 2006 to 2009 Brief Description – Toronto Hydro is the first North American utility to roll out Time-of- Use (TOU) rates to all of its customers. Encouraging behavioural change and fostering positive customer relations were critical to the smooth transition to TOU rates. Toronto Hydro raised smart meter and TOU awareness and understanding through a time sensitive, four-phased integrated communications plan, utilizing advertising, public relations, media relations, government relations, direct mail, online and web communications.

NEED/ OPPORTUNITY Toronto Hydro-Electric System (Toronto Hydro) is one of Canada’s largest electricity local distribution companies delivering electricity to almost 700,000 residential and business customers. Toronto Hydro is owned by the City of Toronto and regulated by the Ontario Energy Board, a provincial entity. As Toronto’s population grows so does the strain on the electricity grid and that means that sometimes demand may exceed supply. When this happens, Ontario is forced to import expensive power from dirty coal- fired generating stations. Aggressive conservation programs are essential to address this issue and create a ‘culture of conservation’. In 2004, the Government of Ontario mandated the introduction of smart meters and a Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing structure to combat the strain on the electricity grid. A smart meter reads the amount of electricity used and the time of day/day of the week, and then sends the information back to the utility through wireless technology. These new meters make time of day based rates possible, enabling pricing to be based on the true cost of generating power. This is important because price signals sent to consumers are intended to encourage them to conserve electricity or shift consumption to less expensive time periods, thereby relieving pressure on the power grid. The most expensive period is during periods of peak electricity use demand. This new pricing structure is a fundamental change in the way customers pay for electricity. Electricity bills are a major household budget item. Add ‘change to the pricing structure’ to the mix and we were very concerned that customers would resist, flooding call centres with questions and complaints. Without behavioural change, the new TOU rates will increase customers’ bills. Toronto Hydro knew that this unprecedented undertaking would be challenging and would require effective communications to help customers adjust, and mitigate potential call centre backlogs and the creation of unhappy consumers. Prior to developing a communications plan, Toronto Hydro commissioned consumer research at the commencement of smart meter installations and before TOU was introduced. The research showed:

• Very few participants had heard anything about TOU rates; • Participants were generally skeptical about the rationale for TOU rates; • Participants were concerned about the impact of TOU rates on their overall bill; • Advertising, pamphlets, bill inserts, websites and household “reminder tools” (decals) were viewed as the most effective communication tools;

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• Participants were looking for simple and cost-effective ways to reduce electricity consumption.

Toronto Hydro used this feedback to develop Get Smart Toronto, a multi-faceted marketing and communications strategy. Toronto Hydro launched TOU rates in June 2009. We are the first utility in North America to transition a major urban city to this new pricing structure. Over 500,000 customers have been transitioned onto TOU rates.

INTENDED AUDIENCES Primary Audience: Toronto Hydro residential customers – 580,000, in total including homeowners and renters. Key characteristics & considerations:

• Toronto is an ethnically diverse city. Predominant second languages in the city are: Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Italian, Portuguese and Korean. • Electricity is traditionally a low interest, high involvement category. It is difficult to get customers’ attention in this category so a multi-media, multi-phased, innovative marketing approach is required. • Electricity rates rarely decrease. Add ‘change to the rate structure’ to the mix and customer relationships are at risk, as is the Toronto Hydro brand. Higher bills will result without behavioural change. Secondary: Elected officials, consumer and energy news reporters, employees, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MEI) and the Ontario Energy Board (regulator)

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Goal: Assist the Government of Ontario in creating a culture of conservation and help Ontario flatten electricity peak demand as coal-fired generation is removed and cleaner generation and aggressive conservation policy is introduced. Objectives: Based on research benchmarks:

1. Build consumer awareness of the installation of Smart Meters and implementation of TOU rates to 80%. 2. Increase customer willingness to change electricity usage behaviour in response to TOU rates by 65%. 3. Drive customers to TOU web portal to achieve 10% web registration. 4. Limit call centre traffic to a maximum increase of 10%. 5: Increase TOU education and energy conservation measures through cross reference of various conservation programs. Achieve 7,500 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity savings through 2009 residential conservation programs. 6: Generate 10 neutral news stories from the TOU launch event with a Media Relations Rating Points (MRRP) quality score of 50%. (Note: the 50% rating reflects the challenge of generating neutrality about a possibly contentious and misunderstood pricing structure).

SOLUTION OVERVIEW Toronto Hydro is the first North American utility to roll out mandatory TOU rates in a major market. Encouraging behavioural change was critical to smoothly transition customers to TOU rates. Toronto Hydro needed to create smart meter and TOU awareness and understanding through a time sensitive, four-phased, integrated

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communications plan utilizing advertising, public relations, media relations, government relations, direct mail, online and web communications. Overall key messages:

• Inform customers that they are getting a new smart meter and the way they pay for electricity will change • Advise customers they are moving to/now on new TOU electricity rates • Encourage them to register to view their personal consumption profile via the web portal • Encourage them to shift electricity usage to lower priced time periods • Remind them of the new time blocks and price points

GET SMART TORONTO In 2006, Toronto Hydro developed Get Smart Toronto, a multi-year, integrated marketing and communications strategy to prepare our customers for the transition to TOU billing. To educate customers about the TOU initiative, we used a variety of tactics on a recurring basis. The project brought forward many timelines. Managing the deployment of various pieces at different touch points with customers, with the aim to ensure call centre impact was minimal, proved to be complex. Smart Meter Installation Notice Package In 2006, approximately 25,000 customers received a smart meter each month. To notify customers, we developed a package and an autodialer campaign. The package contained a brochure, a personalized notice letter (translated in the area’s two predominant languages) and a ‘Please Knock’ sticker, which customers could use if they wanted to be reminded on the day of installation. We also set up a special smart meter hotline and email for customers with questions or concerns. We used smart meter installations as an opportunity to introduce TOU rates as a cost management tool. TOU Web Portal

In November 2007, Toronto Hydro launched a secured TOU web portal and invited 50,000 customers to register. The web portal allowed customers to view their personalized electricity usage data and to see what they would be paying when TOU rates take effect. The website had energy conservation and load-shifting tips, as well as Anita, the avatar. During the pilot, we conducted market research and the site was modified to reflect customer feedback. The improved web portal was then rolled out to the remaining customer base. Low Income Customers

Toronto City Council has raised concerns about installing individual suite meters into low income properties without the assurance of a subsequent drop in rent once tenants begin paying their own electricity bills. Toronto Hydro has programs in market to help low income customers cope, and is working with the government to look at additional options. Community Outreach

Using a grassroots approach, Toronto Hydro staff and its “street teams” have been raising awareness and educating customers about smart meters and TOU rates at a number of events, including the City of Toronto’s Environment Days, community festivals, trade shows and major malls. There were 32 events over 54 days in 2009. TOU Launch Event In May 2009, following the three-year awareness campaign, Toronto Hydro organized a high-profile media event involving both the and the Ministry of Energy,

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to introduce TOU. We built a ‘Toronto Hydro House’ in the lobby of our head office to demonstrate how to better manage electricity usage in the kitchen, living room, office and laundry room. TOU Welcome Package

A month before being moved to TOU rates, customers receive a TOU Welcome Package, which Toronto Hydro developed in collaboration with the government to keep messaging consistent. It includes a personalized letter, a brochure with conservation and energy- shifting tips (translated in the city’s 13 predominant languages), web portal registration instructions and stickers illustrating the TOU price periods to put on appliances as a reminder. TOU Tool Kit

When customers are actually transitioned to TOU rates, we send them a TOU tool kit. It includes coupons (total savings of $25) for energy saving and time-shifting products, a reminder to register on the TOU portal, energy savings tips and a list of available conservation programs. TOU Reminder Letter/Email

To keep the momentum going, one month after receiving the TOU tool kit, customers registered on the TOU web portal receive an email reminding them to regularly visit the portal. We also mail a reminder letter to customers who have not registered online, encouraging them to sign-up so they can familiarize themselves with their electricity usage on TOU rates, and see the effects when they shift to lower cost periods. We also promote using the energy savings coupons before they expire and taking advantage of available conservation programs. TOU Bill Insert

An “Understanding your First TOU Bill” brochure is included with the first TOU bill. Employee Communications - Customer Ambassadors

Smart meter and TOU communications are regularly sent to all employees, in particular frontline employees, via several channels (e.g. online/print newsletters, digital signage and company intranet). Also, a TOU Customer Service “SWAT Team” is in place to troubleshoot and react quickly to any customer problems. CONSERVATION AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT (CDM) PROGRAMS Research conducted showed customers want simple tools and ways to help reduce electricity and manage their bills. We developed innovative CDM programs to assist them through the transition to TOU rates. We seized in-store and community events as opportunities to have face-to-face conversations with our customers about TOU rates.

• Count Me In Toronto (CMIT) CMIT encouraged Torontonians to help their neighbourhood to win a $5,000 energy- efficient retrofit by participating in conservation challenges.

• Spring Turn On Spring Turn On invited Torontonians to pick up a free energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) at retail locations throughout the city. Customers could also redeem discounts on energy efficient products.

• Keep Cool

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Keep Cool was a room air conditioner and dehumidifier recycling program. Customers received a $25 gift card incentive when they recycled their old, inefficient appliances.

• Summer Challenge We challenged customers to reduce their electricity consumption during summer months by 10% and if successful, they received a credit of 10% on their bill.

IMPLEMENTATION & CHALLENGES Budget: $1.5 Million. Time Frame & Challenges: One challenge was that the Ministry of Energy had not committed to a mandatory date for rates to be implemented. To mitigate risk, we established an industry working group, including the government staff, to align priorities and deliverables. We developed a modular plan, in accordance with above, that could be implemented by a specific date, a date that senior executive and government stakeholders would agree on.

TOU presented a fundamental change in the way customers pay for their electricity and TORONTO HYDRO was committed to helping customers through this transition every step of the way. To educate customers about the TOU initiative, we used a variety of tactics on a recurring basis. The project brought forward many timelines. Managing the deployment of various pieces at different touch points with customers proved to be complex, as well as keeping the call centre staff up-to-date. We had to communicate the fact that smart meters would be installed at people’s houses. Part of this communication had to include why we were changing out the meters and to introduce the concept of TOU rates. Smart meter installations, and the corresponding communications, began in Q1, 2006, almost 3 ½ years before the first customer was transitioned to TOU rates. While direct to customer communications is an important tool, as well as a regulatory requirement, it is expensive. We had to look at other ways to engage and build awareness that the way Torontonians pay for electricity is changing. Over the years we held numerous customer and community events where TOU was featured. As well, TOU messaging was integrated into other programs and initiatives, namely conservation programs. The next aspect of the modular plan was to introduce and encourage registration on the TOU web portal. We developed unique communications to do this. Finally in summer of 2009, it was determined that Toronto Hydro would begin transitioning customers to TOU rates. We then entered the rate implementation phase of our strategy. . Budget & Regulatory Challenges: Toronto Hydro is regulated by the Ontario Energy Board therefore we had to submit a plan, including budget, for approval well in advance. This budget spanned three years and was submitted in 2007. Each year we had to ensure budgetary requirements were met, while working to meet customer expectations. This was complicated further by the fact, as mentioned above, that there was not a specific required date to implement TOU rates.

MEASUREMENT/ EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES Toronto Hydro’s efforts have been applauded and supported by government stakeholders as the first utility to undergo a mass transition to TOU rates. Many other utilities continue to seek guidance and support through best practices from Toronto Hydro as they prepare to implement TOU rates in their jurisdictions. Throughout the process, Toronto Hydro conducted research with customers to evaluate program objectives.

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Objective 1: Build awareness of the installation of Smart Meters and implementation of TOU rates to 80%. Result: Customers have a good understanding of TOU rates, with more than 98% awareness. As well, over 80% are satisfied with the communications they receive; 73% feel that it was just the right amount and that Toronto Hydro has been helpful in preparing customers for TOU rates. Customer research findings show the top three TOU communications tools are the brochure (84%); Tool kit (80%) and bill (72%).

Objective 2: Increase customer willingness to change electricity usage behaviour in response to TOU rates by 65%. Result: Customers have been very receptive to the communications and as a result, 71% of customers intend to change their behaviour by using conservation tips and tools to shift their electricity usage to lower cost periods.

Objective 3: Drive customers to TOU web portal to achieve 10% web registration.

Result: Over 100,000 customers, or 20% of customers transitioned to TOU rates, have registered on the TOU website, and this number grows daily. We estimate that eight-in- ten customers will likely continue to return to view their consumption data on an ongoing basis.

Objective 4: Limit call centre traffic to a maximum increase of 10%.

Result: The call centre volume for 2009 was 9% higher than 2008. An estimated 5% of the 9% were related to TOU. Notably, not one TOU-related call resulted in an escalated complaint (e.g. bill adjustment).

Objective 5: Increase TOU education and energy conservation measures through cross reference of various conservation programs. Achieve 7,500 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity savings through 2009 residential programs. Result: Overall, we achieved a savings of approximately 9,000 MWh, or 120% of target. Specific results include:

• CMIT: The program garnered over 2,500 registrants and over 2,000 sign ups to our electronic newsletter, which promotes tips and tools for customers to cut down on energy usage. • Spring Turn On: In total, 40,210 CFL light bulbs were distributed and 3,208 packages of CFLs were sold, for a reduction of approximately 2,047 MWh from the grid. • Keep Cool: Almost 6,000 inefficient air conditioners and over 1,300 old dehumidifiers were collected and recycled for a savings of about 1,525 MWh. • Summer Challenge: In total, 6,200 customers registered and 35% (approximately 2,200 customers) received the 10% bill credit, helping curb approximately 63 million kWh.

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Objective 6: Generate 10 neutral news stories from the TOU launch event with a Media Relations Rating Points (MRRP) quality score of 50%. (Note: the 50% rating reflects the challenge of generating neutrality about a possible contentious and misunderstood pricing structure). Result: Thirty-six positive news stories were generated representing 10.2 million media impressions; MRRP Quality Score of 57.65%.

85 OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Special Events with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company

Organization Name: L’Oréal Paris / Cowan & Company

Division/Category: 6a: Special Events with a budget up to $50K

Title of Entry: L’Oréal Paris MasterClass in Haircare & Haircolour

Time Period of Project: November – December 2008

Brief Description: Experiential Media Event developed to launch new products from L’Oréal Paris and increase its haircare and haircolour coverage by giving media a unique opportunity to connect “hands-on” with the products.

Business Need/Opportunity In fall 2008, L’Oréal Paris and its PR firm, Cowan & Company began planning the media launches of two major new product lines for 2009: • EverPure Sulfate-Free Colour Care System – an entire new line of Premium mass haircare products (shampoos, conditioners and treatments) designed for colour- treated hair. • Excellence to-Go – a 10 minute at-home haircolour that delivers rich, radiant colour, fortified hair, anti-damage protection and 100% grey coverage.

At the onset of the launch, based on detailed research of the most prominent women’s magazines in the country, we knew that mentions of haircare and haircolour were low compared to other beauty categories. In fact, haircolour coverage makes up less than 1 per cent of all beauty-related Canadian editorial coverage according to TNS. In doing soft sounding research directly with targeted beauty media, we found that they were interested in these categories, but felt they didn’t have a lot of new or interesting content worth sharing with their readers about at-home haircolour and haircare.

Careful analysis of the research, compared with L’Oréal Paris’ sales which indicated strong consumer interest, pointed to an opportunity to educate the media about the consumer interest levels along with the advancements in haircare and haircolour. By taking ownership of this ‘education’ we believed we could increase media interest and coverage of both categories while highlighting L’Oréal Paris’ new products and overall category leadership position as well. We knew if we could not get the media excited about these categories it would jeopardize the media coverage potential for the new products as well as L’Oreal Paris’ coverage opportunities throughout the year.

The million dollar question was: How do you get media excited about shampoo (and other haircare products) and at-home haircolour?

Entrants’ Role in Project • Anik Gagnon, L’Oréal Paris – Strategic direction, presentation development, and overall project management • Julie Tremblay, L’Oréal Paris – Event coordination and media relations • Eric Del Monaco, L’Oréal Paris – Presentation Development & Spokesperson • Stephanié Binette, L’Oréal Paris – Presentation Development & Spokesperson • Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company – Strategic planning, project/event management, presentation development

86 • Margaret Batuszkin, Cowan & Company – Strategic planning, message development, media relations • Sonja Andic, Cowan & Company – Event coordination and media relations • Illya Noble – Event Graphic Design • Graphique M&H – Press Dossier Graphic Design Intended Audience While the target market for both products are women aged 25 – 40 (or 49 for EverPure) – there are significant psychographic differences that needed to be communicated through the event. Both targets are time conscious, working to balance home and work lives, and have appreciation for quality, technologically-advanced products that promote the health of their hair. However, EverPure customers are likely willing to pay more to look and feel their best with Premium products and experiences than Excellence to-Go customers who are more focused on convenience and cost. In creating the invitation list for this Media Launch event, we targeted media who specialize in writing about Beauty – and who cater to these target markets – so that by educating their media touch points we would reach our targeted consumers.

Goals/Objectives L’Oréal Paris’ goals for the media event to launch these products were to: • Secure 15 key beauty media attendees at event. • Generate best-in-class media coverage for both products targeting 15 – 20 million impressions. • Elevate L’Oreal Paris’ standing in 2009 to one of the top 3 beauty brands covered in magazine editorial haircolour and haircare categories in 2009 - as ranked by TNS independent analysis – up from its position in the top 15 in 2008.

Solution Overview To achieve these objectives and answer the million dollar question, C&C’s recommended strategies were:  Up Close and Personal – Create an opportunity for media to personally try and connect with products.  Content is King – Position product news and messages in context of overall hair education to make more appealing and interesting – and generate more editorial coverage. This strategy was behind our recommendation to combine both product announcements into one large event.  Science Rocks – Provide detailed information about science and technology behind these products to substantiate key differentiators.

In order to maximize media interest, awareness and coverage of these product launches, Cowan & Company (C&C) recommended to kick off these launches with one hair-focused event to heighten interest and awareness of the overall haircare and haircolour categories, demonstrate the expertise of L’Oréal Paris in both categories and officially launch both products. By combining two product launches into one Experiential event we also had the added benefit of budget efficiencies – as well as increasing our attendance rate as media wouldn’t have to schedule in two L’Oréal Paris events in the same month which would undoubtedly have resulted in some media choosing to attend only one event given their busy schedules.

The concept for the Media Event was developed to escalate the profile of haircare and haircolour categories by giving media a unique opportunity to connect with and experience the products through hands-on use. We believed that creating an opportunity for media to try at-home haircolour was paramount to getting them to write about it - as many had no first-hand knowledge of this product category as they chose to get their hair coloured at salons.

The Masterclass in Haircare & Haircolour experiential event concept we created was designed to elevate these categories - beyond just the normal product launch pitch – by providing general content, new and innovative tips, advice on all areas of these categories

87 and give media the opportunity for hands-on experience – while featuring our new products. The highlight of this Experiential event was providing media with the opportunity to actually use and apply at-home haircolour themselves – without having to apply to their own hair (which many are reluctant to do). This was achieved by offering a mannequin head for each reporter’s use during the demonstration.

Additionally, key to the objective of planting the seed for year-round coverage of these under-covered categories, we also featured expert tips and insights in both presentations to provide more widespread coverage fodder for the media throughout the year – and positioned our spokesperson as a go-to expert for all of their hair-related coverage throughout the year.

The “L’Oréal Paris Masterclass in Haircare & Haircolour” was held at the L’Oréal Academy (a venue used primarily for L’Oréal’s professional/luxury brands and aligned well with our academic theme) in downtown Toronto on December 10, 2008. The event was held in three stages: • The event started with the Excellence to-Go presentation – including the product introduction and a presentation on the “Top Five Haircolour Mistakes and how to avoid them” by our Official Hair Artist and Colourist, Eric Del Monaco. The room was set-up as a classroom with mannequin heads displayed on top of tripods beside each seat for media to follow a hands-on haircolour application lesson from Eric on the stage. The room incorporated the beautiful shade of green found on the Excellence to- Go packaging through placemats on each table dressed with chic silver clocks (to emphasize the product’s unique 10 minute processing time claim) and product signage placed around the room. • A brief refreshment break in the Bistro area which incorporated design elements from both spaces as well as attractive large L’Oréal Paris visuals for both products. • After the break, media were directed into a third space for the EverPure presentation which was set up with theatre-style seating for talks on “Top Five Deadly Haircare Sins” from Eric and the product launch overview. In terms of décor we used bright, bold and rich shades of pink, green and orange against the vast white background of the room to mirror those colours found on the product packaging and featured natural, botanical ingredients found in the shampoo/conditioners/treatments including rosemary and juniper in colourful floral displays throughout the room. Large plants were set up in the room and on stage to further emphasize the natural and botanical properties of the products. Product Displays were set up on stage as further burst of colour and to showcase the beautiful packaging of this new product line. After the product demonstration, the experiential theme was continued and Eric conducted a shampoo demonstration on one of the hostesses to further emphasize his tips and tricks for achieving the perfect shampoo. • Upon leaving the event, media were given 2 gift bags with Press Dossiers and full- sized products from each line to enable them to further try the products on their own.

Implementation and Challenges From an event perspective, one of the main challenges was how to launch these two very different products together – for all the strategic reasons outlined above - and yet still communicate the significantly different brand images and unique selling proposition of each brand. In addition to finding a venue that offered 2 different rooms (one for each product), décor, POP materials and graphic design elements played a key role in distinguishing the spaces and communicating the unique brand attributes of each product. A special “Masterclass” logo was created for the event to emphasize the unique offering and approach to the event. This logo appeared on event elements including the evite, PowerPoint presentations, and event signage. Onsite event hostesses had their hair coloured with Excellence to-Go in advance of event to showcase the products’ end results.

There were considerable time restraints in creating this event, as we needed to wait to ensure early product availability for the event – since the products wouldn’t be shipping until February there was uncertainty what kind of quantities we could have in hand for a

88 December event. This resulted in us having less than 4 weeks to pull the event together once we had confirmation that we would have products to showcase and distribute at the event. One of the steps we took in managing this tight timeline was to ask our key targeted media to ‘save the date/time’ as soon as planning began in early November since we knew that December was a very busy month for media events tied to the holidays – so they wouldn’t confirm for a different event while we were waiting for product confirmation and before an official evite could be issued.

The event budget of $50K for the event (approx. $20K in fees, 30K in out of pocket expenses including venue rental, décor, A/V, catering, graphic design, media travel expenses and misc. office expenses) was also a constraint – especially when needing to create two different brand environments to communicate the unique product attributes for each product line. We used the budget very efficiently, and actually came in slightly under budget in the end. The client had originally hoped hold media events in both Toronto and Montreal – but due to the budget constraints we decided instead just to invite and pay for travel costs for a few targeted Montreal journalists to attend the Toronto event for maximum budget efficiencies.

Another challenge was the snowstorm that happened the morning of the event – the joys of having an event in Canada in December! When faced with this, we brought out the catering a bit early and delayed the start of the first presentation by 25 minutes to allow for more media to make it through the bad weather and roads. Then we shortened the break slightly and knowing that many media had Holiday Lunch event immediately following ours - another challenge with so many competing holiday events this time of year - we gave media the option of staying for Eric’s shampoo demo or leaving at that point in the presentation. Approximately half of the media stayed – and this more intimate group actually resulted in a prolonged discussion and Q&A session with Eric for an additional 45 minutes than what was originally scheduled! After the event, we initiated follow up with the media unable to attend the event to provide all the valuable information shared at the event.

Measurement/Evaluation From an event evaluation standpoint, we know the event was a great success based on the unparalleled buzz and excitement in the room when the normally-reserved media were elbow deep in the haircolour demo applying the new product to mannequin heads – as well as the attendance which included almost every major women’s publication in the country. It was amazing to watch the media’s mood move from reserved during the initial presentation to gleefully giddy as they got into their haircolour demo – and you could literally see their opinions about these categories and their media coverage potential changing before your eyes. We succeeded in achieving – and surpassing – the objectives for this event:

 Secure 15 key beauty media attendees at event. √ We targeted the event to top tier Beauty Media and succeeded in securing attendance of 18 media (despite the snow storm the morning of the event – 25 had originally confirmed) including Hello! Magazine, Glow Magazine, Flare Magazine, Fashion Magazine, Chatelaine Magazine, Canadian Health & Lifestyle Magazine, Cosmetics Magazine, Lipstickpowdernpaint.com, Imabeautygeek.com, ELLE Canada Magazine, LOULOU, Elle Quebec and Vita.  Generate best-in-class media coverage for both products targeting 15 – 20 million impressions. √ √ Coverage has generated more than 42 million impressions with a more than 40 media hits including Canada AM, flare.com, Canadian Health & Lifestyle Magazine, Metro, Elle Canada, More, Canadian Living, Toronto Star, Metro, Glow, Chatelaine (French and English), Coup de Pouce, LOULOU, and Flare.  Elevate L’Oreal Paris’ standing to one of the top 3 beauty brands covered in editorial haircolour and haircare categories in 2009 - as ranked by TNS independent analysis.

89 √ √ √ According to TNS research, following this media event, in 2009 L’Oreal Paris was the #1 brand most mentioned in key Canadian magazine editorial covering hair (hair styling, shampoo and haircolour) – an amazing elevation from being in the top 15 brands most mentioned in Canadian magazine editorial covering hair in 2008. This dramatic increase in overall coverage can be largely attributed to the success, buzz and hands-on trials generated from this event and its supporting media relations initiatives.

This event generated so much interest and buzz, that even those who weren’t able to attend took note. For example, shortly after the event, Canada AM followed up with us to request that Eric appear on their program to discuss tips for at-home haircolouring – which demonstrates the success of the MasterClass concept in making media – both mainstream and beauty media – look at the topics of haircolour and haircare in a different light! Indeed, this is all 100% proof that we succeeded in our goal of creating an experiential event to get media excited about shampoo and at-home haircolour!

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Special Events with Budget up to $50K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name Tanya Bruckmueller-Wilson Organization: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited Title of Entry: “Straight From the Fridge” - A Toronto Hydro Pop Up Gallery Division/Cat: Division 1, Category 6a: Special Events with Budget up to $50K Time Period: September 2009

Brief Description To build awareness and breathe new life into the five-year old Great Refrigerator Roundup recycling program, Toronto Hydro held a pop up gallery entitled “Straight From the Fridge”. The gallery concept provided a unique platform to promote the retirement of old, inefficient fridges through the use of art. Toronto Hydro showcased six old, fridge doors that were transformed from trash into works of ‘conservation art’ by young and urban Canadian artists.

NEED/ OPPORTUNITY

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro) is one of Canada’s largest local distribution companies delivering electricity to almost 700,000 residential and business customers. Toronto Hydro is owned by the City of Toronto and regulated by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), a provincial entity. As Toronto’s population grows so does the strain on the electricity grid and that means sometimes demand may exceed supply. When this happens, Ontario is forced to import expensive power from dirty coal- fired generating stations, which affects the air we breathe. Conservation and demand management programs, which encourage our customers to use less electricity by educating them on ways to cut down their usage, are needed to address this issue. Toronto Hydro is a leader in Ontario in helping to create a culture of conservation, and has embraced the Government of Ontario’s directive to invest in conservation programs that result in lower electricity usage. Toronto Hydro recognizes the power of unique customer-focused campaigns as a key opportunity for engagement and widespread education. Effective campaigns reduce electricity use, reduce the threat of blackouts and help create a healthier city, all while saving customers money.

Research conducted on behalf of Toronto Hydro indicates approximately 25 per cent of Torontonians have a second fridge around the house representing up to $180 in electricity costs. For customers interested in retiring their old, inefficient fridges/freezers, Toronto Hydro offers The Great Refrigerator Roundup recycling program, in partnership with the Ontario Power Authority. The collected appliances are disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner, after recycling and reclaiming reusable materials. The program is free of charge. Fridges and freezers (at least 15 years old and in working order) are picked up from wherever they reside inside a customer’s house, offering them comfort and convenience. This program is unique in that customers don’t need to bring it out the curb. Toronto Hydro has successfully delivered the program for five consecutive years, having recycled over 16,516 energy-guzzling refrigerators. Still, there are many old, inefficient second refrigerators, or ‘beer fridges’ in homes across the city. Toronto Hydro needed to re-energize The Great Refrigerator Roundup program in order to increase participation, which was nearing a plateau. The goal was to give the program a facelift, and build Toronto Hydro’s presence in customers’ mind space through a unique

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and highly visible campaign. A fresh campaign was needed to cut through the cluttered conservation market, to create awareness and to drive participation in the program.

A Toronto Hydro Benchmark Survey on Perceptions of Brand and Corporate Performance determined: • The company operates in a “high interest/low involvement” consumer mind space. Customers don’t, and prefer not to, think about the company until/when an issue arises. • Customer awareness campaigns need to be innovative and highly visible to be effective.

To this end, Toronto Hydro created the “Straight From the Fridge” art exhibit to increase awareness of the program and encourage the retirement of old, inefficient fridges. The exhibit showcased six vintage fridge doors that were given new life by young and urban Canadian artists who took the doors from trash, and transformed them into treasured works of ‘conservation art’. The exhibit was showcased in a ‘pop up’ gallery, a relatively new concept in mainstream communications and promotion, but often used in the indie art scene. A pop up gallery introduces art into an unconventional space (e.g. a coffee shop) without interfering with the normal function of that space (e.g. selling coffee). ‘Pop up’ refers to the short length that the gallery occupies the space – typically only a few hours. This was a new approach for Toronto Hydro to build awareness and educate customers on conservation.

INTENDED AUDIENCES Primary Audience: • Toronto Hydro residential customers – 585,000 in total, as approximately 25 per cent of Torontonians have a second fridge in their homes; • News Media –Toronto media are keenly interested in conservation, especially when supported with strong visuals. Local media is a regular conduit for environmental information to many audiences including Toronto Hydro customers; • Community Influencers – Pop up galleries are intensely community-based. Targeting community influencers to attend the gallery would generate ‘buzz’ for upcoming events showcasing the art work. Secondary Audience: • Stakeholders – The municipal and provincial governments, and related agencies, (Ministry of Energy, and the Ontario Power Authority) who actively support and promote energy conservation.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The overarching goal of the pop up gallery was to increase participation in the fridge recycling program by showcasing the “Straight From the Fridge” art exhibit. The pop-up gallery was measured using the following objectives:

Objective 1: To promote The Great Refrigerator Roundup program by increasing traffic to Toronto Hydro’s online mock-gallery (fridge program website) by 50 per cent. Objective 2: To increase participation in the program in September 2009 by 20 per cent. Objective 3: To raise awareness of The Great Refrigerator Roundup program by generating positive media coverage across different mediums with a Media Relations Rating Points quality score of 70 per cent.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW Taking the direction from customer research, Toronto Hydro seized this opportunity to use an unconventional approach to build awareness of the program. We used the end product – vintage, recycled doors – as a canvas to ignite a conversation about

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conservation. The fridge-turned-artwork was used as a stimulus to communicate the benefits of retiring old, inefficient appliances.

Toronto Hydro hand-picked six, vintage doors from the program’s recycling facility that were the most charismatic and showed a variety of ages and designs. The doors, some dating back to the 1950s and spanning every decade since, had been returned by Torontonians who had participated in The Great Refrigerator Roundup. Six young and upcoming Canadian artists were commissioned to convey messages of conservation through art on the fridges. While Toronto Hydro’s Great Refrigerator Roundup provided the theme, the artists were free to interpret it as they saw fit in completing their artistic vision.

Once the fridge art was completed, Toronto Hydro decided to show the collection in a pop up gallery entitled “Straight From the Fridge”. Derived from the 1950s expression "straight from the fridge, dad" meaning "ain't it the truth", the exhibit aimed to reveal the truth about inefficient appliances and educate Torontonians on the need to responsibly retire their old fridges. The unique prospect of the electric utility holding an art show was a first for Toronto Hydro.

The pop up gallery was held on Friday, September 11, 2009. The gallery platform allowed Toronto Hydro to combine art, shopping, and conservation education in a creative, engaging and community focused event. The event was held in a non- conventional place for showing works of art – a local coffee house. Chosen for its qualities of being a meeting spot and hub in Toronto’s west-end Junction neighbourhood (and Toronto’s number one rated coffee house) Crema Coffee acted as the venue for the community based initiative. Over the past few years, Toronto Hydro has been conducting a rebuilding project to move overhead wires underground in the Junction area. Holding the event at this location was to emphasize our continued involvement in the community. Designed to be an unobtrusive event, Crema remained open and the gallery was setup during peak business hours allowing Toronto Hydro to bring the art and education to the community without disturbing the residents’ daily routines. Two of the artists were at the event to discuss their motivation behind the art and to speak with customers and media about the program. At the same time, Toronto Hydro’s marketing and communications staff engaged pedestrians, coffee-goers and guests, discussing the art, while promoting The Great Refrigerator Roundup. The exhibit had no formal presentation or speeches and lasted the entire afternoon. The team developed the press releases and pitched the media advisory to several news outlets, including multilingual publications, broadcast outlets, community papers and local bloggers. Toronto Hydro also used the gallery to issue its first ever social media release which included a documentary that featured the making of the exhibit and the artists leading up to the event. The PR efforts resulted in media coverage and interview opportunities.

The timing of the event coincided perfectly with the Junction Arts Festival, presenting an opportunity for Toronto Hydro to extend its presence in the community. The outdoor festival is an annual event which showcases art developed in and around the Junction neighbourhood. Toronto Hydro set up a display to showcase the art and promote the program.

Key Messages: • On Saturday and Sunday Sept. 12 to 13, Toronto Hydro will be showcasing the Straight From the Fridge art exhibit in the Junction Arts Festival. • Having these old, energy wasters plugged-in can add up to $150 to $180 in electricity costs a year. • The Great Refrigerator Roundup program is offered in partnership with the Ontario Power Authority. To qualify, full-sized fridges and freezers must be 10-27 cubic feet, in working condition and 15 years of age or older.

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• Visit torontohydro.com for more information and to book and appointment to retire your inefficient fridge.

Invitations An email invitation promoting the event was sent to community influencers, stakeholders and targeted media asking them to attend the exhibit’s debut. Various websites were also utilized to promote the exhibit. Community residents were not given invitations, but were invited into the gallery by positioning a vintage fridge in front of the venue. The fridge was treated with a chalkboard surface that encouraged passers- by to stop and draw on it, or to enter the gallery. Multimedia

Toronto Hydro created a mini documentary in-house that followed the making of the art and shed light on the artists’ insights behind their works of conservation art. Toronto Hydro also created a ‘streeter’ video, where the team asked passers-by questions relating to their personal conservation efforts and some humorous questions such as “what happens to the light when you close the fridge door?” Both of the videos were placed on youtube.com and on The Great Refrigerator Roundup website. The team used this opportunity to issue Toronto Hydro’s first social media news release given the visual aspect of the campaign. All of the materials and calls to action required customers to go to Toronto Hydro’s website for more information about the program. For examples please see the appendices

IMPLEMENTATION & CHALLENGES We had to pay close attention to logistics, financial components and deadlines while managing multiple stakeholders and being creative! • Budget: Material costs of $15,000 include: commissioned art, venue rental, exhibit displays and associated event costs. All of the planning, execution and promotion of the event was handled in-house by Toronto Hydro.

• Timing: We had to work within a tightly defined timeline; the pop up gallery had to happen before the end of September when other conservation programs would become the focus of the team; therefore, all of the logistics needed to be timed perfectly.

• Logistics: locating the blank canvases (the vintage fridge doors) was the first challenge. By August, over 3,000 doors had been returned, and of that we needed the best for the art show. The team used their “creative eyes” at the recycling facility to choose the best doors for the artists. Arranging for the doors to be shipped from the recycling facility to Toronto Hydro’s head office for inspection was a challenge since we were moving such large objects. The problem only became compounded when the doors then needed to be shipped to the artists across the city, province and as far away as Montreal. Using the expertise of Toronto Hydro’s warehouse staff, it was accomplished. However, the biggest challenge was retrieving the completed one-of-a kind art. The dedicated team members overcame this by travelling to all of the artist studios across the city, province and Montreal to safely retrieve the art. Precision execution and detailed planning by Toronto Hydro ensured the deadline of was met for the pop up gallery.

• Lack of knowledge/experience: The concept of Toronto Hydro holding a pop up gallery to showcase one-of-a-kind fridge art depicting messages of conservation had never been accomplished or approached. Managing internal and external expectations of stakeholders was challenging because it was untraveled waters. The planning team was given the full support of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs executives to create and explore this new territory together.

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• Artists: working with young artists is a learning experience….communication between the corporate and art world is drastically different. With that said, compromises on both sides needed to be made in order to make the deadline and the project successful. Toronto Hydro accepted that artists are not available via email and phone as much as corporate executives, and the artists accepted that regular updates and progress meetings were necessary to maintain the deadlines.

MEASUREMENT/ EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES

Objective 1: To promote The Great Refrigerator Roundup program by increasing traffic to Toronto Hydro’s online mock-gallery (fridge program website) by 50 per cent. Outcome: • During event launch week, traffic to the online mock-gallery (fridge website) increased 163 per cent compared to previous weeks in September 2009. Social media release and PR activities contributed to the spike in traffic.

Objective 2: To increase participation in the program during the month of September 2009 by 20 per cent. Outcome: • The gallery event showing was well attended with over 65 guests comprised of community influencers, stakeholders, community residents and Toronto media; • Participation in the program following the event increased by 31 per cent (from the month of August); • A total of 296 fridges were retired - an increase of 70 units. • Toronto Hydro also extended the showing of the fridges to the Junction Arts Festival – the art convened the message of conservation to approximately 150,000 people. While at the Junction Arts Festival, the art conveyed the message of conservation and resulted in 10 immediate registrations in the program.

Objective 3: To raise awareness of The Great Refrigerator Roundup program by generating positive-toned media coverage across different mediums with a Media Relations Rating Points quality score of 70 per cent. Outcome: • The campaign generated news stories and features that included a reach of over 1,087,426, with an MRP score of 77.78 per cent. • The online mini-documentary also received 51 views on youtube.com.

Please note: Toronto Hydro recently donated one of the fridges as a piece of art to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children’s, Holiday Mistletoe Ball. The artwork raised approximately $1,200 for the charity as a silent auction item.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Special Events with Budget of $51K to $100K AWARD OF MERIT

Entrants’ Names: Linda Andross, Erin Hardy, Heather Hopkins, Melanie Dulos, Cathy Mitchell Organization’s Name: APEX Public Relations Inc. Division/Category: Division 1 / Category 6b: Special Events Title: Retail Therapy – Jergens and Curel unveil the Kao Brands Beauty Boutique Time Period: November 2007 – June 2008 Description: To launch three beauty new products on a small budget and build the product’s mass-market profile, APEX PR created a luxurious and exclusive a one-day, media-only event called the “Beauty Boutique”. The event simulated a real-life luxury boutique shopping experience, ultimately achieving all communication objectives and helped to increase sales for Kao Brands.

BUSINESS NEED/OPPORTUNITY

The beauty pages of Canada’s foremost fashion magazines are brimming with the latest innovations to make us feel more beautiful, as well as opinions editorializing what defines beauty in a particular season. The competition among brands to obtain a small slice of these pages is fierce. Not only are brands up against their own category competitors, but they also compete against a broad spectrum of products outside their category. Cosmetics, hair products, nail polish, body products, skin care, fragrances, beauty tools, accessories and even cosmetic surgery all compete for the same space. A common tactic of global beauty brands with deep pockets is to enlist a high-profile mega-celebrity as spokesperson to give the product star power and luxury-by- association attention. So what do you do when you’re a mass-market personal care product competing in a luxury goods world? How do you make your products stand out on the desk of a beauty editor and ultimately in the hands of a consumer? That’s the challenge APEX Public Relations faced when its client, Kao Brands, identified the need to create awareness and drive sales for a number of new lotions and hand washes from its Curel and Jergens brands. The solution was to create a luxurious and exclusive “Beauty Boutique” that would position the new lotions and soaps in a fashionable and lavish setting. The Beauty Boutique was a one-day, media-only event in the posh neighbourhood of Yorkville in Toronto. The event simulated a real-life luxury boutique shopping experience – complete with shopping checklists and a checkout counter – while showcasing the products and their attributes in a high-end, premium atmosphere. This approach successfully secured a program reach of 62 million and helped Kao Brands Canada meet their sales objectives for the year.

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INTENDED AUDIENCE

Primary Audience:

• Tier one Toronto and Montreal fashion and beauty journalists o Editors, reporters and freelance writers from magazines, community/daily newspapers and online outlets o The event was held in Toronto so, aside from Montreal editors that were flown in, we did not target media outside of the GTA for the event, based on budget restrictions Secondary Audience:

• Canadian women who read tier one Toronto and Montreal fashion and beauty publications o Aged approximately 20 – 60 (large age range to reflect Curel Life’s Stages collection which included products targeted to youth, pregnant women and mothers, as well as menopausal women) o Well-educated women who want products that provide solutions without a high price tag

GOALS/OBJECTIVES

• Obtain positive media coverage (photo, brand mention and one key message delivered) for Curel Life’s Stages, Jergens natural GLOW express and Jergens Fine Liquid Hand Wash in tier-one beauty, consumer and lifestyle outlets • Achieve 90 per cent MRP rating • Achieve a total program reach of 20 million • Secure tier-one beauty editors from Montreal to attend the event • Positively impact sales of each brand

SOLUTION OVERVIEW

Research To gain an understanding of the typical amount of media coverage a soap launch receives in the Canadian media landscape, APEX researched the most recent hand- wash launches, and isolated Method soap and Softsoap as examples. Searches were conducted by looking through an archive of tier-one beauty and lifestyle magazines’ beauty pages for coverage, as well as on FPinfomart.com for newspaper and short-lead media coverage. The results indicated that media do not have a strong interest in reporting on hand wash. Case in point: Method soaps received only four national short- lead stories for their new product between April 2006 and November 2007. Each of the Curel lotions addressed a unique need. The trio of Curel Life’s Stages lotions addressed pregnancy skin needs, menopausal skin needs and anti-aging needs, while the Jergens lotion was a moisturizer and self tanner in one. APEX’s media review uncovered that lotions already existed on the market to address all of these needs – so the launches would not be first to market. APEX conducted a media audit to determine an appropriate date for the event. Since November and December are typically saturated with events for spring on-shelf launches, it was critical that APEX secure the availability of tier-one outlets prior to selecting a date for the event. This outreach was done informally through email, phone and in-person lunch meetings.

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Planning, strategy and analysis Based on research, budget realities and timing constraints (all the products were hitting shelves at the same time and required awareness concurrently), APEX’s recommended strategy was to launch all the new Kao Brands products in one single ‘Beauty Boutique’ media event in Toronto on November 6. To elevate the Curel and Jergens product launches to an exclusive, luxurious experience, APEX recommended a multi-brand event at a posh Yorkville boutique for tier-one beauty, consumer and lifestyle editors. To ensure the interest of French publications, tier-one Montreal media would be invited as well. By launching all of the brands at once, the budgets allocated for each brand could be pooled – ensuring each new product would be a part of a fashionable event at a fraction of the cost of launching them separately. Also, by launching the products together, Jergens Fine Liquid Hand Wash would be aligned with the “sexier” launch products – Jergens natural GLOW and Curel Life’s Stages – ensuring attention from beauty editors who may have otherwise overlooked the hand wash. APEX conducted extensive venue research and endless site checks to find the ideal space to house the Beauty Boutique. Ideally, APEX hoped to rent an actual retail store, close it down for the day and style it with the product and signage. However, by closing down a boutique for a day, APEX was facing the additional cost of the wages lost by the retailer. So, the search was expanded to include gallery spaces that would need to be styled extensively to look like a store. Ultimately, White Bridal Boutique in Yorkville was chosen. The venue was ideal for several reasons: it was in a prestigious location in Yorkville on Hazelton Avenue and the store was open by appointment only, so no extra fees would be incurred by shutting down operations for the day. White Boutique also had three separate floors, which worked well for our three separate product launches. It was also aesthetically pleasing and the owner, a former stylist in Toronto, was willing to let us remove her entire inventory from the displays and re-style the store from head to toe for one day only to meet our needs.

IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES

Budget APEX was given a total budget of $93,000 (fees and expenses) for the event, subsequent media mailings and outreach. The event portion of the budget was $78,000. The mailing and media relations portion of the budget was $15,000.

Challenges There were four major challenges associated with the launch of the three new beauty products from Curel and Jergens. 1. All three product lines, Curel Life’s Stages, Jergens natural GLOW express and Jergens Fine Liquid Hand Wash, were due to land on drugstore shelves within a few weeks of each other, so they would be competing against each other for attention 2. The budget for each brand was not enough to execute separate launch events for each product 3. One of the products, Jergens Fine Liquid Hand Wash, was not typically viewed as a beauty product and media interest in hand wash for beauty pages is minimal 4. The three new products were mass marketed and would have to compete for editorial space with luxury beauty products that are typically given more attention

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Communication, execution and production Following the media audit in the research phase, APEX issued an invitation to tier one media in Toronto and Montreal. The invitation was distributed electronically and was followed up with media relations to secure attendance. The editors were booked into one-hour time slots to go through the Kao Brands Beauty Boutique. Within one week, all of the appointment time slots had been booked. On event day, the editors were greeted at the door, and were provided with a shopping checklist and pen. The checklist included every product being launched, as well as a space to take notes at the bottom. The editors were then led onto the first floor of the boutique, which housed the Curel Life’s Stages collection. This collection of three products targets women at different points in their lives: Age-Defying Moisture Lotion, Pregnancy & Motherhood Moisture Cream and Menopause & Beyond Moisture Lotion. The room was styled with the product in jeweled cases, photography of women in each age group scattered throughout, and age-appropriate luxury fashions for each age group styled on mannequins, hanging racks and shelves. The editors were then led to the second floor of the store that housed the Jergens natural GLOW express collection. This level was styled with the product, beauty accessories (high-end make-up was displayed on a vanity) and travel accessories to complement the self-tanning travel message of Jergens natural GLOW. The floor had an unmistakable “girly boudoir” feel and was frequently cited as the favorite floor by many editors. The third and final floor of the store was where Jergens Fine Liquid Hand Wash was styled in four separate areas that highlighted the collections unique scents. Each “station” was styled with gardening and home décor elements that emphasized each fragrance: Wild Peony, Tropical Vanilla, Fresh Water Lotus and White Tea Essence. On each floor, a representative from the brand introduced the collection, and Kao Brands’ spokesperson and dermatologist, Dr. Sandy Skotnicki-Grant, discussed the dermatological benefits of each. Finally, as each editor left, they were invited to the checkout counter which displayed all of the products listed on the checklist. Media were encouraged to take with them whatever product they wanted in a fashionable tote bag. Following the event, APEX distributed a national mailing with media materials and product samples to all beauty editors (long lead and short lead). For tier-one editors, the packages included a premium gift (Holt Renfrew necklace, Nars Make-up, Jo Malone perfume) to enhance the mass-market image of the brands. APEX remained in constant contact with journalists to encourage them to write stories about the new products.

MEASURMENT/EVALUATION

Objective: Obtain positive media coverage (photo, brand mention and one key message delivered) for Curel Life Stages, Jergens natural GLOW express and Jergens Fine Liquid Hand Wash in tier-one beauty, consumer and lifestyle outlets. Results: • Positive media coverage was obtained in 63 per cent of the outlets that attended the event. Tier-one publications such as Flare, Life and Fashion, Pure, Canadian Living and Vervegirl reported on two of the products launched at the event, while

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Elevate Magazine reported on all three. Out of the 125 stories that were published, 78 per cent included a product photograph, 99 per cent included a brand mention and 95 per cent included a key message • Following the event, APEX received a lot of positive feedback from media such as Elle Canada’s Beauty Editor who commented that the event was a “great set-up and amazing space. I love when I can hear about several new lines all in one-stop.”

Objective: Achieve 90 per cent MRP rating Results:

• Achieved an MRP rating of 94 per cent

Objective: Achieve a total program reach of 20 million Results:

• Total program reach exceeded 62 million from 125 stories

Objective:

• Secure three to four tier-one beauty editors from Montreal to attend the event Results:

• Out of the 31 beauty editors who attended the event, four Quebec editors from Pure, Star, Cool!, Clin d’oeil and Adorable attended • Objective: • Positively impact sales of each brand Results:

Although Kao Brands Canada cannot release their sales results publicly, the client did acknowledge via e-mail that the launch event helped to meet their sales objectives.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Special Events with Budget Greater than $100K AWARD OF MERIT

Entrants Name: Julie Rusciolelli

Organizations Name: MAVERICK Public Relations

Division/Category: Division 1 – Communication Management, Category 6c – Special Events with budget greater than 100k Title of Entry: Villa Charities Foundation 16th Annual Venetian Ball Communications Campaign Time Period of Project: November 2008 – November 2009

Brief Description: An event and communications program, implemented by MAVERICK Public Relations and Villa Charities Foundation, delivering maximum exposure for the 16th Annual Venetian Ball and culturally sensitive work performed by Villa Charities.

Business Need/Opportunity For almost 40 years, Villa Charities has been delivering culturally sensitive programs to Italian seniors, individuals with intellectual disabilities, and to the general community via sports and cultural arts programs offered by their family of organizations, which include: Villa Colombo Services for seniors, Columbus Centre, VITA Community Living Services/Mens Sana and Villa Colombo Vaughan Di Poce Centre. Funding is provided through the Villa Charities Foundation. The first Venetian Ball made its debut in 1994 as the signature Villa Charities Foundation event providing the funding and support needed for Villa Charities to continue to provide culturally sensitive care and programs within the community. Since its inception, the Venetian Ball has amused, entertained and delighted guests while celebrating the tradition, elegance and spectacle of the Italian Carnevale. When promoting the annual gala, Villa Charities Foundation’s ongoing challenge is the fact that it is a segmented charity, meaning it is overwhelmingly devoted to providing aid and programs specifically to the Italian community. Due to this, MAVERICK was concerned that those unaffiliated with the Italian community wouldn’t care about the event. While there was an opportunity for new media contacts, MAVERICK understood that the threat of influencers rejecting the unknown was of serious concern. To further complicate fundraising efforts, the recession greatly impacted Torontonians’ overall charitable donations in 2009 and lowered public interest in large social events. Overall donations to Villa Charities dropped from 2008 to 2009. The economic situation also posed a challenge since media might foresee the story in a negative angle and subsequently spin the story as an extravagant and wasteful gala event held at a time when so many people were being laid off across the continent. Intended Audience The primary target audience for the 2009 Venetian Ball was adults 35 years of age and older in influential professions who enjoy an affluent lifestyle and believe in la dolce vita. Emphasis was also placed on corporate decision makers at companies with connections to Villa Charities, in addition to potential corporate sponsors, contributors and stakeholders.

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MAVERICK also used media as a conduit to the primary target audience. We targeted influencers in the lifestyle and food community including broadcast and print media, bloggers and various social media networks. Target media included: • Lifestyle, society, consumer and food journalists • Philanthropic and Italian community journalists • Toronto arts and events listings Goals/Objectives Goals • To promote the Venetian Ball as a must-attend event within the Greater Toronto Area while increasing attendance and financial support compared to previous years • To continue to build awareness of Villa Charities while building existing relationships and fostering new relationships with influencers from both inside and outside of the Italian community Objectives • To increase attendance from the previous year by 20 per cent • To increase money raised by 25 per cent from previous year • To secure more than one million media impressions related to the Venetian Ball and Villa Charities programs • To secure attendance of three major Toronto celebrities Solution Overview The solution developed for the 16th Annual Venetian Ball was to expand on past ideas, transforming not only the venue, but downtown Toronto into its own Venetian Carnevale. MAVERICK and Villa Charities Foundation began implementing an extensive event campaign aimed at delivering maximum exposure for the event while stressing the culturally sensitive work that Villa Charities does throughout the Greater Toronto Area. In an effort to leverage the 2009 Venetian Ball as the must-attend event of the year and overcome the challenges facing the event, MAVERICK and Villa Charities Foundation developed a strategy highlighting the goals of the Venetian Ball while providing the tools needed to ensure its success. The campaign was designed to: • Promote the glamour and prestige of Italy’s Venetian Carnevale festival • Raise awareness of the culturally sensitive work Villa Charities provides within the Italian community • Position the Venetian Ball as the must-attend event of the year within Toronto society • Communicate the importance of celebrating Italian culture • Provide media saturation – providing a buzz and interest in future Villa Charities events Pre-Ball Preparation and Outreach • Venetian Preview Event To kick off the campaign, Villa Charities aligned with Venezia Marketing & Eventi and MAVERICK to present a preview event held at the Columbus Centre. Villa Charities hosted an elegant cocktail reception featuring a preview of 2010 events, including Carnevale, New Year’s Eve and la Regata Storica and invited key influencers from within the Italian community, corporate partners and media to join in the celebration. • Involving Local Celebrities MAVERICK conducted extensive outreach to local celebrities, with stellar results. MAVERICK focused on 10 highly recognized Italian celebrities from within the GTA. Melissa Grelo ofCP24, Rick Campanelli of Entertainment Tonight Canada, and Jessica Biffi of Project Runway Canada were all thrilled to be asked and immediately confirmed their attendance. Melissa Grelo also provided pre-ball coverage on her show, CP24

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Breakfast, encouraging viewer engagement with the opportunity to help choose her mask for the ball by voting on her online blog. • Media Relations and Messaging MAVERICK prepared detailed pre-ball media materials including media advisories, releases, event listings and backgrounders. All media materials focused on outlining key messages about the event. MAVERICK also expertly promoted the cocktail hour to ensure journalists had the opportunity to interview spokespeople and photograph guests. During initial outreach, MAVERICK chose to focus on lifestyle media, securing profile interviews with actor and Venetian Ball special guest Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello), Villa Charities spokespeople and Venetian Ball committee chairs. To maximize media coverage, MAVERICK secured the interest of food media and bloggers by emphasizing the appearance of Trattoria Do’Forni owner Eligio Paties and head chef Domenico Di Gesu, at the Venetian Ball. MAVERICK enticed them by stressing the restaurant’s reputation, awards and high profile clients. MAVERICK also developed speaking notes for James Di Luca and Steven Muzzo, co- chairs of the Venetian Ball. All speaking notes incorporated key messages to ensure maximum positive media coverage. Villa Charities Foundation focused on securing coverage in Italian media through pre- existing relationships. Implementation and Challenges Event Coordination The Venetian Ball planning began a year in advance, in November 2008, when chairs and the committee are chosen. To thank its corporate partners, Villa Charities Foundation hosted a corporate dinner at the Muzzo private residence, showcasing a preview of what the 16th annual Venetian Ball would bring. The transformation of the location, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, from a black box to a Venetian paradise began with starry-night lighting. A sprinkling of small white lights over the dance floor had guests feeling as though they were dancing under the stars. Grand floral centerpieces in deep red aided in the transformation, but the grandest spectacle of all was the recreation of Piazza San Marco with a 30-foot replica of the Bell Tower in St. Mark's Square. Before the night began, a VIP cocktail party was held to thank those who have supported Villa Charities, and the Venetian Ball throughout the years. Media was also invited during this time for interviews. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., guest, wearing custom Venetian masks imported from Italy, entered the grand hallways sipping a traditional Venetian favourite, the Bellini, made with fresh peach and champagne. Harlequin dancers entertained as eight local restaurants showcased their specialties at antipasto stations, while head chef of Trattoria Do’Forni, Domenico Di Gesu, prepared a delicious array of traditional Venetian inspired cuisine, paired with the most precious selection of Italian wines courtesy of Tenuta Villanova in Italy. Villa Charities searched Venice for the perfect fit to allow guests to experience traditional Venetian food in Toronto, and realized the only way was to fly in chefs from Italy. The meal culminated with dolcini stations, cheese and espresso bars, showcasing Italian cuisine from eight top Toronto restaurants. Music for the evening was provided by Toronto’s own Simply Grand, and guests were comically entertained by the one and only Father Guido Sarducci, who added a Venetian mask to his traditional floppy black hat and tinted sunglasses to host the live auction, which featured elegant and priceless items, including a trip to the 2010 Carnevale en Venezia, and a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend the Venice Film Festival. The last item to be auctioned off was a private concert from Frankie Valli, which was not sold to the highest bidder, but the first to bidder to offer $1. Guests were then

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mesmerized by the surprise performance by Frankie Valli, who performed his memorable classics for over an hour. Villa Charities Foundation was responsible for event planning and coordination of the Venetian Ball, including all sponsorship, décor, signage, venue, entertainment and food/restaurant participation. Villa Charities Foundation was also responsible for organizing event run-throughs to ensure a comfort level among all Venetian Ball volunteers participating in the event, while MAVERICK lead the communications campaign, assisting with event planning and logistics. Challenges • No Pedigreed Sponsor In past years, the Villa Charities Foundation has secured large, well-known sponsors for the Venetian Ball. Although the presenting sponsor for 2009, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, didn’t bring brand caché, MAVERICK and Villa Charities Foundation overcame this challenge by leveraging lead sponsors and key stakeholders to drive ticket sales and attendance. • Secret “Special Guest” Due to a contractual agreement with musical guest Frankie Valli, his presence at the Venetian Ball was kept secret until his performance. This eliminated the possibility for MAVERICK to use his attendance as a strong hook for media. Instead, MAVERICK outreached to prominent Italians within the community, such as Melissa Grelo and Rick Campanelli, to secure their attendance at the ball and generate buzz in the wider community. MAVERICK used the surprise performance for post-ball outreach, and will continue to use Frankie Valli’s appearance for promotion of the 2010 event. • The Recession The recession affected all Torontonians. Between 2008 and 2009 Villa Charities noticed a significant drop in charitable donations. The recession also lowered Torontonians’ interest in large social events. MAVERICK and Villa Charities Foundaiton worked together to create buzz around the special surprise performer and spread the message that the Venetian Ball is a festive evening for a worthy cause and the only opportunity for guests to embrace the spirit of Venice’s Carnevale, without leaving the country. Measurement/Evaluation • Event raised $1,000,800 net – a 66 per cent increase from 2008 • 1,500 attendees – an 85 per cent increase from 2008 • Celebrity attendees included Melissa Grelo, Rick Campanelli and Jessica Biffi from the entertainment sector and prominent influencers from within the business sector • VIP Media Hour was attended by 14 journalists – including representation from TV, print and online outlets – up four from 2008 • Featured on top news programs OMNI News, TLN and CP24 Breakfast • Print coverage included Lo Specchio, Panorama, Tandem and SNAP Downtown • Significant online presence with features in numerous blogs and twitter postings, including Shop Toronto, Digital Pixie, Toronto Arts and Events, Tasting Toronto, and Juicy Stuff • Media impressions totaled 1,125,462 The 2009 Venetian Ball was a huge success. Through start-to-finish involvement and a strong joint-partnership between MAVERICK and Villa Charities, we were able to achieve all original objectives.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Special Events with Budget Greater than $100K AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant: Sandra Cruickshanks Organization: Ontario Trillium Foundation Entry Title: 2009 Ontario Trillium Foundation Great Grants Award program Division: Division 1, Communications Management Category: Category 6C Special Events – Budget > $100k Time Period: October 2008 – November 12, 2009 Description: Held every two years, the Great Grants Awards program honours and showcases the work of outstanding Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) grant recipients. The 2009 community-based Great Grants Awards program was an excellent tool for OTF to raise the profile of grant recipients, recognize the work of its extensive volunteer base and provided an important learning exercise for the OTF communications team. An arms-length agency of the Ontario government, the Ontario Trillium Foundation strengthens the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives. A leading Canadian grantmaker, OTF awards 1500 grants annually and has approximately 3,500 – 4,000 grants under management any given time. WORKPLAN: The 2009 Ontario Trillium Foundation Great Grants Awards showcased 19 finalists and 7 award recipients for the outstanding and lasting impact their OTF- funded projects had on the people and communities they serve. Business Need/Opportunity Based on past attendee feedback, new expense management priorities and a need to clearly demonstrate value to our ‘funder’ (the Ontario government), OTF sought a fresh approach for its premiere recognition event for grant recipients. Need:

• OTF’s Communications and Public Affairs department decided the event development and execution would no longer be outsourced to a show

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production company. It would be executed in-house using a 20051 Great Grants event budget baseline of $155,000 - without compromising quality. • Feedback from past attendees told us we needed more opportunity for networking, a larger venue and more and better-quality food. • To anchor the credibility of the awards event, and create ‘ownership’ of the event across OTF, Communications and Public Affairs needed to involve OTF volunteer Grant Review Team members earlier in the selection of award finalists. • Find innovative and meaningful opportunities to showcase to 107 Ontario Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) the positive outcomes OTF funding has on organizations in their local ridings. MPPs are the elected representatives of the Foundation’s sole ‘funder’, the Ontario government. • The event and all materials had to be fully bilingual – English and French • In keeping with the Government of Ontario’s efforts to green government initiatives and support Ontario businesses, we sought an environmentally- friendly event with a locally-sourced menu.

Opportunities:

• We would use the event as a learning opportunity to build the event management capacity of our communication team while maintaining the high standards of previous awards events. Over and above regular workloads, a 10-person team would tackle all aspects of the 350-seat event – from invitations to voice-overs, venues to menus – to execute a lower-cost, professional, polished and green-conscious awards event. • The shift from a cocktail reception to a sit-down luncheon format would both lower costs and enable more stakeholders and OTF volunteers to attend. • Our communication strategy would include new tactics to actively engage both MPPs and OTF Grant Review Team Chairs and improve OTF’s profile with provincial and local media. • OTF staff would be encouraged to attend. The event would be an opportunity to promote employee engagement and pride in OTF’s work, offering tangible examples of OTF’s mission in action.

Intended audiences for the Great Grants Awards program:

• Current and past OTF volunteers – board members and grant review team members who make the OTF granting decisions. Grant review team (GRT) members rarely get a province-wide picture of the scope, breadth and impact of their granting decisions. • Not-for profit or charitable organizations who are current or past recipients of OTF grants. Groups funded by OTF are volunteer-run on a shoestring budget, working in relative isolation; rarely are they publicly recognized outside their home community.

1 In 2007, the Great Grants Awards celebrated OTF’s 25th anniversary with 25 regional events, making the previous 2005 Great Grants comparable to the 2009 event in scope, objectives and media coverage.

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• Ontario Minister of Culture and MPPs as elected representatives of our sole ‘funder’. • Media located in communities where the 19 Great Grants Awards nominees carry out their work. • OTF staff, who wish to gain a first-hand understanding of the results and impact OTF grants have on Ontario’s residents.

Goals and Objectives of the Great Grants Awards program: Goals:

• Build a better awards event that meets the needs and expectations of OTF volunteers and staff. • Execute a high quality and cost effective recognition program. • Demonstrate to 300 OTF volunteers how their past granting decisions result in substantial outcomes and real change for Ontarians and raise the profile of OTF as a leading grantmaker with the public, OTF grant recipients, OTF volunteers and our funder. • Recognize excellence among OTF grantees and showcase the work of the organizations OTF supports.

Objectives:

• In-house development of all program elements. • Deliver the entire program for significantly less than the 2005 budget of $155,000. • Engage all 17 regional volunteer grant review teams and key OTF staff in the awards nomination and selection process to achieve a minimum of four award nominations per team • Develop a multi-tiered communications strategy that would involve the grant review team chairs, MPPS and award recipients.

Solution Overview: In October 2008 the team began to develop all facets of the Great Grants Awards program. This included development of the awards criteria, convening OTF volunteers to nominate then select award candidates, as well as all aspects of event staging, invitation list and menu preference tracking, development of event materials and media relations. Budget savings While continuing to manage a full workload, the communication team produced virtually all aspects of the event in-house. We outsourced only those items requiring specific expertise: original photography of the 19 regional award finalists, event services and AV, printing, etc. Address feedback from past events

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We changed the format to a sit-down luncheon to give attendees quality networking time, switched to a larger venue (the Metro Toronto Convention Centre) and took care to boost the quality and quantity of the food. Involve OTF Grant Review Team members The communications team drafted the awards criteria, then met with each of the OTF’s 17 volunteer grant review teams to explain the award program, their role in the selection process, and introduce the new luncheon format. Communications also convened the nomination selection committee, which included OTF volunteers, staff and outside experts from the not for profit sector, for an all-day session to choose finalists. Reaching out to MPPs MPPs were notified of OTF grant finalists located in their riding and urged to send congratulations. All MPPs were invited to the luncheon and special invitations were extended to the MPPs of the seven Great Grant Award winners. Further, we engaged MPPs on their home turf – the Ontario Legislature. All seven winners were escorted to Queen’s Park to watch Question Period the morning of the awards luncheon. From the floor of the Legislature, the Ontario Minister of Culture Aileen Carroll personally acknowledged the Great Grants Awards winners seated in the visitor’s gallery. MPPs were reminded about the luncheon (all had been invited) and encouraged to congratulate local finalists and winners via their MPP newsletters. Provide a team learning opportunity Each team member had a specific role in the planning and execution of the event aligned with their areas of expertise. In addition, they were urged to take on a task or developmental role they were most interested in exploring. For example, media officers also chose to participate in the venue selection and event logistics planning. ‘Green’ the event and sourcing Ontario foods Provided with subway tokens and maps, OTF volunteers were encouraged to take public transit to the venue.2. Printed collateral materials were kept a minimum. The team worked with venue staff to create an Ontario-based menu. The luncheon centerpieces were simple and used Ontario-grown apples. Phased approach to media relations We recognized the media ‘story’ was overwhelmingly local in appeal. We sought to tell the story of the 19 finalists and subsequent seven winners to their hometown media. We changed our approach, dropping our focus on getting media to attend

2 OTF volunteers from across Ontario were visiting Toronto to participate in the two-day OTF Conference, held concurrently with the Great Grants Awards luncheon in order to reduce travel costs and facilitate attendance.

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the actual Toronto awards event and abandoning the ‘shroud of secrecy’ of previous years, when winners were only announced at the actual event. Instead, we focused on local coverage of the community finalists and award winners. We employed a three-phased media relations strategy: Regional media releases (14 in all) announcing finalists were issued six weeks prior to the November 5 event. This was followed a few weeks later by 13 customized letters to the editor sent to targeted community newspapers and signed by local OTF Grant Review Team Chairs. The seven award winners were announced in 11 regional releases, a full three days prior to the event (and again the day of). Local media had the opportunity to contact/interview hometown winners in advance. All materials were posted to the OTF web site. Key Messages The following were evident in all materials from nomination criteria through to media materials.

• Great Grant Award finalists (19) and recipients (7) have had an outstanding and lasting impact on the communities they serve. • Great Grant Award finalists are in rarified company: These 19 organizations are being selected for special recognition from among some 4,500 groups that have received OTF support between April 2005 and December 2008. • OTF is a leader among grantmakers in Canada and is Ontario’s largest funder of not-for-profit organizations. • OTF grants build support for good ideas and foster community connections. OTF helps groups work together to improve the quality of life for the people and communities they serve. • OTF builds healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector, through investments in community-based initiatives.

Implementation and Challenges: Challenge: Budget Our efforts to produce a well-run, memorable event at a lower cost allowed us come up with imaginative alternatives or do-it-yourself solutions.

• By bringing the event in house, we dispensed with hiring an event production company, which in 2005 cost approximately $20,000. • In-house design of all the bilingual collateral materials – program, menu card, event poster and web banner meant approximately $800 in external design costs savings. We sourced and designed 35 simple, cost effective table centerpieces featuring Ontario apples. Cost: $2 each vs. $20 had the venue supplied them. • In 2005, the event video profiling the seven winners cost $36,000. In 2009 we opted to create our own high-quality PowerPoint presentation using professional still photography commissioned specifically for the awards. When voiceover talent was going to cost almost $800, we mined

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existing in-house talent. Our own Manager of Communications is fluently bilingual and has voiced audio books for CNIB. Cost: two hours of audio studio time. • We commissioned an Ontario craftsperson to create seven original Great Grants Awards using recycled metal materials. Savings: cost was two-thirds below previous prices for traditional etched glass or plaque awards. Further, the award design informed how we visually ‘branded’ all event collateral materials, creating a unified visual identity. The award design was so well received we have made it the ‘official’ design for subsequent Great Grant Awards.

Challenge: Source low cost diverse entertainment

• To meet our need for a bilingual event, we engaged a well-known local broadcaster and dub poet to co-host the event alongside a senior bilingual OTF staff person. This created a powerful on-stage presence in both official languages. • We sourced three culturally diverse artist groups – all previous OTF grant recipients – to entertain guests between award presentations, thereby further showcasing the breadth of OTF’s support to the arts and culture sector. Cost: $200 honorariums

Measurement/ Evaluation: Budget The final cost for the 2009 Great Grants Awards came in at $79,000, almost 50% below the 2005 baseline budget of $155,000 Media/stakeholder relations The three-phase media relations strategy proved successful. Coverage consisted of 65 media hits (23 print articles, 3 TV mentions, 19 radio items, 12 web and 4 letters to the Editors. This coverage was double that of the 2005 awards event.3 For the first time in the history of the Toronto based event, we garnered television coverage of the actual event. Post event survey A post event survey evaluating the Great Grants Awards event was competed by 120 GRT volunteers, board members and staff (a response rate of approximately 60%. The Great Grants Awards event merited an overall positive rating from nine- in-ten respondents (89%):

• 98% thought the event was well organized

3 In 2007, the Great Grants Awards celebrated OTF’s 25th anniversary with 25 regional events, making the previous 2005 Great Grants comparable to the 2009 event in scope, objectives and media coverage.

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• 96% thought it an appropriate celebration of OTF’s contribution to the not-for-profit sector • 89% said it strengthened or reaffirmed their appreciation for OTF’s contribution to Ontario communities • 89% said it offered good profile for the innovation taking place in the not- for-profit sector • 71% said it was a good opportunity to network with other volunteers and staff • 95% liked the new luncheon format. A large majority considered the time of day, location and venue to be convenient Verbatim comments from the survey included the following: • “…This year, I attended the Great Grants Celebration for the 3rd time. It appeared to be the most meaningful of the three….” • “…I thought it was the best Great Grants event yet - time of day, pace of the program - all of it…” • “…It was the best Great Grants function of the three I have attended…”

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Special Events with Budget Greater than $100K AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name: Christine De Siato

Entrant’s Organization: LoyaltyOne, Inc.

Title of Entry: Charitable Fun Day

Division and Category: Division 1, Communication Management; Category 6, Special Events, 6c Time Period of Project: March to July 2009

Brief Description: LoyaltyOne’s first-ever Charitable Fun Day was held on June 23, 2009. This employee event required extensive event management and internal communications tactics. NEED/OPPORTUNITY

Throughout its 18-year history, Fun Day has served as the staple employee event for LoyaltyOne associates. Every year, the company closes all its businesses, including corporate offices in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, and Cincinnati and two call centres in Mississauga and Toronto, so that its 1,300 associates can come together to enjoy a day of fun and celebration outside the office. Past activities have included a day at Canada’s Wonderland and team building exercises at BMO Field in Toronto’s Exhibition Place. To ensure Fun Day’s continued success in light of the challenging macro-economic environment, the planning team had to look for ways to manage costs in 2009. The Fun Day budget was subsequently cut by $60,000 over the previous year. This significant decrease in budget, along with the recent addition of community outreach as a key strategic imperative for LoyaltyOne, and a struggling economy that had affected many Canadian communities and families, created both the need and the opportunity to revaluate Fun Day and generate a new concept and format for the day. INTENDED AUDIENCE

The primary audience was approximately 1,300 permanent LoyaltyOne associates working across various job functions and geographies including Calgary (22), Cincinnati (7), Mississauga (242), Montreal (30), and Toronto (1,000). Additionally, approximately 600 of these associates work in LoyaltyOne’s call centres. These associates work shifts between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12 a.m., Monday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. All associates have access to a company computer and email address, as well as the LoyaltyOne intranet, Guru. When developing the new Fun Day concept, the team took into account some other key audience insights:

• 35 per cent of the target audience had been with LoyaltyOne for five or more years. This meant that many associates had participated in a previous Fun Day, and may be opposed to a new format.

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• LoyaltyOne’s corporate culture is one of giving back. Associates regularly volunteer their time and money to support a variety of company-organized charitable events, including LoyaltyOne’s annual Holiday Matching Charity Drive, the Bell Walk for Kids Help Phone, as well as numerous other functions in support of charitable organizations such as Special Olympics Canada and the World Wildlife Fund.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVE MEASURE OF SUCCESS

Demonstrate to associates that At least 60 per cent of the associates who LoyaltyOne is committed to making a complete the 2009 company-wide difference in the communities in which we Associate Survey answer “yes” to the operate. statement “LoyaltyOne actively helps to make communities in which it operates better places to live and work.” Create buy-in from associates for the new At least 60 per cent of associates who Fun Day concept becoming an annual complete the post-event survey “agree” or initiative. “strongly agree” with the statement “We should make Charitable Fun Day an annual initiative.” Provide associates with relevant, timely, At least 60 per cent of associates who and straight forward communication complete the post-event survey “agree” or relating to Fun Day. “strongly agree” with the statement “I was well informed about Fun Day.” On average, 60 per cent of associates who complete the post-event survey rate each Fun Day communication channel (including the initial memo from Bryan Pearson, the ON AIR Blog, the Fun Day page on Guru, ongoing email updates, and weekly updates in Happenings) as “effective” or “very effective.” Decrease Fun Day event costs. Further reduce Fun Day event costs by 10 per cent of the allotted budget.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW

In an effort to decrease costs and support LoyaltyOne’s strategic imperative to give back to the community, the planning committee recommended a new Fun Day concept: Charitable Fun Day. Associates would spend the morning of June 23, 2009 volunteering for charitable organizations in their local communities and then enjoy an afternoon celebration. The new concept would yield extensive cost savings as associates in Calgary, Montreal and Cincinnati would no longer be travelling to Toronto for the event. Instead of paying for airfare for all of these associates, the team decided to bring people together regionally and leverage new video-conferencing technology to create a feeling for togetherness. Additionally, the morning volunteering activities would come at little cost to the organization.

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In March, LoyaltyOne’s President & CEO, Bryan Pearson, announced the new Fun Day concept via an all-associate memo. The memo also requested that associates email the planning committee the names of the charitable organizations at which they would like to volunteer on Fun Day. The team received over 30 different suggestions and used this list as a starting point when they began contacting charities in April. The team was looking for charities with locations in the Greater Toronto Area that could accommodate groups of LoyaltyOne associates no smaller than 10 on June 23 between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The smaller offices in Calgary, Montreal and Cincinnati organized their own volunteering activities and afternoon celebrations. Volunteer activities were secured in 42 charities, including Habitat for Humanity, the Daily Bread Food Bank, the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, Clean and Beautiful City Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Groups ranged in size from anywhere between 10 and 100 associates. Activities were varied and included tasks such as sorting donations, serving and preparing meals for the homeless, maintenance work, and assisting with garbage pick-up at local parks. In order to allow associates to register for the activities that were most meaningful to them, the planning team worked with a third-party vendor to build an online registration system. Using individual login information, associates were able to access the Fun Day charity registration page and view all the volunteer positions available. This registration system allowed associates to learn key information on each charity, such as location, time commitment, the number of spots available; a description of the activity; and a list of associates who had already signed-up. Email confirmations were sent to associates after registering for an activity. One week before the event, each associate received a Fun Day branded T-shirt, reusable water bottle, and snack pack. Associates were asked to bring these items with them to their volunteer activities. On the day of the event, associates travelled to their volunteering locations in the morning. Each group of associates had at least one team captain who was in charge of taking attendance and team photos. After volunteering, associates travelled to the afternoon celebration at Polson Pier (formerly The Docks). The afternoon celebration featured cash bars, a lunch buffet, outdoor games such as beach volleyball and ping pong, prize draws, as well as a welcome presentation from President & CEO Bryan Pearson. Offices in Calgary, Montreal and Cincinnati were able to listen to the presentation and interact with the celebration via live video-conferencing.

Charitable Fun Day required extensive communication tactics, as outlined below:

TACTIC KEY FEATURES/SUPPORTING KEY MESSAGES LOGIC

Memo from Bryan Pearson announced the new • Fun Day is on June 23. President & CEO, concept for Fun Day via a memo to • This year, all associates will Bryan Pearson all associates. spend Fun Day volunteering for charities in their local Fun Day 2009 A new Fun Day logo was designed communities, followed by logo and and unveiled at the Spring Town an afternoon celebration. announcement Hall in April 2009. This logo • Volunteering through Fun at Spring Town captured the new charitable Day is an excellent Hall component of Fun Day. The two opportunity for associates outstretched hands symbolized the across LoyaltyOne to join in theme of giving back. a common cause of helping others and giving back. Fun Day 2009 In anticipation of the many • Contributing to the

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FAQ questions the team would receive communities in which we regarding the logistics and live and work is a vital part reasoning behind Charitable Fun of who we are at Day, the team prepared a FAQ. LoyaltyOne; in fact, it is an objective built into our Fun Day poster A poster featuring the Fun Day logo strategic plan. as well as the names of all the Fun • You will be able to register Day charities was displayed at each for a volunteer activity office location. during a two-week sign-up period beginning May 25. Fun Day The Community page featured Fun Community page Day tips, a Fun Day checklist with on company important dates, the FAQ, intranet transportation details, a discussion forum for associates to ask questions and share suggestions, and an area for associates to create an online page for their volunteering group to share information with one another. Registration site Provide associates with information on each volunteering activity. Happenings Happenings, a weekly internal e- newsletter sent via email to all associates, featured consistent Fun Day reminders and updates. All-associate Email reminders and updates were emails sent to associates on a regular basis.

Post-event A post-event survey was distributed • We value your feedback. survey to all associates the day after Fun • By completing the Fun Day Day in order to measure the success Feedback Survey, you will of the event and provide help us improve next year’s recommendations for next year’s Fun Day. Fun Day.

Post-event ON The post-event blog, “More than a • Thank you to everyone who AIR Blog Fun Day,” written by Bryan Pearson, participated in this year’s provided the opportunity to share Fun Day. some of the key accomplishments • Together, we donated of Fun Day with associates. 5,500 hours to over 40 Additionally, the blog provided a charitable organizations medium to share some of messages across Canada. the team received from charities • Please share your thanking LoyaltyOne associates for individual Fun Day stories their hard work on June 23. and photos with us in the comments section of the blog. Fun Day photos In order to provide associates with the ability to view photos of their accomplishments, all the Fun Day photos (over 1,000 photos) were organized by volunteering activity and posted on the intranet. Associates were also encouraged to

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contribute their own photos.

Post-event An article in Insight magazine • LoyaltyOne’s first-ever article in Insight, provided the opportunity to share charitable Fun Day was a an Alliance Data the results of Fun Day with the rest huge success! print publication of Alliance Data. • Associates donated 5,500 for all- hours to over 40 charities associates across Canada. • Fun Day was as an inspiration to all those involved.

IMPLMENTATION AND CHALLENGES

One day before the event, on Monday, June 22, 2009, the Toronto Civic Employees Union, including Parks and Recreation workers, went on strike, eliminating 400 of the volunteer positions secured for LoyaltyOne associates at City of Toronto parks. In response, an email was sent to all associates informing them that the planning team was aware of the issue and was doing their best to find replacement activities for all those affected by the strike. A FAQ was also drafted to answer anticipated questions from associates affected by the strike. The planning team quickly began contacting municipalities outside if the City of Toronto, and in one day, was able to successfully secure 370 new volunteer positions for LoyaltyOne associates in parks in Aurora, Mississauga and Markham (92 per cent of associates affected by the strike were re-deployed). These new positions were added to the Fun Day registration site and an email was sent to all associates, informing them that registration had been re-opened and that there were new volunteer positions available. In order to provide associates with last minute transportation to these municipalities, the team sourced buses to transport associates from the downtown Toronto office and the Mississauga Call Centre to their new volunteering activities and the afternoon celebration. The event budget was as follows: Item Estimated Cost Actual Cost

Registration site $0.00 $7,166.25 Creative $25,000.00 $3,172.12 Photography $6,000.00 $2,760 T-shirts and snacks $15,000.00 $17,113.96 Snack bags $8,000.00 $2,911.61 Toronto reception at Polson Pier $75,000.00 $63,753.81 Calgary reception $5,000.00 $3,629.89 Montreal reception $5,000.00 $6,100 Cincinnati reception $5,000.00 $2,000 AV Montreal $5,000.00 $6,099.78

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AV Calgary $5,000.00 $3,488.10

AV Toronto $15,000.00 $11,035.62 Charity donations $5,000.00 $7,300

Draw prizes $12,000.00 $7,000 Transportation $4,000.00 $9,450 TOTAL $190,000.00 $152,981

MEASUREMENT

Following the event, the planning team distributed an online post-event survey to all associates. Completed by 585 respondents, the Fun Day feedback was overwhelmingly positive. OBJECTIVE MEASURE OF SUCCESS RESULTS

Demonstrate to At least 60 per cent of the In August, 91 per cent of associates that associates who complete the associates completed the LoyaltyOne is 2009 company-wide Associate 2009 Associate Survey. Of committed to Survey answer “yes” to the those, 81 per cent answered making a difference statement “LoyaltyOne actively “yes” to the statement in the communities helps to make communities in “LoyaltyOne actively helps in which we operate. which it operates better places to make communities in to live and work.” which it operates better places to live and work.” Create buy-in from At least 60 per cent of 67 per cent of respondents associates for the associates who complete the agreed or strongly agreed new Fun Day post-event survey “agree” or with the statement “We concept. becoming “strongly agree” with the should make Charitable Fun an annual initiative. statement “We should make Day an annual initiative.” Charitable Fun Day an annual Only 17 per cent disagreed initiative.” with the statement. Provide associates At least 60 per cent of 84 per cent of respondents with relevant, timely, associates who complete the agreed or strongly agreed and straight forward post-event survey “agree” or with the statement “I was communication “strongly agree” with the well informed about Fun relating to Fun Day. statement “I was well informed Day.” about Fun Day.” On average, 60 per cent of On average, 72 per cent of associates who complete the respondents rated Fun Day post-event survey rate each Fun communication channels as Day communication channel “effective” or “very (including the initial memo from effective.” Bryan Pearson, the ON AIR Blog, the Fun Day page on Guru, ongoing email updates, and weekly updates in Happenings) as “effective” or “very effective.”

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Decrease Fun Day Further reduce Fun Day event Final event costs were event costs. costs by 10 per cent of the $153,000; 20 per cent allotted budget. below the allotted budget.

Additionally, in July 2009, LoyaltyOne held its first-ever internal Brand Jam, the results of which were used to help inform LoyaltyOne’s new brand positioning and value proposition. Completed by 255 of associates, the survey results also revealed that Fun Day and LoyaltyOne’s dedication to the community had a substantial impact on associate engagement. When asked “What makes you most proud to be a LoyaltyOne associate?” the top unsolicited associate response was related to giving back. Here are a couple examples of associate verbatims from the 2009 Brand Jam:

• “I would say that one of the most proud moments for me as an associate is in the way Fun Day was organized in 2009. The charity focus was a tremendous idea and a great way for the corporation to give back to our communities.” • “This year was my first Fun Day with the company and it was amazing. I just really appreciated it as there is not many companies out there who involve all their employees and take them out one day to have fun and get paid. Something that makes me so proud to work for such a great company!” • “Fun Day - I tell everyone I can how amazing it is and such a commitment to the associates. No other company does anything close to Fun Day and the fact that we do it (continue to do it) demonstrates a commitment to fun and rewarding associates for the hard work put in all year.”

118 OVATION Awards Winning Entry

Communication Management Issues Management and Crisis Communication AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Daniel Tisch APR Organization’s Name: Argyle Communications Client Organization: American Peanut Council Division and Category: Division 1) Communications Management; Category 7) Issues Management and Crisis Communication Entry Title: Peanuts in Crisis: An industry responds to North America’s largest food recall Time Period of Project: January-March 2009 Team members: Daniel Tisch APR, Alison George, Janet Grdovich, Laura LaMontagne, Rob Mathias, Katie Conover Brief Description: In January 2009, the American peanut industry faced the largest food recall in North American history due to irresponsible actions of one manufacturer. The American Peanut Council quickly developed a crisis management strategy to recover the industry and protect public confidence in the safety of its products.

BUSINESS NEED / OPPORTUNITY On January 9, 2009, the State of Minnesota warned of the possible salmonella contamination of a relatively small brand of peanut butter sold in institutions. It was the first news of an outbreak that would be linked to nine deaths and 714 reported illnesses in the U.S. and Canada— requiring a recall of more than 3900 products by over 200 companies at a cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Peanut butter is one of North America’s favourite foods, consumed widely in jars and as an ingredient in thousands of confectionery products. Annual peanut butter sales in the U.S. alone exceeded $1 billion. The American Peanut Council, the association representing all segments of the U.S. peanut industry, is a longstanding client of Argyle Communications. Argyle and its partner, Ogilvy Public Relations’ Washington office, were soon managing industry communications for the largest food recall in North American history.

Research The first week involved establishing the facts, and building an infrastructure for crisis management. This involved: ? Working with U.S. and Canadian regulators to establish the facts: Initially, there was hope that the outbreak was confined to certain brands of peanut butter distributed to institutions and some foodservice industry customers from a plant in Blakely, GA. On January 17, however, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged consumers to postpone eating products with peanut butter as an ingredient (e.g., cookies, crackers, candy, ice cream), due to concern that some of the peanut butter/paste from the plant was used as an ingredient. The FDA and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) developed a list of affected products. ? Identifying the target consumer: Consumption is highest in the 40-54 demographic. The most influential consumers were mothers who were the primary shoppers. ? Evaluating media: This story instantly attracted media attention across the continent and beyond. The team put into place a daily system to track both mainstream and social media in multiple markets, along with a regular call with international partners. ? Researching and identifying a Washington-based public relations partner. Argyle required a local partner in Washington, DC, and worked quickly to qualify a firm based on three criteria: strength in issues management on food and health issues, national media relations capabilities and knowledge of U.S. regulatory processes. They also had to be independent from other industry sources. The APC and Argyle selected Ogilvy PR’s Washington office for the assignment. ? Understanding APC member perspectives: Argyle participated in crisis briefings conducted by the American Peanut Council president with his board, staff and other industry figures. This helped develop a sense of the “on the ground” communications environment for growers, shellers and manufacturers across America.

Analysis 1. Coverage was being driven by regulatory action. The APC had to be completely aware of and aligned with regulators. 2. Much of the reporting missed a critical point: that jars of peanut butter sold in retail stores were considered safe and not affected by the recall. This would be a critical message with both significant public interest and economic dimensions. 3. Broadcast media were more likely to report in inaccurate and alarming ways. They needed credible spokespeople. 4. The public was looking for information online. This was a massive topic of interest in social media, with a general climate of confusion and a public anxious for information. Internet communication would be critical. 5. There was an undercurrent of critical commentary about the industry’s manufacturing and agricultural practices. It would be essential to differentiate the manufacturer in question, who was not an APC member, from the industry at 119 large. 6. One industry, many perspectives. Some large manufacturers were reluctant for the APC to communicate proactively, as products or confections containing peanuts/peanut butter were sometimes a small part of much larger product lines; other members saw it as one manufacturer’s problem, resenting that the whole industry should feel pressure to review its practices.

INTENDED AUDIENCES Audience Characteristics State of mind Consumers of Broad demographic group across North Early research: 98 % of Americans and 75% of peanut America. Largest consumers in 40-54 age Canadians aware of crisis. Consumers confused about butter/paste group. Most influential consumers: which products were affected and likely to avoid all products mothers/primary shoppers. Most likely to hear products in the absence of clarity. Skeptical of industry of crisis from mainstream media; most likely to claims, more likely to believe scientists. do follow-up research online. American Diverse group that included growers and Divided on how to respond to the crisis (see analysis, Peanut Council shellers, largely from southern states, to both above). High expectations of involvement in APC’s members large and small manufacturers in the eastern and communications decisions. southern states. Regulators Key players: U.S. Food & Drug Administration Focused on protecting the public, erring on side of (FDA); Centers for Disease Control and caution. Inclined to communicate aggressively about Prevention (CDC); Canadian Food Inspection affected products, not to identify “safe” products. Agency (CFIA). Evidence-based decisions, Additional pressure due to swearing in of Obama public interest focus. administration. Politicians / Key players included federal representatives, Main focus on threat to public health; other concerns policy-makers senators, officials from peanut-producing states. included assigning blame, reviewing laws/regulations, and, in some cases, protecting economic interests. Media Television, radio, print and online journalists, as Broadcast media more likely to make errors or alarmist well as bloggers. A lay perspective on food statements. Generally objective in reporting on safety. Print reporters more likely to have regulatory action. Interested in controversy in reporting depth/specialization. on the actions of the manufacturer, the industry and politicians.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES 1. Preserve consumer confidence in the U.S. peanut industry’s products and practices. This would mean returning U.S. monthly U.S. peanut butter sales to the $95 million range as quickly as possible. This would be measured using survey research measuring resumption of consumption and sales, and by Nielsen sales data. 2. Reduce inaccurate and alarmist reporting in mainstream and social media. The team expected that the majority of coverage would be continue to be negative in tone. Measures therefore included media coverage of official APC messaging, and of the overall tone of coverage (i.e., positive, negative or neutral). 3. Be a principal online resource for consumers, where they could find accurate information. Measures included unique web visitors and Google analytics. 4. Develop a consensus among APC members for a post-crisis recovery strategy, overcoming divisions noted above. The key measure would be strong industry buy-in to a long-term communications and food safety plan.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW Strategy Supporting tactics Build the APC’s  Argyle’s president flew to Washington on short notice to provide a day of intense on-camera internal and external spokesperson training to the president of the American Peanut Council. communications  Argyle also took over some internal communications responsibilities, preparing a daily crisis and capacity. media update for the president to circulate to his members. Proactive public  APC statements and outreach were driven by the following key messages: communication: pro- o Food safety is our #1 priority: we’re a responsible industry working hard to protect public safety, pro- health; regulation, pro- o We’re working with the FDA to inform consumers about products that are and are not consumer. affected; o Jars of retail peanut butter are not affected by the recall – you can still enjoy your PB&J; o We have stringent food safety and quality control practices — among the highest standards in the world. But even with the strongest code, the manufacturer has to follow them; and o Even one isolated incident at one small plant is one too many.

120 Be the consumer’s  The FDA website had a long list of products that were affected by the recall. The PR team source for accurate launched an online resource highlighting products unaffected by the recall — “a way for information — on the consumers to see if their favourite brands were safe.” Net.  The PR team purchased a sponsored link on Google, so that the APC site would come up whenever a Google search featured the words “peanut” and “salmonella.” Engage a food safety  The APC engaged microbiologist Dr. Michael Doyle, Director of the University of Georgia’s expert. Center for Food Safety, to advise the industry in a review of its manufacturing and agricultural practices.  This news was not released proactively, but rather used as part of a response highlighting the industry’s stringent existing standards and its commitment to continuous improvement. Isolate the rogue  When news emerged that the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), owner of the Georgia plant, manufacturer. had ignored prior warnings of possible contamination, the APC condemned the “clear and unconscionable action of one irresponsible manufacturer who stands alone in an industry that strives to follow the most stringent food safety standards.” This statement received extensive media pick-up. Provide a national  The team engaged one of the peanut industry’s best-known dietitians, Patricia Kearney, to do a broadcast interview satellite television and radio tour on January 28th. This provided stations across the U.S. with up- source. to-date information on affected and unaffected products, and reinforced the APC’s safety messages.  A similar approach was ready-to-go but not executed in Canada, given the lower level of public concern. Associate the APC  After long discussions with APC members, the team emerged with a five-point “case for change” with a “case for that supported increased funding and inspection powers for the FDA, enhanced food safety risk change.” analysis by manufacturers, mandatory FDA recall powers, and new ways to share best practices and expertise. Engage the industry  On March 12, Argyle facilitated a one-day meeting of all major players in the U.S. peanut in a post-crisis industry in Washington, D.C. The morning featured a “lessons learned” panel of food safety strategy session. experts from various industries. This helped industry members to understand best practices in recovering from a crisis.  The afternoon engaged delegates in roundtable discussions on the opportunities and threats facing the industry; changes required to the food safety system; what the industry and its segments should do differently; and what actions could enhance public confidence in the health and safety of peanuts.

IMPLEMENTATION & CHALLENGES Here are some key early milestones: Date Key milestone Communications planning / action January 9  First confirmation of  Development of APC standby statement, for use on a responsive basis. Focus: contamination Food safety as top priority; fact-finding and cooperation with regulators (Minnesota) Wk of  Jan 13: Recall by Peanut  Jan 14: APC release: Focus: Food safety as top priority; support/cooperation January 12 Corporation of America with regulators; closely monitoring contaminated peanut butter in Minnesota  Jan 17: FDA urges all  Jan 17: APC release: APC joins FDA in urging consumers to postpone Americans to postpone consumption pending development of safe products list; retail peanut butter consumption brands not affected Wk of  Jan 18: Expansion of  North American mainstream and social media monitoring put in place. January 12 recall to national level  Rapid identification of local Washington PR firm for support; telephone (continued) interviews; Argyle and APC select Ogilvy PR  Development of daily routine: morning PR team call with fixed agenda: (1) Public safety/regulatory update; (2) US media coverage review; (3) Canadian/international media coverage review; (4) Key messages for today; (5) Action for today.  Development & launch of daily media/crisis update for APC members Wk of  Jan 19: FDA, CFIA begin  Ongoing liaison with FDA, CFIA January 19 to post list of affected  Work with webmaster and manufacturers to compile online resource centre for products public to see list of products unaffected by recall  Jan 21: CDC/FDA  APC goes live with unaffected product list; Google sponsored link to drive confirm PCA as source of traffic outbreak  APC release distributed on the wire drawing attention to the unaffected product list 121  APC retains leading microbiologist Dr Michael Doyle to review/advise on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)  Argyle president provides media training to APC President in Washington  Engagement, briefing and training of dietitian as third-party spokesperson Wk of  Jan 27: FDA finds PCA  Jan 27: APC release condemns manufacturer; extensive media pick-up January 27 had knowledge of possible  Jan 28: Satellite media tour by dietitian: 59 broadcasts on 36 stations across contamination USA  Jan 30:Criminal probe  Extensive interviews by APC president on industry practices starts  Referrals of some interview requests to Dr Doyle and dietitian spokesperson February  Feb 10: PCA “pleads the  Ongoing Meetings with congressional leaders, state officials 2009 Fifth”, files for  Proactive media relations, every week bankruptcy  Planning of post-crisis strategy conference for the industry in March  Ongoing probe  Draft of APC’s five-point “case for change” to food safety system March  Probe continues; business  APC hosts meeting of 100+ decision-makers from across the industry (see 2009 starts to normalize above)  Consensus developed on short- and long-term industry priorities

Challenges: Given the urgency and reputational risks, the APC made the necessary resources available. The team instituted weekly tracking for client reporting.

 Urgency and uncertainty: In the early days, the facts were still unclear, and yet the stakes were high. The team responded by developing a daily routine (see above) that enabled simultaneous planning and implementation of communications activities.  Human resources: As the crisis broke, most senior APC staff were at an important global meeting in Rome. APC’s president was largely alone in Washington. This required external PR advisors to assist with internal communications and other functions.  Low profile of APC: As a trade body, the APC had rarely done proactive consumer communications in its home U.S. market. This made it difficult to inject the Council into media stories. The team responded by using both third-party spokespeople (dietitian, food scientist, etc.), while building up the APC’s relationships with media across the continent.  Internal decision-making: Members were accustomed to being involved in communications. To respond quickly to events, the team had to equip the president with tools to communicate with his members while empowering the PR team to make decisions.  Lack of web readiness: As a trade-focused organization, the APC had a limited web presence. This meant intense work at the APC to execute the web component of the program. The APC has since embarked on a significant upgrade of its presence.  Presidential inauguration: President Obama took office on January 20th, virtually shutting down Washington in the early days of the crisis. This also consumed the media spotlight and added a challenging distraction for industry and regulatory figures alike.

EVALUATION Objective Result Preserve consumer Within three months of the crisis, 71% of Canadians and 60% of Americans reported that confidence in the they had resumed purchasing peanut products. Within six months, the numbers climbed to 81% industry’s products of Canadians and 80% of Americans. More research is due in early 2010. and practices. Nielsen data showed a rapid recovery in peanut butter sales from a low of $87.2M in February to $96M in March (similar to 2008 levels), with growth in every subsequent month in 2009. Reduce inaccurate/ Thanks to proactive statements and media relations, there was a rapid decline in inaccurate stories alarmist reporting in and a rapid growth in stories featuring APC messages. Tracking of social media coverage the media. showed a balance of 18% positive, 33% neutral, 49% negative in the first 30 days, far exceeding team expectations. Be a principal online The Google sponsored link was very successful, generating 70,251 visitors to the APC site and consumer resource. 1,440,770 impressions in seven days (an excellent click-through rate of 4.88%). Traffic to the APC site went as high as 68,000 per day at the peak of the crisis. Develop a consensus The Washington meeting generated an industry-wide consensus to review its agricultural and among APC manufacturing practices, enhance collaboration with the FDA, improve training and education at all members for a post- levels within the industry, and reaffirm the APC’s role in leading food safety initiatives. crisis recovery Post-meeting participant evaluations led the APC president to report this was the highest- strategy. rated meeting in his 22 years he had been with the organization.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Issues Management and Crisis Communication AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name Catherine Parry Organization: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro) Division/Category Div. 1: Comm. Mgmt, Cat. 7 Issues Mgmt and Crisis Communication Title of Entry: Get Smart Toronto Time Period of Project: 2006 to 2009

Brief Description – Toronto Hydro is the first North American utility to roll out Time-of-Use (TOU) rates to all of its customers. Encouraging behavioural change and fostering positive customer relations were critical to the smooth transition to TOU rates. Toronto Hydro raised smart meter and TOU awareness and understanding through a time sensitive, four-phased integrated communications plan, utilizing advertising, public relations, media relations, government relations, direct mail, online and web communications.

NEED/ OPPORTUNITY Toronto Hydro-Electric System (Toronto Hydro) is one of Canada’s largest electricity local distribution companies delivering electricity to almost 700,000 residential and business customers. Toronto Hydro is owned by the City of Toronto and regulated by the Ontario Energy Board, a provincial entity. As Toronto’s population grows so does the strain on the electricity grid and that means that sometimes demand may exceed supply. When this happens, Ontario is forced to import expensive power from dirty coal-fired generating stations. Aggressive conservation programs are essential to address this issue and create a ‘culture of conservation’.

In 2004, the Government of Ontario mandated the introduction of smart meters and a Time-of- Use (TOU) pricing structure to combat the strain on the electricity grid. A smart meter reads the amount of electricity used and the time of day/day of the week, and then sends the information back to the utility through wireless technology. These new meters make time of day based rates possible, enabling pricing to be based on the true cost of generating power. This is important because price signals sent to consumers are intended to encourage them to conserve electricity or shift consumption to less expensive time periods, thereby relieving pressure on the power grid. The most expensive period is during periods of peak electricity use demand. This new pricing structure is a fundamental change in the way customers pay for electricity.

Electricity bills are a major household budget item. Add ‘change to the pricing structure’ to the mix and we were very concerned that customers would resist, flooding call centres with questions and complaints. Without behavioural change, the new TOU rates will increase customers’ bills. Toronto Hydro knew that this unprecedented undertaking would be challenging and would require effective communications to help customers adjust, and mitigate potential call centre backlogs and the creation of unhappy consumers.

Prior to developing a communications plan, Toronto Hydro commissioned consumer research at the commencement of smart meter installations and before TOU was introduced. The research showed: • Very few participants had heard anything about TOU rates; • Participants were generally skeptical about the rationale for TOU rates; • Participants were concerned about the impact of TOU rates on their overall bill; • Advertising, pamphlets, bill inserts, websites and household “reminder tools” (decals) were viewed as the most effective communication tools; • Participants were looking for simple and cost-effective ways to reduce electricity consumption.

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Toronto Hydro used this feedback to develop Get Smart Toronto, a multi-faceted marketing and communications strategy.

Toronto Hydro launched TOU rates in June 2009. We are the first utility in North America to transition a major urban city to this new pricing structure. Over 500,000 customers have been transitioned onto TOU rates.

INTENDED AUDIENCES Primary Audience: Toronto Hydro residential customers – 580,000, in total including homeowners and renters. Key characteristics & considerations: • Toronto is an ethnically diverse city. Predominant second languages in the city are: Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Italian, Portuguese and Korean. • Electricity is traditionally a low interest, high involvement category. It is difficult to get customers’ attention in this category so a multi-media, multi-phased, innovative marketing approach is required. • Electricity rates rarely decrease. Add ‘change to the rate structure’ to the mix and customer relationships are at risk, as is the Toronto Hydro brand. Higher bills will result without behavioural change. Secondary: Elected officials, consumer and energy news reporters, employees, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MEI) and the Ontario Energy Board (regulator)

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Goal: Assist the Government of Ontario in creating a culture of conservation and help Ontario flatten electricity peak demand as coal-fired generation is removed and cleaner generation and aggressive conservation policy is introduced. Objectives: Based on research benchmarks: 1. Build consumer awareness of the installation of Smart Meters and implementation of TOU rates to 80%. 2. Increase customer willingness to change electricity usage behaviour in response to TOU rates by 65%. 3. Drive customers to TOU web portal to achieve 10% web registration. 4. Limit call centre traffic to a maximum increase of 10%. 5: Increase TOU education and energy conservation measures through cross reference of various conservation programs. Achieve 7,500 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity savings through 2009 residential conservation programs. 6: Generate 10 neutral news stories from the TOU launch event with a Media Relations Rating Points (MRRP) quality score of 50%. (Note: the 50% rating reflects the challenge of generating neutrality about a possibly contentious and misunderstood pricing structure).

SOLUTION OVERVIEW Toronto Hydro is the first North American utility to roll out mandatory TOU rates in a major market. Encouraging behavioural change was critical to smoothly transition customers to TOU rates. Toronto Hydro needed to create smart meter and TOU awareness and understanding through a time sensitive, four-phased, integrated communications plan utilizing advertising, public relations, media relations, government relations, direct mail, online and web communications.

Overall key messages: • Inform customers that they are getting a new smart meter and the way they pay for electricity will change • Advise customers they are moving to/now on new TOU electricity rates • Encourage them to register to view their personal consumption profile via the web portal • Encourage them to shift electricity usage to lower priced time periods

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• Remind them of the new time blocks and price points

GET SMART TORONTO In 2006, Toronto Hydro developed Get Smart Toronto, a multi-year, integrated marketing and communications strategy to prepare our customers for the transition to TOU billing. To educate customers about the TOU initiative, we used a variety of tactics on a recurring basis. The project brought forward many timelines. Managing the deployment of various pieces at different touch points with customers, with the aim to ensure call centre impact was minimal, proved to be complex.

Smart Meter Installation Notice Package In 2006, approximately 25,000 customers received a smart meter each month. To notify customers, we developed a package and an autodialer campaign. The package contained a brochure, a personalized notice letter (translated in the area’s two predominant languages) and a ‘Please Knock’ sticker, which customers could use if they wanted to be reminded on the day of installation. We also set up a special smart meter hotline and email for customers with questions or concerns. We used smart meter installations as an opportunity to introduce TOU rates as a cost management tool.

TOU Web Portal In November 2007, Toronto Hydro launched a secured TOU web portal and invited 50,000 customers to register. The web portal allowed customers to view their personalized electricity usage data and to see what they would be paying when TOU rates take effect. The website had energy conservation and load-shifting tips, as well as Anita, the avatar. During the pilot, we conducted market research and the site was modified to reflect customer feedback. The improved web portal was then rolled out to the remaining customer base.

Low Income Customers has raised concerns about installing individual suite meters into low income properties without the assurance of a subsequent drop in rent once tenants begin paying their own electricity bills. Toronto Hydro has programs in market to help low income customers cope, and is working with the government to look at additional options.

Community Outreach Using a grassroots approach, Toronto Hydro staff and its “street teams” have been raising awareness and educating customers about smart meters and TOU rates at a number of events, including the City of Toronto’s Environment Days, community festivals, trade shows and major malls. There were 32 events over 54 days in 2009.

TOU Launch Event In May 2009, following the three-year awareness campaign, Toronto Hydro organized a high- profile media event involving both the Mayor of Toronto and the Ministry of Energy, to introduce TOU. We built a ‘Toronto Hydro House’ in the lobby of our head office to demonstrate how to better manage electricity usage in the kitchen, living room, office and laundry room.

TOU Welcome Package A month before being moved to TOU rates, customers receive a TOU Welcome Package, which Toronto Hydro developed in collaboration with the government to keep messaging consistent. It includes a personalized letter, a brochure with conservation and energy-shifting tips (translated in the city’s 13 predominant languages), web portal registration instructions and stickers illustrating the TOU price periods to put on appliances as a reminder.

TOU Tool Kit

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When customers are actually transitioned to TOU rates, we send them a TOU tool kit. It includes coupons (total savings of $25) for energy saving and time-shifting products, a reminder to register on the TOU portal, energy savings tips and a list of available conservation programs.

TOU Reminder Letter/Email To keep the momentum going, one month after receiving the TOU tool kit, customers registered on the TOU web portal receive an email reminding them to regularly visit the portal. We also mail a reminder letter to customers who have not registered online, encouraging them to sign-up so they can familiarize themselves with their electricity usage on TOU rates, and see the effects when they shift to lower cost periods. We also promote using the energy savings coupons before they expire and taking advantage of available conservation programs.

TOU Bill Insert An “Understanding your First TOU Bill” brochure is included with the first TOU bill.

Employee Communications - Customer Ambassadors Smart meter and TOU communications are regularly sent to all employees, in particular frontline employees, via several channels (e.g. online/print newsletters, digital signage and company intranet). Also, a TOU Customer Service “SWAT Team” is in place to troubleshoot and react quickly to any customer problems.

CONSERVATION AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT (CDM) PROGRAMS Research conducted showed customers want simple tools and ways to help reduce electricity and manage their bills. We developed innovative CDM programs to assist them through the transition to TOU rates. We seized in-store and community events as opportunities to have face- to-face conversations with our customers about TOU rates. • Count Me In Toronto (CMIT) CMIT encouraged Torontonians to help their neighbourhood to win a $5,000 energy-efficient retrofit by participating in conservation challenges. • Spring Turn On Spring Turn On invited Torontonians to pick up a free energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) at retail locations throughout the city. Customers could also redeem discounts on energy efficient products. • Keep Cool Keep Cool was a room air conditioner and dehumidifier recycling program. Customers received a $25 gift card incentive when they recycled their old, inefficient appliances. • Summer Challenge We challenged customers to reduce their electricity consumption during summer months by 10% and if successful, they received a credit of 10% on their bill.

IMPLEMENTATION & CHALLENGES Budget: $1.5 Million. Time Frame & Challenges: One challenge was that the Ministry of Energy had not committed to a mandatory date for rates to be implemented. To mitigate risk, we established an industry working group, including the government staff, to align priorities and deliverables. We developed a modular plan, in accordance with above, that could be implemented by a specific date, a date that senior executive and government stakeholders would agree on.

TOU presented a fundamental change in the way customers pay for their electricity and TORONTO HYDRO was committed to helping customers through this transition every step of the way. To educate customers about the TOU initiative, we used a variety of tactics on a recurring basis. The project brought forward many timelines. Managing the deployment of various pieces

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at different touch points with customers proved to be complex, as well as keeping the call centre staff up-to-date.

We had to communicate the fact that smart meters would be installed at people’s houses. Part of this communication had to include why we were changing out the meters and to introduce the concept of TOU rates. Smart meter installations, and the corresponding communications, began in Q1, 2006, almost 3 ½ years before the first customer was transitioned to TOU rates. While direct to customer communications is an important tool, as well as a regulatory requirement, it is expensive. We had to look at other ways to engage and build awareness that the way Torontonians pay for electricity is changing. Over the years we held numerous customer and community events where TOU was featured. As well, TOU messaging was integrated into other programs and initiatives, namely conservation programs.

The next aspect of the modular plan was to introduce and encourage registration on the TOU web portal. We developed unique communications to do this. Finally in summer of 2009, it was determined that Toronto Hydro would begin transitioning customers to TOU rates. We then entered the rate implementation phase of our strategy. .

Budget & Regulatory Challenges: Toronto Hydro is regulated by the Ontario Energy Board therefore we had to submit a plan, including budget, for approval well in advance. This budget spanned three years and was submitted in 2007. Each year we had to ensure budgetary requirements were met, while working to meet customer expectations. This was complicated further by the fact, as mentioned above, that there was not a specific required date to implement TOU rates.

MEASUREMENT/ EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES Toronto Hydro’s efforts have been applauded and supported by government stakeholders as the first utility to undergo a mass transition to TOU rates. Many other utilities continue to seek guidance and support through best practices from Toronto Hydro as they prepare to implement TOU rates in their jurisdictions. Throughout the process, Toronto Hydro conducted research with customers to evaluate program objectives.

Objective 1: Build awareness of the installation of Smart Meters and implementation of TOU rates to 80%. Result: Customers have a good understanding of TOU rates, with more than 98% awareness. As well, over 80% are satisfied with the communications they receive; 73% feel that it was just the right amount and that Toronto Hydro has been helpful in preparing customers for TOU rates. Customer research findings show the top three TOU communications tools are the brochure (84%); Tool kit (80%) and bill (72%).

Objective 2: Increase customer willingness to change electricity usage behaviour in response to TOU rates by 65%. Result: Customers have been very receptive to the communications and as a result, 71% of customers intend to change their behaviour by using conservation tips and tools to shift their electricity usage to lower cost periods.

Objective 3: Drive customers to TOU web portal to achieve 10% web registration. Result: Over 100,000 customers, or 20% of customers transitioned to TOU rates, have registered on the TOU website, and this number grows daily. We estimate that eight-in-ten customers will likely continue to return to view their consumption data on an ongoing basis.

Objective 4: Limit call centre traffic to a maximum increase of 10%. Result: The call centre volume for 2009 was 9% higher than 2008. An estimated 5% of the 9% were related to TOU. Notably, not one TOU-related call resulted in an escalated complaint (e.g. bill adjustment).

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Objective 5: Increase TOU education and energy conservation measures through cross reference of various conservation programs. Achieve 7,500 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity savings through 2009 residential programs. Result: Overall, we achieved a savings of approximately 9,000 MWh, or 120% of target. Specific results include: • CMIT: The program garnered over 2,500 registrants and over 2,000 sign ups to our electronic newsletter, which promotes tips and tools for customers to cut down on energy usage. • Spring Turn On: In total, 40,210 CFL light bulbs were distributed and 3,208 packages of CFLs were sold, for a reduction of approximately 2,047 MWh from the grid. • Keep Cool: Almost 6,000 inefficient air conditioners and over 1,300 old dehumidifiers were collected and recycled for a savings of about 1,525 MWh. • Summer Challenge: In total, 6,200 customers registered and 35% (approximately 2,200 customers) received the 10% bill credit, helping curb approximately 63 million kWh.

Objective 6: Generate 10 neutral news stories from the TOU launch event with a Media Relations Rating Points (MRRP) quality score of 50%. (Note: the 50% rating reflects the challenge of generating neutrality about a possible contentious and misunderstood pricing structure). Result: Thirty-six positive news stories were generated representing 10.2 million media impressions; MRRP Quality Score of 57.65%.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Employee, Member or HR Communication AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Work Plan for Women@Enbridge Employee Engagement Initiative

Entrant’s Name: Maria Morra

Organization’s Name: Enbridge Gas Distribution

Division 1: Communications Management Category 8: Employee or HR Communication

Title of Entry: Women@Enbridge Employee Engagement Initiative

Time Period of Project: January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2009

Brief Description: Launched in 2008, Women@Enbridge is an employee engagement initiative that provides networking and career development opportunities to engage, retain and prepare women for internal management positions.

1. Business Need/Opportunity

Enbridge Gas Distribution (EGD) is Canada’s largest natural gas distribution utility with 1.9 million customers in more than 100 communities across Ontario. EGD has a 162- year history, with approximately 1,900 employees and manages over $6 billion in assets. According to Catalyst, a research organization that advances women in business, the gas and oil industry is traditionally male dominated. At EGD, women make up approximately 36 per cent of the work force. Women are underrepresented in management and director level positions across the company. In 2008, female employees made up 25.5 per cent of leadership positions and 16 per cent of senior level positions. Additionally, 30 per cent of EGD’s workforce is eligible to retire by 2014. Ensuring that Enbridge is well positioned to attract and retain the most qualified people is a key priority. EGD also wants to maintain its high level of employee engagement and continue to receive “Best Employer” status as defined by Hewitt Associates, a Human Resources consultancy. This is one of the company’s top five business objectives. With these challenges in mind, Women@Enbridge was launched in 2008 to contribute to the company’s engagement strategy and to retain and advance women employees. The company wants to position the utility as an attractive place for women to have a career. At the time of the program’s launch, Ms. Janet Holder was named the company’s first- ever female president. Ms. Holder has become one of the main drivers and executive sponsor of Women@Enbridge within EGD. Statistics show that diversity translates into increased business value. Catalyst research indicates that companies with more women directors average significantly higher financial returns compared to those with less female representation. Diversity of

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thought is associated with better problem-solving, which helps make better business choices and leads to increased shareholder value. Enbridge is committed to creating a work place where all employees feel they can succeed in their careers.

2. Intended Audiences

Primary Audience:

In the program’s first year (2008), approximately 60 women in senior level positions with over 10 years experience at Enbridge were targeted. These were full-time female employees in management positions, over the age of 30 and represented various departments (finance, engineering, marketing, operations, business development, etc.) from the Toronto head office. In 2009, Women@Enbridge was expanded to all career levels. The primary audience consisted of 150 women who were full-time, non-unionized employees who asked to join the Women@Enbridge group. The women represented a variety of cultural backgrounds, work in different departments and are at different stages of their careers. In terms of career breakdown, 26 per cent of the women have less than five years experience, 15 per cent have five to 10 years experience and 59 per cent have over 10 years experience. Women@Enbridge is open to all employees in the Toronto area.

Secondary Audience:

Women@Enbridge also targets full-time male employees, when space is available at the events. Including men helps strengthen Women@Enbridge and increases awareness about the importance of gender diversity.

3. Goals/Objectives

The overarching goal is to leverage Women@Enbridge as an employee engagement tool that provides women with career development opportunities. To reach the goal, the committee set the following objectives: 1) Deliver 25 Women@Enbridge networking and career development opportunities from January 2008 to December 2009 and meet expectations of 85 per cent of participants.

2) Double participation level from 60 women to 120 women by December 2009 by opening up Women@Enbridge to all employees in the Toronto area.

3) Increase female employee engagement from 77 per cent to 80 per cent from December 2008 to December 2009.

4) Provide Women@Enbridge with role models by launching a Women of Energy network with women in Hydro One and Union Gas from January 2008 to December 2009.

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These objectives address the need to secure and retain the best talent, which leads to better business results. The objectives were measured by counting the number of networking opportunities, measuring employee event satisfaction and feedback through surveys and employee engagement scores from the company’s employee annual survey, which is conducted by Hewitt Associates.

4. Solution Overview

In order to meet the overarching goal and objectives, the following tactics were implemented. Assemble a Women@Enbridge committee: A four-person committee was assembled to expand Women@Enbridge and provide strategic direction. The committee meets monthly to review networking opportunities and to ensure targets are met. Provide all employees with exposure to Women@Enbridge: An open house was held in January 2009 to provide information, gather feedback on topics of interest and provide participants with a forum to ask questions. The committee used the feedback to create a strategy and plan 2009 events. Host networking opportunities for all employees: According to survey results, the majority of Women@Enbridge attendees are seeking networking events that provide exposure to role models and build informal networks. The most popular issues facing this group were work/life balance and career development. Based on this knowledge, the committee organized development opportunities that included external breakfasts, luncheons, evening receptions and on-site events at the Toronto head office. The committee sends a monthly email to the Women@Enbridge group and seats are filled based on demand. Host inclusive networking events: In 2009, three large-scale internal networking events were planned. For the first time ever, they were open to all employees. Based on feedback, these topics were considered important to enhance career and personal development:

• Women and Corporate Social Responsibility – Guest speaker Mimi Marrocco, Director of Continuing Education at the University of St. Michael’s College, discussed how women can implement corporate social responsibility in every day life. As part of the event, EGD made a $195,000 donation to Saint Elizabeth Health Care. • Community Lunch and Learn – Frances Lankin, President & CEO, United Way of Greater Toronto, discussed the importance of community giving. • Women in Leadership event – Panel discussion on women in leadership with three senior Enbridge executives, including a male executive.

Consistently gather feedback and highlight success: Women participants were surveyed after each event and feedback was used to plan upcoming events. Feedback was also used to develop stories for Enbridge’s intranet to increase awareness and highlight the success of events. Launch “Women of Energy”: The three largest utilities in Ontario are led by women – EGD’s Janet Holder, Laura Formusa of Hydro One and Julie Dill of Union Gas. Enbridge saw the opportunity to collaborate with the two utilities to create an informal network of female leadership. The three presidents formed “Women of Energy.” The primary goal was to bring senior women from the utilities together to provide exposure to role models, share success stories and network with participants.

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Enbridge took the lead and hosted the first-ever Women of Energy in June 2008. Approximately 100 women attended. Following this highly successful event, it was agreed that Women of Energy will be held semi-annually and each utility would take a turn hosting an event. In late 2009, Enbridge hosted its second Women of Energy event. Enbridge expanded the event to include women with less than five years career experience. Women of Energy was rated by Enbridge employee participants as the best event of 2009.

5. Implementation and Challenges

Budget and Logistical Challenge

In 2008, there was no assigned budget and this was the program’s largest challenge. In 2009, a business case was presented to the executive management team and the committee received a formal budget of $50,000 per year. This was a great accomplishment. Having a defined budget allowed the committee to grow the initiative by offering it to all employees. However, even though a budget was granted, management had the expectation that the budget must be used strategically to offer a variety of events that tie into business objectives. Some events only had limited number of seats, so the committee was required to source many types of networking opportunities to ensure interested employees were able to participate four times annually. As a result, the committee was able to plan 34 events for 150 women, including two off-site evening receptions with external speakers. In addition to planning the events, the budget also went to community sponsorships and donations to the United Way. Definition of Women@Enbridge

The committee was challenged to define Women@Enbridge. We had to present the program as supporting company’s business objectives and demonstrate that it was not just a women’s interest group. The committee also had to ensure that it was inclusive to all employees. Time Requirement Challenge

Women@Enbridge is an additional project outside of the committee’s full-time roles. The committee balances the work load by meeting on a monthly basis and splitting up the roles and tasks.

6. Measurement/Evaluation

Women@Enbridge had a successful two years and exceeded all objective targets. By doubling the networking opportunities and participation level, the committee was able to build on employee engagement and better position women for internal leadership positions. These results demonstrate the value of the program and the committee is currently working on a long-term plan that will further strengthen existing Human Resources programs. Objective one result: More than doubled the number of networking opportunities.

• In 2008, 14 networking events were offered and 178 women attended. In 2009, 34 networking event opportunities were offered and a total of 897 women attended. By offering more events, the program reached more women participants.

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• Exceed employee expectations – 94 per cent of women surveyed said Women@Enbridge met their expectations. This exceeds the original target of 85 per cent.

Objective two result: Increased awareness of Women@Enbridge by more than doubling employee participation level.

• In 2008, Women@Enbridge had 60 senior women participate compared to 2009, where Women@Enbridge had 150 women that represented all career levels. • 100 per cent of women surveyed would recommend Women@Enbridge to colleagues.

Objective three result: Women’s engagement score exceeded 80 per cent, putting Enbridge solidly into Best Employer category, as administered by Hewitt Associates.

• In 2008 women’s engagement was 77 per cent. This increased to 83 per cent in 2009. • According to informal feedback, women who participate in Women@Enbridge are more engaged than those who do not participate. • 82 per cent of those surveyed felt Women@Enbridge has helped build personal development and enhanced career potential at Enbridge.

Objective four result: Launched Women of Energy network on June 12, 2008.

• 90 per cent of women verbally commented how much they enjoyed the launch. Based on this feedback, it was determined that Women of Energy would become an events series. • The kick off event received coverage on the front page of the Business & Career section on the Saturday, July 19, 2008 edition of the Toronto Star. • 98 per cent of women surveyed rated the second Women of Energy that Enbridge hosted as “excellent or very good.” These events often are at capacity and have waiting lists.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Employee, Member or HR Communication AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name: Scott Windsor, Vice President, Corporate Communications Organization’s Name: Meridian Credit Union Title: A Proactive Genuine Partner Division/Category: 1-Communication Management/ 8 - Employee, Member or HR Communication Time Period of Project: June 2009 – December 2009 Brief Description: A communication project developed to create greater awareness of the Meridian Credit Union brand among employees.

Business Need/Opportunity With over 220,000 customers (Members), 1,000 employees, 44 branches and eight Commercial Business Centres in the Niagara Region and across Central Ontario, Meridian Credit Union is the largest credit union in Ontario. Created through the merger of two large, well-established Ontario credit unions in 2005, Meridian’s vision is to reinvent neighbourhood banking to become the dominant leader in outstanding relationship service. Internal surveys showed that Meridian employees were universally committed to the vision, which has guided the organization since it was founded. However, employees had varying interpretations of what was meant by and how to deliver on outstanding relationship service. As a result, Meridian was faced with the challenge of defining a revitalized brand strategy to support its vision - one that would represent what its Members truly want in their banking relationships, redefine the corporate culture to energize and align all its employees, and ensure Meridian stood apart from its competition. In 2009, a comprehensive brand strategy was developed based on extensive research, which included a survey of 1,500 consumers - half Meridian Members. The research tested more than 35 product and service ideas; identified what Members and others valued in their personal banking relationships; and explored perceptions of Meridian and Meridian employees. The strategy clearly defined how Meridian will reinvent neighbourhood banking for the first time - We will stand out as a proactive, genuine partner to Members: Offering new tangible and intangible benefits to Members; and becoming renowned for personalized service and the difference of being local. Meridian then developed a three-year roll-out plan that called for leader sponsorship and support, and employee awareness, understanding and buy-in, as the first phase in implementing the strategy across the organization. Intended Audiences Primary: Executives and Senior Leaders – individuals who lead and sponsor change; the Branch Network – managers and employees who deal directly with Members; Corporate Office – managers and employees who support those who deal directly with Members; and Project Stewards – individuals who plan and guide the implementation of initiatives to meet organizational objectives. Goals and Objectives A comprehensive employee communications plan was developed to launch the brand internally with two key objectives:

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1. All senior leaders, people managers and employees understand what the Meridian brand is and can easily articulate it by December 2009. 2. All leaders and other influential stakeholders are highly visible in communicating and supporting brand alignment across the organization by December 2009.

Solutions Overview The importance of internal communications in supporting the awareness campaign was recognized from the outset of the brand work. Corporate Communications was involved in brand research and all meetings with Meridian’s advertising agency in developing the brand strategy. The objective of their participation was to bring employee communications and public relations viewpoints to bear on the discussions in helping to shape all elements of the brand strategy. Guiding principles Communications tactics were developed based on the following principles: o Use simple, easy-to-understand language (minimize jargon); o Ensure reference and support tools are as clear, streamlined and easy to use as possible; o Reinforce and repeat key messages consistently across all mediums; o Provide business context and relevance wherever possible, e.g., linking the brand to Meridian’s vision and strategic business plan; and o Support an open, two-way environment where employees can provide feedback and ask questions. Key messages Key messages were intended to communicate Meridian’s new direction, the cultural shift required, key initiatives to help make the transition, and what it means to employees in their day-to-day roles. They included the following: o First and foremost, Meridian is going to stand out as a proactive, genuine partner to Members – becoming renowned for delivering superior personalized service, offering new tangible and intangible benefits to Members, and demonstrating the difference of being local. This is how we are going to reinvent neighbourhood banking. o This strategy is designed to make Meridian stand out against the competition with all of our Members and prospective Members, commercial and personal. o In 2009, we will be implementing key initiatives as initial ‘proof points’ of how we are changing; this work will continue in 2010 as we strengthen our cultural shift across all our policies, programs, and processes. o Every Meridian employee, in the branches and in our corporate offices, at every level in the organization will be involved in implementing this strategy. Execution The implementation of the communications plan occurred in four steps: 1. Obtain Board and Executive Leadership Team buy-in Presentations were developed and delivered by the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer to explain the brand strategy and accompanying internal communications plan. The Board and the Executive Leadership Team were asked for their active sponsorship and support in implementing the plan. Board of directors and executives were provided with key messages to support their role as brand advocates. The communication began with the Executive Leadership Team, then the

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Board of Directors, and then the Senior Leadership Team, including Branch Managers, Commercial Business Centres (CBC) Managers, Corporate Managers and Project Stewards, totaling over 100. 2. Engage marketing and other teams that will lead the implementation of the strategy The brand strategy was unveiled in presentations to the Marketing Team, Project Management Office, People Services and other teams, delivering a clear message that redefining the Meridian brand is a top priority and critical initiative that will require their support in all areas. 3. Engage all members of the Leadership Team The brand strategy was communicated to more than 100 members of the Leadership Team – Senior Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, Directors, Senior Managers, Managers, and Branch Managers – at an off-site meeting in September. The entire day was devoted to the brand strategy, with the CEO introducing the strategy and answering questions, followed by breakout discussion groups on how to implement the strategy. 4. Communicate to employees Face-to-face meetings and presentations to employees were the primary communication tactics used to engage and inform employees. They were supported by additional tactics across all mediums to reinforce key messages including the intranet, newsletters, and video, as outlined below. Face-to-face / Presentations All employees were introduced to the brand strategy by the CEO on a company wide “Early Word” conference call, which included a question and answer session. Additional information was posted on Mnet, the company’s intranet. Additional face-to-face presentations and supporting tactics were developed and delivered to reinforce key messages and build understanding in two distinct groups: ►Branch employees (approximately 700 employees) - On the front lines in delivering sales and service to Members. Presentations included a series of webinars held for Branch Managers, Financial Service Advisors, Financial Services Representatives, Assistant Branch Managers and the Branch Leadership Team to build their understanding of the Meridian brand, send a clear message that the brand is a top priority, and ask for their sponsorship and support on what is a critical initiative for the organization. In addition, Branch employees were selected to participate in intensive one and two-day training sessions on the brand and implementing the New Member Onboarding Program, the first tangible demonstration of the brand in action. The training sessions reinforced brand messaging and focused on “Taking Service to the Next Level” – as superior personalized service is one element of the brand strategy frontline employees can influence directly. ►Corporate office employees (approximately 300 employees) - In Meridian’s two corporate offices who support Branch employees and who are responsible for developing new products and services aligned with the brand strategy. Presentations were made to staff in both offices that focused on their role in working together and supporting Delivery by taking their service to the next level. Additional Supporting Tactics An ‘i Am Meridian’ employee blog was launched following the final presentation to corporate office employees. The blog is designed to encourage employees to share their experiences and to discuss the brand and how to implement the strategy, keeping it top-of-mind. A personalized special edition of the employee newsletter Smile was also sent to all employees with a gift of either a Meridian-branded jacket or tote bag to

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reinforce the ‘Proactive Genuine Partner’ messages and mark the second consecutive year in which Meridian had been selected as one of Canada’s Top 100 employers. Additional support was provided by a corporate video and information on the employee intranet. Implementation and Challenges Meridian’s budget for the employee communications plan in 2009 was CAD$40,000. The budget included: the production of presentations throughout the implementation for the various audiences; the production of a video; and the design, layout and distribution of a special edition newsletter for employees.

In developing and implementing the plan, a few challenges were experienced and addressed: 1. Having 1,000 employees spread out across southern Ontario posed a challenge in ensuring that all audiences received consistent messaging at the same time. Meridian was able to overcome this obstacle by developing key messages that were weaved through all presentations and communications. Extra time was also allowed for multiple meetings, viewings of presentations and Webinars, so that all key stakeholders could be involved. 2. Ensuring that key members of the Leadership Team delivered consistent messaging to employees through the appropriate communication vehicles was challenging. The primary method of communication used to reach employees was face-to-face communication. Where face-to-face communication was not possible or effective, alternative communication methods were used, such as video conferencing, teleconferencing and Webinars. 3. Introducing the Webinar as a new technological medium created a challenge. Initially, approximately 13 people were allowed to use the Webinar at a time. Once changes were made to the system, up to 1,000 people were able to participate in the Webinars. An employee guide was created and customized for each group to provide employees with instructions on how to access the Webinar. In addition, follow-up phone calls were made by the communications team for quality assurance to ensure that each employee invited to the Webinar had the appropriate tools to access and participate in the Webinar. Measurement/ Evaluation of Outcomes Surveys of all employees, including members of the Leadership Team, were conducted after each meeting to determine the effectiveness of the communications program and measure their level of understanding of the brand strategy and their role in its implementation. As a result of the communications initiatives: o The brand strategy was unanimously approved by the Board and the Executive Leadership Team; o When given the statement, “I now have a better understanding and awareness of the brand strategy and my role within it”: o 75 per cent of Senior Leaders strongly agreed or agreed; o 100 per cent of Project Stewards strongly agreed or agreed; o 100 per cent of Branch Managers strongly agreed or agreed. o The ‘Proactive Genuine Partner’ video was viewed 767 times - (approximately 75 per cent of all employees) o 84 per cent of respondents strongly agreed/ agreed that they have a better understanding of their role in reinventing neighbourhood banking after viewing the video. o 88 per cent of respondents strongly agreed/ agreed that they have a better understanding of how to be a proactive, genuine partner after viewing the video.

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o The ‘i am Meridian’ employee blog has 906 members and has received 34 posts since its launch in late November 2009. (Each post represents a branch, which means that 70 per cent of branches have created posts and 90 per cent of employees are members of the blog.) In addition, Meridian administers an annual Employee Engagement Survey to its employees. The survey was modified to include the following new statement: “I know what Meridian stands for, and what makes our brand different from our competitors.” Employees were asked to answer based on a 5-point scale, with 1 being extremely dissatisfied and 5 being extremely satisfied. Meridian employees scored an outstanding 4.5 out of 5. This score is in the 92nd percentile when compared with other organizations who ask this same question of their employees. The average answer for this type of question is 4.2 out of 5. The results of the survey indicated that after the employee communications plan was implemented, Meridian employees had a high awareness and understanding of the brand and their roles in making it a success.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Employee, Member or HR Communication AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name: Dave Bourne

Organization’s Name: The Scarborough Hospital

Division/Category: Division One: Communication Management Category 8: Employee, Member or HR Communication Title of Entry: “Just Clean Them” hand hygiene campaign

Time Period of Project: November 2008 – March 2009

Brief Description The “Just Clean Them” hand hygiene campaign was conceived to educate hospital staff, physicians and volunteers about the importance of proper hand hygiene in a healthcare setting, and to improve The Scarborough Hospital’s rate of compliance in anticipation of the provincial government’s first-ever public reporting requirement.

Business Need/Opportunity

In 2008, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term care began a program of public reporting on key hospital safety indicators, including rates for a number of common hospital-acquired infections. Under this program, the provincial government would collect data on over 150 hospitals and release it to the public. While this program was not intended as a ranking system for hospitals, it was quickly interpreted as exactly that by major media outlets. When the first set of indicators—Clostridium Difficile Associated Disease—was released in September 2008, The Scarborough Hospital had the worst result in the province, and the ensuing media coverage was substantially negative. The hospital’s reputation, which had already been battered by a number of other high profile issues including poor financial performance, staff and physician dissatisfaction, and a community-based lawsuit, suffered once again. The result of the negative reputation was being felt in a number of areas. Volumes in key departments, such as Maternal Newborn, were dropping. Staff turnover was high. And the constant need for crisis communication was hampering the executive team’s ability to proactively strategize and move the organization forward. Since many hospital-acquired infections can be prevented by proper hand hygiene, the April 2009 deadline for reporting rates of hand hygiene among our hospital’s healthcare workers presented an opportunity to publicly demonstrate a dramatic improvement in our commitment to patient safety. In the Corporate Communications department, we recognized the potential impact media coverage of the hand hygiene indicators would have on our organization’s reputation. We knew we needed to post a strong result, and we only had about six months to achieve our objective.

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From the start, we faced some significant challenges. Internal infection control audits showed our hand hygiene compliance across our two hospital campuses was well below 70%, with some units below 50%. Clearly, these rates needed to be improved, but determining a realistic target was difficult in the absence of comparative data from other hospitals. We had no idea what the provincial benchmark would be, though studies by the Centers for Disease Control indicated average compliance at healthcare facilities was estimated at below 50%. There was also some resistance from front-line staff who, in face-to-face interview, said increased hand hygiene added to what they considered to be overburdened workloads. Some also felt they were already doing a good job washing their hands, despite quantifiable evidence to the contrary.

Intended Audience(s)

1. Frontline clinical employees are the key audience for this campaign, primarily consisting of registered nurses/registered practical nurses, registered technologists, and Allied Health professionals. In terms of education, all hold, at minimum, university degrees or college diplomas; many are accredited members of national or provincial professional healthcare associations. This group is approximately 80% female, with an average age of 49. This is a unionized group representing about 78% of the workforce at TSH. Only a small percentage, approximately 20%, have dedicated access to the internet or intranet; as a group, printed material distributed directly to the units or face-to-face information sharing are the preferred communication vehicles. Timing of communication is also significant, as many of these employees work one of three shifts, making events or educational sessions more challenging to organize. Infection control surveys have shown that many frontline workers believe they are already washing their hands correctly; some resent being told how to do it correctly, and some simply believe they don’t have the time. Most frontline clinical staff report to nursing managers or patient care directors; thus, the use of management and executive-level Champions for the campaign would have a significant impact on this audience.

Goals/Objectives

The overall goal of this campaign was to post a hand hygiene compliance result that exceeded the provincial average and publicly demonstrated the hospital’s commitment to continuous patient safety improvements.

Our objectives included: 1. Achieving an overall corporate hand hygiene compliance rate of 90% by the March 31, 2009 reporting deadline. 2. Educating 100% of front-line staff about proper hand hygiene techniques, based on the Ministry’s auditing criteria. 3. Generating positive media coverage for our efforts to improve hand hygiene rates, as part of our overall commitment to patient safety. 4. Reducing the overall rates of infection in all of the Ministry’s publicly reportable patient safety indicators to the provincial average, or better.

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Solution Overview

To be successful, a focused hand hygiene campaign needed to be simple, with few key messages. It required a substantial visual presence and consistent repetition of the key messages across all internal communication vehicles. Senior executives, program directors, nursing managers and select frontline staff were to be used as hand hygiene Champions to help educate their peers, "cheerlead" the campaign and assist in audits. Their specific role was to help educate staff about the Ministry of Health and Long- Term Care’s “Four Moments of Hand Hygiene” (a new set of government standards designed to make hand hygiene integral to healthcare practice), model appropriate hand hygiene techniques, and participate in the auditing process, which required observing approximately 1,200 hand hygiene opportunities before the reporting deadline. The Ministry opted to base their audits on just two of their four moments of hand hygiene—defined as those immediately before and after patient contact. We focused our educational efforts on those specific moments to help affect the greatest change.

We branded our campaign with colourful hand prints and the slogan “Just Clean Them: It’s the right thing to do.”

Key Messages: Our approach was to appeal to altruism and pride, to remind employees that everyone needs to be involved in hand hygiene, and to show that it’s quick and easy to do. As such, our main messages were as follows:

• Just cleaning our hands is the right thing to do, for ourselves and for our patients. • Particular care must be taken to properly wash hands before and after patient contact. • Proper hand hygiene is easy and only takes 15 seconds. • Compliance reporting will be viewed by the public as a measure of our personal cleanliness.

Tactics: On Day One of the campaign launch phase in February 2009, thousands of colourful cling-vinyl hand prints were placed as a teaser throughout the hospital at germ “hot spots” including elevator buttons, hand rails, door knobs, telephones and more. After a week of generating “buzz” and conversation among staff, the first of our campaign posters were unveiled. The posters were supplemented by a variety of educational and awareness materials in our internal newsletters, on lapel buttons, on the intranet, on screensavers, and on t-shirts for the Champions—all prominently featuring the hand prints that branded the campaign. Toolkits were developed for the Champions. These helped standardize the training program for staff, and provided Champions with the necessary educational materials they would need. The materials were a combination of Ministry brochures, hospital- produced pieces to help remind staff about the “Four Moments of Hand Hygiene”, and individual bottles of hand sanitizer. Staff was also engaged at regularly scheduled meetings and by volunteers at hand hygiene booths set up in high traffic areas of the hospital. Managers were given details about the auditing process during regular monthly Leadership Forum meetings, and provided with educational materials to share with their own departments. These processes allowed us to solicit ongoing feedback throughout the campaign and help

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determine the effectiveness of various tactics. We discovered, for instance, that units still posting low rates of compliance would dramatically improve following a visit from one of the Champions. One of the barriers to compliance was identified as a lack of understanding of the Ministry’s Four Moments of Hand Hygiene, and face-to-face training proved a timely and effective strategy for overcoming this challenge. Normally a campaign of this nature would be led by the Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) department. However, due to the short time frame and the risk of significant negative media exposure, the Manager of Corporate Communications developed the overall strategy and oversaw its execution with input from various departments including IPAC and Professional Practice.

Implementation and Challenges

Budget: CDN$7,500 for campaign design and materials (does not include salary costs for campaign participants) Time frame: Initial planning began in November 2008, with a visible launch for all staff in February 2009. The campaign carried through March 31, 2009, when the data from the official hand hygiene audits was submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Challenges: Educating more than 4,000 staff, physicians and volunteers in a 24-hour organization was difficult. Coordinating shifts and scheduling training at two campuses and six satellite sites in a relatively short period of time required a concerted effort. The support of the administration for this campaign, however, allowed managers to make allowances for staff training in their departments, which greatly expedited the training process. Budget was certainly a factor. To keep costs to a minimum, the campaign creative materials were designed in-house. The hand print image used so extensively was purchased as an inexpensive stock image. The bulk of the budget went to printing of the cling-vinyl hands, posters, buttons and t-shirts. Certain elements that were in the original plan, including badge reminder cards with the Four Moments of Hand Hygiene, were not printed because of budget limitations. Human resources were another issue. Without the support of our 100 Champions, we could not have executed this plan. This campaign required nearly 170 hours of Corporate Communications’ staff time, as well as approximately 600 hours of Champions’ time.

Measurement/Evaluation

The success of the Just Clean Them campaign exceeded our greatest expectations—in fact, The Scarborough Hospital reported an overall compliance rate of 97%, the top ranking in the Province of Ontario. The provincial average was just 62%. We were able to recruit 100 hand hygiene Champions, who were trained on the Ministry’s Four Moments of Hand Hygiene and given the task of educating all of the hospital’s front-line staff. This “train the trainer” approach proved a highly effective model for ensuring the education of such a large group of employees in a very short period of time, and certainly contributed to the campaign’s overall success. During the

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six weeks of training by the Champions, we were able to educate nearly 100% of front- line staff, as tracked by mandatory sign-in sheets. The Ministry of Health publicly released the hand hygiene results at a press conference in late April 2009, and the ensuing coverage for The Scarborough Hospital was overwhelmingly positive. We issued a news release to coincide with the press conference, and quickly arranged media interviews with our senior executives. We were also successful in pitching follow-up stories on proper hand hygiene techniques to local print and broadcast media. Our overall coverage, as measured by Media Relations Rating Points, exceeded our expectations—we tracked 30 separate stories that included prominent mentions of our hand hygiene success, all with positive tone and an overall reach of more than 5.3 million. The top ranking has also had an enormously positive internal impact. Many staff posted copies of the media coverage on public bulletin boards, and many still wear their Just Clean Them buttons on their scrubs. Since the campaign began, The Scarborough Hospital has also seen a significant decrease in some of its reportable patient safety indicators, including C. difficile. At the start of the Just Clean Them campaign in November 2008, the hospital’s C. difficile rate was 0.7%—since the conclusion of the campaign in March 2009, that rate has now dropped to under 0.3%

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Strategic Management Process AWARD OF MERIT

Title of Entry: Richmond Hill Strategic Plan: A Plan for People, A Plan for Change Division/Category: Category 9: Strategic Management Process Organization’s Name: Town of Richmond Hill Entrant’s Name: Carol Moore (Manager, Communication Services) Time Period of Project: September 2007 – April 2009

Brief Description: Over a period of a year and a half, the Town of Richmond Hill undertook a process of developing and implementing a new Strategic Plan that would reflect its dynamically- changing community. The process involved utilizing a variety of communication strategies and tactics to gather input from as many members of the community as possible to determine what their hopes and expectations were for the future of Richmond Hill, especially those who had yet to or rarely participated in public meetings or involved themselves in their local government. *Please see Appendix B in Work Sample folder for more background on the Town of Richmond Hill.

Business Need/Opportunity:

In 2007, the Town recognized that there was a need to update the corporation’s current Strategic Plan and to better align its vision and goals with that of its citizens. In creating it, existing key documents including municipal plans and policies such as the Official Plan, Transportation Master Plan, long-term Financial Plan and Parks Master Plan were also reviewed and considered. Since the Town’s last Strategic Plan was created in 2001, the community had grown by over 20 per cent and, since 1990, the municipality’s population had more than doubled, increasing by over 100,000 residents. Through analysis of secondary research it was apparent that, over this time, the municipality had grown from a suburban bedroom community to a diverse urban centre made up of predominantly young, working families with average household incomes of over $100,000 and a well educated and highly skilled labour force. According to the 2006 Census, Richmond Hill is the only Canadian municipality with over 40 per cent of its residents having completed university. Reaching these residents was key to a successful project and was the reason why the Town pursued a wide variety of tools and tactics. Additionally, Richmond Hill has also seen an influx of immigrants over that time period, with the most prominent cultures being Chinese, Russian, East Indian and Arabic. The 2006 Census also showed that, for the first time in Richmond Hill's history, over half its residents were born outside of Canada. Richmond Hill is one of the few Canadian municipalities where this is the case. This presented another communication challenge that staff planned for with tactics targeted to these specific ethnic groups. As a result of these changes, it was clear that the Town’s current Strategic Plan was not as reflective of the community as it could be, therefore, a new plan needed to be developed involving the community in new and different ways so that it was not merely a document created by the bureaucracy. It would be, as Mayor Dave Barrow stated at the project launch, “a plan for the people, by the people.

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Intended Audiences:

Primary:

• Town of Richmond Hill residents (youth, families, seniors, specific ethnic groups, etc.) • Town of Richmond Hill businesses (owners and employees) • Local community groups & organizations (schools, youth, service, cultural and athletic)

Secondary:

• Town of Richmond Hill Mayor & Council • Town of Richmond Hill Staff (employees and employees as residents) • Local Media (including ethnic media to reach diverse populations, print and electronic) • Other levels of government (Region of York, Province of Ontario, Federal ) • Tourists and Visitors

Tertiary:

• Surrounding municipalities • Builders and developers *Please see Work Sample file for a more detailed analysis of audiences. A review of the Town’s available primary research documents (Corporate Communications Audit and Parks & Recreation Master Plan) showed that there were many people living and working in Richmond Hill who cared considerably about their community, but had not yet taken part or had their say in public consultation processes. In order to encourage them to share their ideas and opinions on what their town meant to them, project staff knew they would need to leverage those methods most familiar to each of the audiences to determine Richmond Hill’s collective vision and goals for the future. Goal:

To create a new Strategic Plan that better represents the goals and aspirations of the people of Richmond Hill through their input and contains a long-term vision for the community that respects the balance between people, the environment and the economy, while also inspiring change. Objectives:

• To introduce and create an understanding amongst residents that a single public consultation process would be conducted for creating two new important visionary documents: the Strategic Plan and Official Plan. • To engage the community to share their ideas and opinions on what they feel Richmond Hill represents to them now and into the future. • To develop and promote new and different opportunities for input in the public consultation process for all audiences in addition to legislated requirements. • To produce and achieve support for a new Strategic Plan document based on the community consultation process that contains a vision and goals for the Town of Richmond Hill for the next five years. • To communicate and implement the new Strategic Plan document with staff and the public.

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Solution Overview:

To ensure the new Strategic Plan represented the community as a whole, the Town’s strategy was to provide many options for public input by reaching out to the audiences in ways that were most familiar to them that may not be as commonly used by the Town (i.e. meeting notifications via Facebook, information updates through blogging, online surveys, etc.). With many people already too busy to attend evening public meetings, it was important that options were made available at times convenient to the audience and utilizing online communication methods helped achieve this. What made this plan truly unique was the extent and way in which public consultation was used in order to develop the plan. Based on the Census information and feedback from residents, the Town recognized that traditional communication tactics would not be sufficient if it was to receive public input from a variety of ages, ethnicities and education levels of residents. In the end, the Town reached out and heard from thousands of people from all facets and in many different ways that encouraged two- way dialogue rather than one-way communication, including attending community events, focus groups and roundtables where staff attended facilitated discussion and took notes, online surveys, Facebook group, blog, photo submission contest, youth essay contest, launch and wrap-up events and school presentations. The project was branded as People Plan Richmond Hill. In support of the brand, a logo was developed and displayed on all communication materials and a webpage (with a dedicated URL) was added to the Town’s website and regularly updated. Key messages in the project outlined what the People Plan Richmond Hill project was, why it was important for citizens to participate and how they could do so. The most important message was that anyone could provide input on what they felt the strengths and weaknesses of Richmond Hill were in any number of ways and how together we could build on them to make Richmond Hill a better place in the future. Implementation and Challenges:

Before developing a new Strategic Plan, the Town identified several issues that it needed to address in order to make the process successful. The biggest issue to overcome was going to be gaining enough input from the changing demographic of citizens who varied considerably in age, ethnicity and language to ensure a fair representation of the community’s ideas and opinions in formulating the Strategic Plan. Another issue was the time constraints that most residents, especially young professionals with families, already experienced without already attempting to take part in municipal public meetings. Budget

The Town’s communications budget for the People Plan project was as follows. $8,350 – People Plan Launch Event (pens, balloons, refreshments)

$6,200 – Promotional People Plan coffee mugs for Town staff

$2,000 – Promotional People Plan clothing for staff and ambassadors (fleece vests, long sleeve dress shirts, long sleeve mock neck shirts) $5,400 – One promotional People Plan fold-up backdrop (design and printing)

$5,100 – Three promotional People Plan roll-up banners (design and printing)

$5,600 – Promotional People Plan lamp-post banners and large street banner

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$3,400 – Promotional People Plan event banners

$1,500 – Promotional People Plan posters

$31,000 – Final Strategic Plan documents (printing)

$4,800 – Final Strategic Plan brochures mailed to all residents

$6,800 – Promotional People Plan photography

$80,150 – TOTAL

The Town also had costs absorbed into normal business practices such as writing, editing and graphic design done in-house by Communication Services. Additionally, most advertising was done in the local newspaper in which the Town already purchases weekly advertising space (called the “Bulletin Board”) to promote Town events and services. Space in the Bulletin Board was accommodated when needed and with costs covered by the annual advertising budget in Communication Services. Timing

People Plan Richmond Hill consisted of three phases, with Phases I & II being the focus of most of the public consultation and communication tactics: Phase I (“Blue Sky” Consultation - October 2007 to February 2008); Phase II (Community Roundtables & Online Survey - March to June 2008); and Phase III (Development of the Plan - July 2008 to April 2009). *Please see Appendix A in Work Sample folder for a detailed timeline of the People Plan phases. Special Circumstances

In the attempt to engage as many residents as possible, it was determined that some initial ideas needed to be modified to reach full potential and maximize resources. Communication Services staff suggested utilizing social media sites as tactics for communicating and sharing ideas with the younger demographic, specifically the photo- sharing site Flickr and the video-sharing site YouTube. Although this was a relatively new medium for government and in some cases not completely trusted by the public, it was decided to use it to communicate with a younger audience, one the Town had not paid much attention to or directly targeted before. However, early on in the campaign it became apparent that these sites were being under utilized. Instead photos were being submitted through the People Plan Facebook group and also through the online form through the website. To accommodate and further encourage these methods already being used rather than continue with Flcikr and YoTube, appropriate wording was added to the Facebook group and the website to emphasize that photos and videos could be submitted through each. Examples of historic “before” photos and current-day “after” photos of locations throughout Richmond Hill were also added to the website to further guide public input. By only focusing on the tactics that were eliciting a better response, staff did not expend excess time and energy on the under-utilized Flickr and YouTube services. Project staff met with many residents and community groups throughout the public consultation process. As was the goal, many of these people then became unofficial ambassadors themselves, informing their family and friends about the project and how to get involved. This worked in the Town’s favour as staff were approached by smaller pocket groups in the community who wanted to know more about the People Plan project. Due to their enthusiastic interest, staff agreed to these requests for presentations and discussion forums and ended up reaching a wider audience than originally planned.

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Measurement/Evaluation of Outcomes:

A number of both quantitative and qualitative measures were used to gauge the success of the Communication Plan. Between all the various methods for input, the Town officially received input from over 2,000 residents from all facets of the community, making it the largest response the Town has ever received for any public consultation project, especially a Strategic Plan. Although the great number of participants indicates a success almost on its own, what cannot be quantitatively measured is the commitment and enthusiasm many of these people displayed. Hundreds of members of the community volunteered considerable amounts of time and effort in providing their input at open houses, roundtable sessions and completing surveys, which was a main reason why the project was such a success. Many of these residents were volunteering and becoming involved in their community for the first time as “active citizens,” possibly indicating a chance for further involvement in future Town projects and acting as ambassadors. Phase I

• People Plan Launch event – over 100 attendees (Objective 1, 2) • Phase I Open Houses – over 60 attendees (Objectives 1, 2, 3) • Phase I Online Survey – 350 respondents (Objectives 1, 2, 3) • Targeted meetings with local groups requesting People Plan presentations – 93 attendees (Objectives 1, 2, 3) Phase II

• Phase II Roundtable Sessions – 91 attendees (Objectives 1, 2, 3) • Phase II Roundtable Online Surveys (3) – 302 respondents (Objectives 1, 2, 3) Phase III

• People Plan Summit – 50 attendees (Objectives 1, 2, 3) • Draft Strategic Plan Online Survey (public) – 72 respondents (Objectives 1, 2, 3) • Draft Strategic Plan Online Survey (staff) – 16 respondents (Objectives 1, 2, 3) Ongoing

• People Plan homepage (Sept./07 – Apr./09) – 2,961 visits (Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) • Strategic Plan homepage (Sept./07 – Apr./09) – 2,665 visits (Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) • Official Plan homepage (Sept./07 – Apr./09) – 2,456 visits (Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) • People Plan Facebook group – 110 members (Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) • People Plan Talk blog – 14 blog entries (Objectives 1, 2, 3) • People Plan Kits completed and returned – 34 (Objectives 1, 2, 3) • “What Makes Richmond Hill Great?” youth contest participants – 57 (Objectives 1, 2, 3) • # of community and ethnic group and organization members targeted – 93 (Objective 2) • Tone of written correspondence to Town regarding People Plan was predominantly positive and was inquisitive for more information on participating (Objective 2) • # of people People Plan Ambassadors engaged at public spaces and events – 529 (Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) • Favourable media coverage of People Plan from all media alerts, news releases and pitches in both English and ethnic publications (Objective 1, 2, 4, 5) • Released draft document, received feedback and modified and released final report with vision and four main goals based on public input (Objective 4)

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• Created new Strategic Plan document entitled A Plan for People, A Plan for Change with a new vision of “Richmond Hill, where people come together to build our community” along with four key goals based on all public consultation sessions (Objective 4) • Approximately 1,000 copies of final Strategic Plan document distributed across Town to participating residents, interest groups, staff, and upon request (Objective 5) • A copy of the final Strategic Plan document distributed across Town to every household (Objective 5) • Implementation plan that accompanies report (Objective 5) • Review of Strategic Plan every two years through an internal review process drawing from ongoing staff and resident feedback and modified as appropriate and as conditions dictate (Objective 5) • 50 plaques containing the new vision statement and goals in all main Town facilities in public areas as well as staff meeting rooms (Objective #5)

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Brand Communication AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Ashley Curran, Senior Consultant, GCI Canada Organization’s Name: GCI Canada Division/Category: Division 1: Communication Management, Category 10: Brand Communication Title of Entry: Canadians Love to Snoop Time Period of Project: Spring 2009

Brief Description: An integrated marketing communications campaign designed to elevate brand awareness of 3M Privacy Filters and ensure that Canadians, especially while travelling, are keeping their content on their laptops and mobile devises safe from prying eyes.

1. Business Need/Opportunity: The act of looking at someone else’s work on a laptop or mobile device in a public place is an irresistible urge and popularly known as “shoulder surfing”. Although casual glancing at someone’s screen may be a harmless urge for many, it could lead to serious ramifications if the wrong eyes see confidential information. This significant privacy issue was a perfect opportunity for 3M to highlight its Privacy Filters brand and specifically the new line of privacy films designed for mobile devices. Privacy Filters are a thin film placed on a laptop or blackberry that enables only the person directly in front of the screen to view the content. The beauty of 3M’s patented blackout technology is that it works like mini-Venetian blinds with invisible microlouvers making it impossible for side-glancers to look at on-screen content.

With an increasingly mobile workforce, the need to work on the road and to keep information secure is of elevating concern for those responsible for guarding personal or corporate information. GCI commissioned research by Angus Reid on road warrior working habits and security. The results from the study found that 63 per cent of business travellers admitted to sneaking a peek at someone else’s work. Our research further demonstrated the elevated need for 3M Privacy Filters with business travellers. Findings included:

• Of the 73 per cent of business travellers who say they have worked on a laptop, PDA or Blackberry in a public place, half say they have worked on confidential or sensitive information • Roughly half of business travellers admit they are not always aware of their surroundings when working in a public space • About one-third of business travellers access the kind of personal information that can be used for identity theft when working on their laptop, PDA or Blackberry in a public space

3M is a company built on invention and innovation. From Scotch Tape to Post-It Notes, the organization has a heritage of developing consumer and business tools that are everyday items with high brand awareness. And while most of us understand the uses for brands like Scotch Tape and Post-Its, the advantages and applications of 3M Privacy Filters are not always as apparent. Our mandate was to raise awareness about privacy issues for mobile workers which would in turn elevate the need for 3M Privacy Filters.

Each year, millions of dollars are lost through corporate information theft and 3M’s Privacy Filters help minimize this significant impact on companies. Through previous

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marketing and communications campaigns, 3M has discovered that by elevating the issue of privacy and corporate responsibility with key business decision-makers, they are able to effectively achieve demand for information about the product as well as increase sales orders. This was the crux of our business need – education to drive action. With 3M Privacy Filters, seeing truly is believing and GCI needed to communicate this brand messaging in a fresh and unique way to key influencers as well as drive trial of product in order to make an impact.

2. Intended Audience: Primary audience: Based on years of brand research, internal sales teams at 3M know that the key purchase decision-makers for 3M Privacy Filters are senior members of major corporations who have executive-level, human resource, privacy, procurement, risk management or information technology responsibilities.

Given that the product is needed the most when used in public spaces (coffee shops, airport lounges, airplanes, etc), it was decided that business travellers would be the ideal audience to target for this campaign. We identified this audience as the most at- risk of exposing confidential information and as such would also be the strongest advocate for 3M Privacy Filters. Based on business trends, location of key corporate head offices and location of government institutions, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa were chosen as key markets to sample.

Secondary audience: In addition to targeting corporate executives (through business travellers), the brand also wanted to expand its general awareness levels amongst consumers who spend a lot of time texting on their Blackberry or smartphone.

By focusing our outreach primarily on the business traveller, we were able to leverage personal experiences and reinforce messaging regarding general privacy issues and the need for 3M Privacy Filters.

3. Goals / Objectives: As a brand, 3M Privacy Filters has traditionally been promoted through existing 3M business channels which included business-to-business, government procurement projects and office catalogues. As such, the brand had a low awareness among general consumers and was even lacking within its target group of Fortune 500 decision makers. The objectives of the 2009 campaign were three-fold; • Promote high-volume sales of the new 3M Privacy Films • Raise brand awareness of the entire 3M Privacy Filters family • Stimulate product trial of 3M Privacy Films and 3M Privacy Filters

Our goals were:

• Business: • Due to client request, exact sales goals are confidential

• Communications: • Build brand awareness through media relations: • Criteria determined based on CPRS’ MR2P rating system: • 10 – 15 media hits with a focus on business and general news outlets • 9 million media impressions • Media coverage to include: • 80% Key message delivery • 90% Website mention • 80% Product image • 75% Spokesperson quote

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• Cost per impression $0.016 • To stimulate trial and secure a 3M Privacy Films sampling opportunity with an airline to deliver 15,000 product samples with an estimated reach of 26,000 people • In order to ensure brand awareness, we suggested the addition of an advertorial in an airline’s magazine to coincide with the sampling opportunity with a minimum reach of 500,000 people • To Increase web traffic to www.3mprivacyfilters.ca by 25%

4. Solution Overview: The solution was to create an integrated campaign which focused on elevating the issue of individual and corporate responsibility and the need to keep proprietary information on laptops and mobiles confidential by using 3M Privacy Filters.

Since mobile executives were the target audience, GCI looked for ways to communicate to them when it was most relevant: while travelling. And to ensure that in addition to the business traveller, the general consumer was reached, GCI created an integrated campaign that included a survey on Canadian business travellers, a media tour with a former spy, a campaign webpage on the brand’s site, targeted business traveller sampling program and a targeted advertorial.

The initial step was to acquire Canadian-specific data on business travellers and their shoulder surfing habits. GCI worked with Angus Reid to create a targeted survey and polled Canadian business travellers with a privacy and mobility theme that would directly link back to the 3M product attributes. The data provided the foundation for all the materials used for the campaign including the website, advertorial, spokesperson messaging and media materials.

Next, GCI created relevant key messages surrounding the importance of protecting confidential information and identified a campaign spokesperson who could endorse the product line and relevant messaging. Lindsay Moran, a former CIA agent and author of Blowing My Cover: My Life as a Spy was identified as an ideal fit. Moran, having worked with the brand in the U.S., was already familiar with the products and her credentials as a former spy gave the brand credibility and a strong news hook with business and consumer media. Moran worked alongside GCI to craft specific messaging relevant for the Canadian market and provided travel tips specifically for the business traveller. Each campaign component leveraged Moran’s content making the investment in hiring her worthwhile to the brand.

Lindsay Moran Media Tour To reach general consumers and to maximize the brand’s potential to reach business travellers, we organized a media tour featuring Lindsay Moran and her privacy tips. Depending on the media outlet being pitched, we would tailor Moran’s messaging to match that outlet’s focus. For example, when pitching BNN, we would focus on protecting company secrets whereas when pitching a consumer lifestyle reporter, we would focus on travel safety tips. This approach allowed us to reach business, travel and general lifestyle media. Tailoring brand messages to specific media was instrumental in us reaching as many Canadians as possible.

WestJet Partnership The next challenge was how to reach the coveted business traveller. GCI identified air travel as the ideal place to sample the product since reaching passengers in-flight provided the strongest backdrop to showcase the need for privacy while in small, confined spaces. And since 3M Privacy Films are smaller than their laptop screen counterparts, sampling the new 3M Privacy Films on board the flight was a feasible way to get product in-hand. The 3M Privacy Films also help showcase the innovative technology use in all 3M Privacy Filter products without requiring the user to have their laptop available. GCI identified and negotiated a sponsorship with WestJet airlines,

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which included in-flight sampling in key markets and a two-page advertorial in Up! Magazine that featured Lindsay’s travel tips. For the month of May, WestJet passengers flying between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa received a free 3M Privacy Film and all WestJet passengers could read about the brand in Up! Magazine. The advertorial also directed readers to the campaign website, created to coincide with the overall campaign.

Webpage In addition to the WestJet partnership and the media tour, we created a specific campaign webpage that highlighted Moran’s travel tips. It was important to have a landing site that linked with our campaign, could measure results directly and communicate specific program information. The webpage was called out on the brand’s homepage www.3mprivacyfilters.ca and provided another vehicle to use Moran’s content to reach our target audience.

5. Implementation and Challenges: GCI spent a significant amount of time at the outset in order to plan and lay the foundation of the campaign as well ensure continuity across all components. The initial plan for this program contained a larger online component with a strong social media plan designed to position 3M Privacy Filters as a leader in privacy issues and a resource for business travellers. Given budget restraints, the larger social media component was downsized as it was decided that the WestJet elements and the Moran partnership were more cost-effective and strategic in driving the brand’s immediate needs. Even with a smaller online presence, the overall complexity of the campaign meant constant scrutiny of the budget ($150,000 fees and expenses) but with careful attention to detail and tough negotiations, GCI was able to come in under budget, which allowed us to bring back U.S.-based Moran for an additional media day in Toronto.

Given the numerous components and the level of integration between each component (ie. ensuring survey data was included in press materials, webpage and advertorial) and the number of agreements that needed to be finalized (Angus Reid survey, Spokesperson, Airline) the timing was very tight and it was a struggle to ensure all campaign elements (including media tour) would coincide with the product’s launch on May 1st, 2009.

Working with long-standing partner Angus Reid made the implementation of the research seamless and insightful. Developing a new relationship with WestJet, on the other hand, was much more time intensive. Negotiations were lengthy and very detailed because of on-flight storage concerns, training of flight attendants, ensuring advertorial deadlines were met and coordination of program elements.

There were also some product branding challenges. Because the line-extension product that was being sampled in-flight was new (3M Privacy Films), the retail packaging wasn’t ready yet. Samples were very simple and only had the product name causing some confusion to passengers as to what the product was and how it was used. To overcome this, GCI increased the message delivery from the flight attendants. Passengers learned about the sampling program over the loudspeaker and then were able to ask the flight attendants questions about the products who, because they had been thoroughly trained, were able to answer questions and highlight the brand’s features.

Initial pitching was difficult because the H1N1 flu had just broken out and major news outlets were not interested in covering anything else. Once the initial outbreak passed, media were easier to reach and expressed excitement about the prospect of meeting with a former CIA agent. Some media were so excited about Moran and her book (published in 2004 about her experience in the CIA) that the story strayed away from travel tips and the brand. GCI had anticipated that this might occur and had worked with Moran leading up to the tour to ensure she had bridging strategies in place and was

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able to steer the media back to the brand messaging. Regardless, media interest was so strong that we decided to bring Moran back the following week . By tailoring the pitch to suit the specific outlet, GCI was able to secure a variety of outlets from Business focused CTV NewsNet and BNN to general consumer news segments like Jee Yun Lee of CityNews.

6. Measurement / Evaluation: I. Results: • Business objectives/results: o Objective: Increase high-volume sales of 3M Privacy Filters for Mobile Devices o Result: Due to client confidentiality, we are unable to share specific sales targets. But as a direct result of seeing Moran interviewed on television, a corporate consumer goods company placed a large order of 3M Privacy Films for their entire Canadian sales team. An order valued at over $10,000, this was a great example that showed our program was having the intended effect to raise awareness, increase sales, and highlight the value of PR and set the stage for further PR investment in the brand. • Communications objectives/results o Objective/result: Stimulate product trial GCI met the objective of stimulating product trial and gave away 11,000 units of the 3M Privacy Filter for mobile devices on board WestJet flights in the Eastern Triangle. Although under target in number of samples in hand, the product giveaway was announced over the loudspeaker in the plane so we still hit our estimated reach of over 26,000 passengers during the month of May. The advertorial had a reach of 1.4 million impressions, coming in at a cost per impression of $0.01. o Objective/result: Build brand awareness, CPRS MR2P results: . 58 media hits (goal was 10 – 15 hits) . 20,504,357 million impressions (exceeded goal by 222%) . 91 % key message (goal 80%) . 95% brand mention (goal 80%) . 97% product image (goal 80%) . Cost per impression $0.005 (goal$0.016) . Web traffic increased by over 300% on days of major media interviews

Overall, the campaign met and exceeded the outlined objectives and the program has received significant praise from 3M’s North American executives.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Social Responsibility Including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company

Organization Name: Kraft Canada / Cowan & Company

Division/Category: Division 1/Category 11: Social Responsibility

Title of Entry: Kraft Hunger Challenge 2009

Time Period of Project: February 2009 – June 2009

Brief Description: A national annual fundraiser to support Canadian food banks, the Kraft Hunger Challenge required a refresh to maximize awareness and support for Canada’s hungry in difficult economic times.

Business Need/Opportunity In the midst of a recession, 2009 was a critical year for Canada’s hungry. Food bank usage across Canada was up an average of 20 per cent and Canadian non-profit organizations were reporting a significant decrease in corporate and personal donations.

Kraft Canada wanted to use the 2009 Kraft Hunger Challenge to educate Canadians about the problem of hunger in their communities and to encourage them to take action to reduce the problem. The Kraft Hunger Challenge is an annual national matching gift program in partnership with Food Banks Canada where Kraft Canada matches Canadians’ donations – dollar for dollar – up to a maximum of $150,000. Overseen by Food Banks Canada funds raised through the campaign are shared among Provincial Members and food banks across the country to purchase much needed food to keep food bank shelves stocked.

As donations were needed more desperately than ever in 2009, for the fifth year of this annual campaign we wanted to tweak and strengthen the campaign to ensure its message resonated with donors, food banks and media.

A core component of the strategy development for the 2009 campaign was to ensure the campaign was held at a time when it would have the biggest impact with its intended target audiences while also being as efficient and easy as possible for the food banks and Provincial Associations that had participated in the 2008 campaign. As the local food banks are key to ensuring the messages for the campaign are delivered at the grassroots level, their involvement in the campaign is essential for its success. Food Banks Canada had solicited feedback from participating food banks following the 2008 campaign and respondents had indicated the timing of the campaign (it traditionally ran for the month of September and focused on Back-To-School hunger) was challenging because many food bank volunteers are on holidays during the summer months leading up to the campaign and because it was close to the busy Thanksgiving food drives.

With so much discussion taking place within the media, government and public about the recession and its impact on Canadians, Cowan & Company (C&C) recommended moving the Kraft Hunger Challenge up in the year to take advantage of the high interest in the impact of the recession on Canadians. To raise the target donations in the difficult economic climate of 2009 it was essential to convince the public about the genuine problem of hunger in Canada and that they needed to take action to reduce it.

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Entrants’ Role in Project • Lynne Galia, Kraft Canada – Strategic direction and overall project management • Mindy Turner, Kraft Canada – Project management and implementation • Marzena Gersho, Food Banks Canada – Strategic direction and project management • Kayley Collum, Food Banks Canada – Project management, food bank/provincial association liaison and coordination, and media relations • Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company – Strategic planning, communications management, media relations • Katherine Clark, Cowan & Company – Strategic planning, message development, materials development, media relations • Sonja Andic, Cowan & Company – Media relations • Provincial Associations and Food Banks across Canada – played an instrumental role in implementing the program from coast-to-coast

Intended Audiences With a focus on raising awareness of hunger in Canada campaign and maximizing donations to the Kraft Hunger Challenge, the primary intended audiences for the Kraft Hunger Challenge were: • General adult public residing in communities with food banks across the country • Food bank donors • Media – with a primary focus on local community media, secondary focus on national media

Equally important audiences are the Food Bank staff and volunteers who run and implement the Kraft Hunger Challenge each year. As there had been concerns raised during previous campaigns about the effort levels required to implement the campaign at the grassroots level, it was very important this year’s recommendations address the food banks specific needs and requirements for the campaign to be effective.

Goals/Objectives • Create coast-to-coast awareness of the hunger issue in Canada and highlight Kraft Canada’s support of food banks to get people to donate to their local food banks through the campaign. As media relations was primary communications tool given budget constraints, goal was to ideally exceed the campaign’s best ever media relations results from the 2007 campaign which succeeded in generating 46 media hits and 3.1 million impressions with local media across the country. • Leverage Kraft Canada’s financial donation to raise exponentially more money to help feed Canada’s hungry. Goal was to raise more than $300,000 for food banks and ideally exceed last year’s total dollars raised through the campaign despite the challenging economic times. • Maximize the number of food banks participating in the campaign in order to maximize awareness and donations through the campaign.

Solution Overview In developing the solution, we developed and adopted the following strategies: • Streamline initiatives to make it easier for local food banks to communicate and participate in Kraft Hunger Challenge. • Tie campaign to more newsworthy theme/date to increase media coverage and public awareness. • Empower local food banks to promote Kraft Hunger Challenge (KHC) and National Hunger Awareness Day in their communities.

After analyzing the feedback Food Banks Canada’s had received from participating food banks following the 2008 campaign, we recommended tying the campaign to National Hunger Awareness Day on June 2 - a campaign led by Food Banks Canada to raise awareness of the issue of hunger in this country. It was a perfect fit as Kraft Canada was one of the national sponsors of National Hunger Awareness Day. At the time, National Hunger Awareness Day was a recognized National Day but there was fairly low awareness

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of it among the Canadian public. An opportunity existed to use National Hunger Awareness Day to educate Canadians about the problem of hunger at home and to position KHC as a key call-to-action – by donating to the KHC Canadians could help the problem of hunger in Canada. Additionally, because local food banks were previously being asked to initiate awareness campaigns for National Hunger Awareness Day in June, KHC in September and then their own food drives in October – we believed that by somewhat consolidating these campaigns (although National Hunger Awareness Day remained a separate campaign of its own managed by Food Banks Canada) it would help to ease the overall work load of the food banks which would increase participation.

In light of this research and analysis, we moved the Kraft Hunger Challenge to June and adopted National Hunger Awareness Day (June 2) as the theme for the campaign. In response to food banks’ concerns about the length of time of the campaign (which previously ran almost the entire month of September) and to drive a sense of “you must act now” among target audiences we shortened the campaign’s timeframe to 10 days. Through a range of local and national initiatives, the Kraft Hunger Challenge kicked off on National Hunger Awareness Day/June 2, 2009. Canadians were invited to make a donation online at www.foodbankscanada.ca, by mail, phone or in person at a participating food bank in order to qualify for Kraft’s matching donation from June 2 to 12, 2009.

Implementation and Challenges To communicate all the details of the campaign, we first soft sounded the changes with food banks/Provincial Members and then sent an email from Kraft Canada to officially announced the new dates and engage the food banks. We edited and updated marketing materials from previous campaigns to reflect the new National Hunger Awareness Day theme and timing and initiated media relations in the media hubs of Toronto and Montreal. The national news release was distributed over the newswire in English and French on June 1 to announce the start of the campaign on National Hunger Awareness Day, the following day. Online ads promoting KHC with a link to Food Bank Canada’s website were developed and posted on Kraft.ca throughout the campaign as well to help drive donations and awareness of the hunger issue.

Each year the local food banks do an exceptional job generating awareness, media coverage and donations through this campaign. To help the local food banks raise as much money as possible and generate local media coverage and thus public awareness, Cowan & Company created template marketing materials with a strong emphasis on National Hunger Awareness Day. In each piece KHC was positioned as a call to action, including Community News Release, Media Alert, Story Ideas and Media Pitch Script, Donor Letter, and Ad Mats. These templates were designed so they could be easily tailored for each food bank to highlight the problem of hunger in their local community.

To provide more assistance and tools for the food banks to help drive donations, we also developed a matte story, focused on National Hunger Awareness Day with KHC as the call to action. This story was distributed to English and French community newspapers across Canada through Canadian Community Newspaper Association and was successful in generating pickup of the article both online and in community papers. We also developed and issued a photo alongside the news release to provide artwork to accompany the story and draw more attention to empty shelves at food banks and the KHC, as well as creating online ads to promote the campaign on kraft.ca.

The budget for this campaign was approximately $31,000 (a Communications Budget of approx. $13,500 in fees and $2,500 in out-of-pocket expenses for photography, design, wire distribution, matte story distribution, etc and approx. $15,000 for Food Banks Canada to cover the webpage creation for the campaign, manage donations and liaise with food banks/provincial associations) – in addition to the $150,000 donation for the campaign.

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The Communications Budget for this campaign was a constraint as it does not allow for paid advertising or in-store promotions which would be beneficial to raising public awareness of the cause and the fundraiser across the country. Although we created online ads for Kraft.ca and print Ad Mat templates, as well as a letter focused directly on local donors, the majority of the communications budget was focused on develop media relations program to create awareness for the program.

The corporate branding of this campaign remains a key challenge to generating media coverage for the campaign. However, as raising profile for Kraft Canada’s leadership is a core objective there is little that can be done about this except to continue to stress the campaign’s altruistic nature. This is more of a concern with “national” media than community media which is one of the reasons community media is a primary audience.

Timing was a key restraint for this campaign as we did not decide to move up the timing of the campaign (from September to June) until February which meant that the provincial associations and food banks had to quickly plan and organize their local initiatives. Additionally, as media relations was our key tool for building public awareness, the majority of long lead media deadlines had passed eliminating many key channels for building awareness of the hunger issue - although Chatelaine did run a mention of Kraft Canada’s work with Food Banks Canada in its December edition based on our media outreach.

Measurement/Evaluation In measuring the success of this campaign we succeeded in achieving – and surpassing! - our objectives:

Goal: Create coast-to-coast awareness of the hunger issue in Canada and highlight Kraft Canada’s support of food banks to get people to donate to their local food banks through the campaign. √ As media relations was the primary communications focus for building awareness and donations for this campaign, given budget constraints, the campaign was successful in creating significant coast-to-coast media coverage and public awareness. The campaign successfully generated more than 98 media hits and more than 10 million impressions for the Kraft Hunger Challenge across the country which played a key role in generating awareness of the campaign and the hunger issue in Canada. This compares with more than 1.75 million impressions and approximately 40 media hits in 2008 and more than doubling the results of the most successful media relations efforts from the 2007 campaign. The 2009 campaign was successful at generating local coverage from coast- to-coast with local media. Although many community newspapers don’t have large readerships which impacts the campaign’s impressions, they are well read by their local residents who were a key target to securing donations for their local food banks. This astounding increase in media coverage can be directly tied to our successful strategy to combine KHC with National Hunger Awareness Day and make the campaign simpler for food banks to promote through consolidation, template tools and overall PR support.

Goal: Raise more than $300,000 for food banks. √ The 2009 campaign was successful in surpassing the fundraising targets and reaching a total of $590,582 for food banks across the country including Kraft’s matching donation. The results of this year’s campaign were slightly more than last year’s results ($2,000 more raised this year). Although these levels have not matched previous year’s KHC campaigns, they are still a very positive result in the challenging economic times of 2009 when so many fundraising campaigns and charitable organizations found it difficult to raise funds.

Goal: Maximize number of participating food banks. √ Approximately 40% more food banks participated in this year’s campaign than in 2008 demonstrating the success of our strategy and efforts to simplify the implementation of the program and address the specific needs of food banks. The increased number of

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participating food banks also played a key role in surpassing our goals for donations and spreading public awareness about the cause.

These exceptional results demonstrate the strategies we adopted for this year’s campaign - tying the campaign to National Hunger Awareness Day to both create a stronger media hook, simplifying the campaign requirements for food banks and supporting the campaign with strong media relations outreach and tools – paid off. Not only did the campaign succeed in achieving Kraft Canada’s goals and escalating public awareness of Canada’s hungry, but more importantly the Kraft Hunger Challenge succeeded in helping to feed the more than 750,000 Canadians who use food banks each month.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Social Responsibility including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Lorna Freeman, Senior Consultant

Organization’s Name: Environics Communications Inc. (ECI) and White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) Division/Category: Division 1 (Communications Management) / Category 11 (Social Responsibility including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development) Title of Entry: White Ribbon Campaign Challenges Men to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

Time Period of Project: May – October 2009

Brief Description of Project: ECI joined forces with the White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) in a pro-bono capacity – donating $20K in professional services – to generate attention for Toronto’s first Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event (WAMIHS): a fundraising initiative where men walked one full mile in women’s high-heel shoes to bring awareness to the social issue of violence against women and girls (and enhance the long-term well-being of women in Canadian society). ECI and WRC drove public awareness by developing a socially relevant communications strategy that targeted GTA-based men and women ages 18-49. 1. Business Need/Opportunity:

The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) is the world’s largest not-for-profit effort of men working to end violence against women. Founded by a group of Canadian men who felt they had a responsibility to speak out against violence against women after the horrific Montréal massacre of 1989, this passionate organization is now present in over 60 countries around the globe. Today, wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge to never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women and girls. In 2009, the Toronto-based Canadian chapter of WRC wanted to generate public awareness for issues of violence against women to invoke change in a positive and impactful way. As an organization, they do not receive any core funding support from any level of government and rely solely on events and fundraising for their survival. As a result, they planned Walk a Mile in Her Shoes (WAMIHS): an event where men would walk one full mile en-masse in high-heeled women’s shoes to raise money and awareness for WRC. Environics Communications (ECI) partnered with WRC to drive public awareness for their social issue and event, in a pro-bono capacity, for a few reasons. Firstly, as Canada’s #1 workplace for women, according to the Great Place to Work® Institute, ECI has an affinity for causes that address and enhance the long-term well being of women. Secondly, our agency is predominantly female; working with WRC to raise public awareness for this social issue is the right thing to do to make the world a safer place for women. According to research provided to us by WRC, Canadians overall feel that an awareness shift needs to happen regarding issues of violence against women. According to a 2005 study conducted by Pollara – a Canadian public research firm – 75% of Canadian men feel it is important that men speak out against violence against women. Environics Research Group data from 2002 also showed that the majority of Canadian men feel

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that men are not doing enough to address this social problem. Further, Statistics Canada data revealed that 51% of Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16. These statistics showcase that gender-based violence is a problem in Canada but it is often kept closeted due to issues of shame and embarrassment. WRC and ECI had the opportunity to join forces and tackle this uncomfortable social issue together and bring about change by encouraging public dialogue and an open display of support. The WRC team in Toronto knew of other large North American cities where WAMIHS events had been successful at driving public awareness and raising funds to help eradicate issues of violence against women; cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Kansas City (to name a few). The opportunity was clear: holding a WAMIHS event in Toronto and developing a communications strategy to support it was a viable way for WRC to drive public awareness for the issue of violence against women while also helping them raise funds for their work in Canada. WRC also understood that, in addition to holding an event, communications support was required to generate the strongest possible public awareness for their social issue and walk. Together we developed a communications plan that would:

• Drive public awareness of WRC and the event. WRC needed a strategic and compelling public relations outreach campaign to make people aware of WAMIHS as well as the issue of violence against women and girls to bring change. • Create and maintain a consistent voice. Comprehensive, clearly-written communications were necessary to align messaging. This was the first time WRC had done PR; they needed help ensuring that consistent information and messaging about their cause, event details and a drive to web were reflected in all coverage to effectively raise awareness for WRC and WAMIHS.

2. Intended Audiences:

Our main audience for this campaign was men and women, ages 18-49 living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and surrounding areas. Our ultimate goal was to encourage men to participate in WAMIHS. To do this, we targeted them as well as their wives, sisters, mothers and friends (women who would encourage and support them in the walk).

3. Goal and Objectives:

Our goal was to build public awareness for WAMIHS to help drive participation, funds and social consciousness for WRC to enhance the long-term well being of Canadian women. From this goal, we collectively set five specific objectives to define what we deemed to be “successful” as a team:

1) Generate media coverage that contains our key message: WRC is holding WAMIHS on October 1st, 2009 at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto to help raise awareness for issues of violence against women and girls. • Target earned impressions: five million, with an MRP score of at least 75% • 100% branded coverage • At least 75% of pre-event coverage to drive to web (so people can sign up to participate in WAMIHS)

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• Book at least five pre-event interviews and facilitate at least five on-site interviews with Todd Minerson, Executive Director of WRC 2) Secure participation from notable community influencers at WAMIHS • Event participation from at least one prominent media personality and one Toronto City Councillor 3) Meet the participation goal of 250 walkers / 80 volunteers; secure 500 new donors for WRC 4) Help raise $60,000 in funds for WRC through WAMIHS 5) Impact the community in a positive way and set the stage for WAMIHS to become an annual event (to be determined subjectively by feedback from media, participants and community members)

4. Solution Overview: For our public awareness campaign to succeed, it was essential that our message clearly resonate with our target audiences. Our strategy involved engaging GTA based men and women, ages 18-34, through mediums they know: trusted media outlets (whether it be television, radio, print, or online based) as well as the influencers they respect. 1) Building attention through media coverage: To tell our story and connect with people before and on event day, we conducted customized outreach to media. For pre-event outreach we connected with: • GTA lifestyle television media. We crafted targeted emails challenging hosts to an on-air high-heel race with WRC Executive Director Todd Minerson, provided them with our media release and drove them to the website. • GTA radio outlets. We created an eye-catching package containing a pair of large, red, man-sized high-heel shoes and a chat sheet that gave radio personalities tips on how to walk in them. • Online/Print media. We built a targeted list of online media and print media that our key audiences read (including calendar listings editors), sent them our electronic media kits which included a targeted pitch and a news release containing information related to the event, WRC, and the WAMIHS website (where an event PSA, link to Facebook and the link to Twitter were also housed).

As part of our strategy to generate coverage leading up to the event, we also stayed on top of news stories that related to issues of violence against women and connected with the journalists / bloggers covering topics such as the Stephanie Rengel murder in Toronto or the Chris Brown sentencing in Los Angeles. By targeting the media who were writing about this relevant, hot issue and events related to it, we were able to connect with individuals who were compelled to address violence against women, get them interested in WAMIHS and ultimately generate more coverage for our event. It was also imperative that we generate visually-impactful, day-of-event coverage. It’s not often that groups of men in high-heel shoes walk through downtown Toronto; we felt that people needed to see this amazing visual to understand the role that men can play in ending violence against women. To get media to capture these visuals, we:

• Encouraged media participating in WAMIHS to pitch a feature piece about themselves to their media circle. • Encouraged media who were affiliated with television programs to walk in the event and create a feature piece about themselves for their program.

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• Sent television reporters, print assignment editors and photo editors a media alert a week before the event as well as the morning of the event; followed up to pitch, secure and track attendance. • Posted the media alert to Canada Newswire (CNW) one week out from the event as well as the day of the event. • Managed media relations on site: Supervised the media desk, distributed media kits (containing the release and relevant bios), showcased key photo / filming opportunities, and encouraged them to interview Todd Minerson. • Spoke with participants prior to the walk and selected a few who were comfortable sharing their personal stories with media; introduced journalists to these participants on-site and offered them as interview subjects. • Hired and managed an on-site photographer, selected some key photos and sent them to our media list immediately following the event. We also selected one image and posted it on CNW alongside our day-of media alert.

2) Creating WRC ambassadors who influenced others to participate in WAMIHS. We knew that WRC was supporting a worthwhile social issue and that most people responded positively to their work once they were aware of it. Our strategy to help build ambassadors took multiple forms, and included: • WAMIHS partner kick-off party: An exclusive fundraising launch for corporate partners, sponsors and select media (who had a connection to the cause or had expressed support in previous years). WRC Executive Director Todd Minerson gave them a “sneak peek” of the WAMIHS Public Service Announcement (PSA), print creative and website. Held at the Spoke Club in downtown Toronto, attendees included the WRC board, corporate partners, WAMIHS event sponsors, and media personality Erica Ehm (MuchMusic, YummyMummy.ca), among others. More than 75 people attended, and a number of them showed their support by inquiring about ways they could further get involved in the upcoming event. • Reaching out one-on-one to high-profile influencers: We were focused on getting recognizable people involved in the event, both as walkers and as speakers. To do so, we brainstormed with the WRC and researched public figures that would be likely to support our cause and event. Once we established our list of media and city councillors to approach, we gave every interaction a “personal touch”, communicating via personal emails and phone calls. Our technique was successful; we secured event participation from the following Canadian media personalities and political figures: • Enza Supermodel, event speaker and “walking coach”: A prominent trans-sexual media personality in the Toronto area, this Metro Toronto newspaper columnist knows first hand how to teach men to walk in heels! • Kim Parlee, event emcee: Passionate about ending violence against women and girls, this female host anchors regularly scheduled programs on Business News Network (BNN), Canada’s cable business news channel which has a strong male following. • Stu Jeffries, event emcee: A father who’s adamant about teaching his son to respect and treat women well, this former CBC Television host is also a morning vee-jay on EZ Rock, a popular Toronto radio station. • Emmanuel Belliveau, participant: This HGTV and Discovery host admitted to having a strong personal connection to the cause and was adamant that something be done to turn the tide on this social issue. In addition, this relationship resulted in Emmanuel Belliveau being featured in an Entertainment Tonight Canada segment about his participation in the event. • Wilder Weir, participant: As host of Oh So Cosmo on Cosmopolitan TV, Wilder knew that his TV show’s audience would enjoy watching him walk a mile in women’s shoes; this also resulted in a dedicated WAMIHS segment on his program.

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• , participant: This Toronto City Councillor, former and CBC journalist, and local activist is known for drawing attention to community issues; a perfect fit for WRC. • Adam Giambrone, participant: This Toronto City Councillor and current chair of the Toronto Transit Commission is known locally for his commitment to issues of public safety. • Tapping into the social-media sphere: The WRC team developed and managed several social media tools that helped connect people to the cause and the walk, encouraging them to talk about it and get involved themselves. These included: • Facebook: A dedicated Facebook group was set up for WRC. Group members were encouraged through postings, managed by WRC staff, to encourage friends to join the group, sign up to take part in the walk at the WAMIHS website, and volunteer their time at the event. • Twitter: A WRC Twitter account was set up and followers were regularly updated, via tweets from WRC staff, about the event, how to get involved via the website, and issues of relevance in the news (posting links to news stories that dealt with issues of violence against women and girls to emphasize the need for change). • YouTube: The PSA was uploaded to the popular video-sharing site so that WRC could draw attention from the site’s regular visitors. Posting the PSA on YouTube also gave online users another virtual space where they could potentially tap into WRC’s message (other than the WAMIHS website, where the video was also housed). • Building and entering our own team: As partners with WRC, ECI felt it was only right that we walk the talk and get the men of our organization involved. We assembled all the men in our office (ten men in total), provided them with women’s shoes in their size, a female ECI walking buddy, and put out a company-wide call for support. On event day they were out there strutting their stuff with all the other men!

5. Implementation and Challenges: 1) Budget: This was a pro-bono campaign for ECI. At the onset, we committed $20,000 worth of time / professional fees to this cause. To stay within the allotted budget, we had to be efficient with our time while still ensuring we were delivering solid results. There were times where we wanted to do more, but we had make sure we were only engaging in tasks that would meet the goal of building public awareness for WAMIHS to bring about change. This was challenging given the passion that the team felt for WRC’s cause. To stay on task and deliver on budget, we built an in-depth, detailed critical path and hours allotment, and stuck to it. 2) Year one: 2009 was WAMIHS’s first year in Toronto; everyone on the team was planning, facilitating, and executing this public awareness campaign and event, with no benchmark to draw from. To set our program up for success, we tapped into best practices we’d built as an agency from other, similar campaigns we’d worked on and used them to build a suitable approach for this program in partnership with WRC. Overall, this approach proved successful for us. 3) Standing out in a saturated market: Since our task was to help drive attendance to a Toronto event – a market where numerous media events happen daily – we had to ensure our communications were compelling and attention-grabbing. In addition, we had a smaller pool of journalists to whom we could outreach as this was not a national public awareness campaign supported by events happening in other cities; there was one event only (in Toronto). 4) Pushback from naysayers: While we know that opposition exists for all social issues, we were surprised by the extent to which some anti-feminist groups took issue with WRC, inaccurately describing it as an anti-male organization (particularly in blogs and comments sections online). To ensure WRC Executive Director Todd Minerson was ready to deal with this issue should it be raised by media, we reviewed with him a list of contentious questions and appropriate responses. We also screened media

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who spoke with Todd on event day to ensure we knew their angle before they spoke with him. By uncovering the pushback when we did we were able to address the issue before it had the ability to detract from the positive messages we were communicating through this campaign.

6. Measurement/Evaluation: Our goal was to build public awareness for WAMIHS to help drive participation, funds and social consciousness for WRC to enhance the long-term well being of Canadian women. We achieved this goal by meeting and exceeding all our objectives:

1) Generate media coverage that contains our key message: WRC is holding WAMIHS on October 1st, 2009 at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto to help raise awareness for issues of violence against women and girls. • Doubled impressions goal of five million; earned over 11.5 million impressions • Surpassed target MRP score of 75% with an MRP score of 95.83% • Achieved goal of 100% branded coverage; secured 100% branded coverage • Surpassed goal of 75% pre-event coverage to driving to web; 96% drove to web o More than doubled our pre-event interview goal of five interviews and instead booked nine o Surpassed on-site interview goal of five and facilitated eight interviews at event Our media relations outreach resulted in 48 media hits including coverage with, but not limited to, Citytv News Toronto, Toronto Sun, 24 Hours Toronto, Global Television, Entertainment Tonight Canada, , CTV.ca, CP24 Breakfast, CH Morning Live, CosmoTV, TheStar.com, BlogTO.com, Proud FM, Laineygossip.com, Flow 93.5, EZ Rock Morning Show, NowToronto.com, CHFI.com, Edge.ca Metro Toronto, and Sing Tao. In addition, a photograph from our event was enlarged and featured in a quarter- page spread in the Toronto Star, along with a caption delivering our key message.

2) Secure participation from notable ambassadors at WAMIHS (one media personality and one Toronto City Councillor) • Surpassed goals and secured participation from five media personalities and two Toronto City Councillors

3) Meet the participation goal of 250 walkers / 80 volunteers; secure 500 new donors for WRC • Surpassed participation goal by 150; 400 walkers participated in WAMIHS • Surpassed participation goal of 80 volunteers; 100 volunteers assisted with WAMIHS • More than doubled donor goal of 500; secured 1000+ new donors for WRC

4) Help raise $60,000 in funds through WAMIHS • Surpassed fundraising goal; WAMIHS raised $85,000 for WRC

5) Impact the community in a positive way (to be determined subjectively by feedback from media, participants and others) • An email arrived at WRC offices from Seattle a month before WAMIHS from a woman who had been directed to the WAMIHS website by a friend in Toronto. Her email read: “I’ve heard about the work your organization does; I wish you continued good fortune…one day soon, I will make it out to Toronto to walk alongside you”.

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• A group of young women heard about this event through social media dialogue. They connected with the cause so strongly that they drove six hours from Montreal, QC, to participate in the weekday walk in Toronto. • One of our male colleagues who walked with the ECI team on event day has joined the WRC steering committee for next year’s WAMIHS event. His words: “this is an important issue and I want to do anything I can to help”. • Emmanuel Belliveau, the HGTV/Discovery host who walked in the event, has also joined WAMIHS’ 2010 board. • Photo editors from the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and reporters from Citytv said “we’ve never seen anything like this in Toronto; the visuals are incredible and really make the point.” • Male and female participants who had personal experience with the issue of violence against women, or felt passionate about the cause, made themselves available for on-site media interviews and spoke openly about their positive attitude towards WAMIHS. • Since the event, WRC has been fielding phone calls from all over the world (as far away as Australia) asking about the event and wanting to know best practices for holding events in their community. • As a result of this year’s success, WAMIHS is set to take place again this fall on September 30th, 2010.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Social Responsibility including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Josh Cobden

Entrant’s Organization: Environics Communications Inc.

Client Organization: Ontario Tire Stewardship

Title of Entry: Ontario Tire Stewardship Launches the Used Tires Program

Division / Category: Division 1(Communication Management) / Category 11 (Social Responsibility) Time Period of Project: September - December 2009

Brief Description of Project: The mandate of this project was to design and execute a community relations campaign for Ontario Tire Stewardship to launch the Used Tires Program – a new province-wide initiative to collect and recycle the more than 12 million used on-road and off-road tires that come from vehicles in Ontario each year. The campaign was aimed at generating awareness and acceptance of the new program from the community at large and specifically the affected stakeholders. Campaign initiatives included point-of-sale and informational materials, targeted community outreach through advertisements, matte stories and proactive and reactive media relations. The primary goal was to provide Ontarians with a clear understanding of the initiative and the impact it would have on them, and the province, immediately and in the foreseeable future. 1. Need / Opportunity:

Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS), an industry-funded organization incorporated under Ontario’s Waste Diversion Act, was tasked with the September 1st launch of the Used Tires Program – a province-wide initiative that included an investment of over $25 million in Ontario’s scrap tire recycling industry, and a program to abate tire stockpiles around the province. Although the Used Tires Program would provide a number of tangible economic and environmental benefits, there was concern that the Tire Stewardship Fee (TSF) required to fund the program — paid by tire producers and importers, but passed along to consumers in most cases — would override the positive measures being introduced. As a result, Ontario Tire Stewardship needed a communications strategy and program to avoid a negative response from consumers, retailers and tire haulers, and the media and industry leaders acting in the interests of all three. Through a productive initial brainstorm session and ongoing collaborative work with OTS, Environics Communications gained a clear understanding of the history of this initiative and were privy to the ongoing communication with their key stakeholders. We reviewed previous communication from both those aligned with and opposed to OTS’ mandate to get a clear sense of potential allies as well as critics and the “hot-buttons” of each targeted stakeholder group. We enlisted the assistance of experienced tire trade journalist and tire tester Jim Anderton as a technical advisor to review our materials and provide guidance on key issues. We conducted two visits to tire recycling facilities and spoke to processors, haulers and retailers to gain an understanding of the impact of the program on their individual businesses. Lastly we examined the roll-out of similar provincial programs across Canada, including speaking with the person in

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charge of British Columbia’s program, and evaluated the response from various stakeholders. From our research, we concluded that unique materials and messaging would be required for each of the target groups, but that there also needed to be clear overarching themes as a rationale for the new program in Ontario. It would be crucial to convey not only the long-term benefits of the program to Ontario, but also the immediate benefits to Ontarians — the most important one being the removal of fees historically charged to consumers for the disposal of their old tires (a practice that encouraged illegal dumping and stockpiling). 2. Intended Audiences:

Our primary audience was Ontario residents making tire purchases after September 1st — a high priority audience as the TSF would likely result in a higher price for their new tire purchases at a time when many people were experiencing economic hardships. As such, we wanted to ensure this group had a clear understanding of the initiative and the impact it would have on them, including some immediate benefits. Our secondary audience was Ontario residents with old/used tires to dispose of — a group that needed to know the importance of dealing only with a registered tire collector to avoid paying a now unnecessary tire disposal fee, as well as to ensure their old tires were being responsibly managed. Our remaining audiences included tire collectors, tire haulers and tire processors — both those that had already registered to participate in the program and those who had not. These groups would all play a key role in the successful launch of the Used Tires Program and required program education and clear, consistent messaging. They would also need to understand the tangible results the program would deliver for their own businesses and the risks of not participating. Tire collectors (typically retailers) were of particular importance as they would become the public face of the program once launched, and would need to be able to explain the new TSF to their customers. Similarly, tire haulers and processors would now be operating under an entirely new system whereby their payment would be standardized and paid by OTS, versus being collected on a transactional basis. Although the haulers and processors stood to benefit from a steadier stream of business paid reliably by OTS month-to-month, there was a risk that the new program would be viewed with some suspicion because of OTS’s arms-length connection to the provincial government. It would also be important to ensure that these groups aligned their messages with those of OTS and tire collectors. We used media coverage as the primary conduit to reach targeted audiences throughout the campaign, but also focused on face-to-face interaction and information sharing between the key stakeholders pre-launch to provide clear and consistent messaging. 3. Goals / Objectives:

The primary need for OTS was raise awareness of the new program, secure widespread participation and address and mitigate any criticism of the new TSF which could jeopardize program uptake. Working with OTS, Environics established key goals and measurable objectives for the campaign. Included below are the two (non-financial) goals we have chosen to outline in detail:

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Goal: Promote knowledge and awareness of the benefits of the Used Tires Program among consumer and stakeholder audiences, including addressing and mitigating potential criticism. Objective: Develop and distribute program educational materials for registered tire collectors and point-of-sale (POS) materials for consumers in time for the September 1st launch. Targets: 800+ POS packages distributed to newly registered program collectors; 80,000+POS consumer brochures distributed to Ontario residents at retail locations. Objective: Reach communities across Ontario through targeted media relations and newspaper advertisements that educate consumers about the free tire drop- off. Target of more than 75 communities. Goal: Drive program registration among collectors, haulers and processors.

Objective: Meet targets of 3,400 registered collectors, 70 registered haulers and 25 registered processors. Objective: Ensure coverage is aligned with campaign messaging and demonstrates the benefits of a new responsible system for managing used tires in the province in Ontario. Target of 75 per cent of coverage includes OTS program key messaging. 4. Solution Overview:

The Environics team worked directly with Ontario Tire Stewardship and with tire expert and journalist Jim Anderton to design a fully-integrated and multi-tiered communications program aimed at educating key stakeholders across various platforms. Our approach to the solution was as follows: a. Key message development and spokesperson training: Strong key messages and spokesperson training/preparedness was the foundation of this campaign and directed all other community and media relations activity. Jim Anderton assisted in identifying potential hot topics that could be raised by journalists. b. POS materials: POS materials were developed and distributed to registered program collectors, haulers and processors to provide program education for residents across the province. In creating the materials, we marshaled key facts and data to support the initiative - such as the amount of waste to be diverted from landfills and the economic contribution of recycling and innovation - but also honed in on the immediate benefits to these audiences. c. Media relations: We conducted media relations for a comprehensive set of target media including even the most remote areas of Ontario on which the new program would have an impact. Mainstream and trade media outlets were contacted and social media/blogger relations were conducted to engage online influencers in the automotive and environmental space. Matte stories that included key messages and details on the program were drafted and distributed to community newspapers. Falsehoods and inaccuracies appearing in the media were swiftly reacted to with letters to the editor and follow-up calls. d. Advertising: Informative and well positioned advertising would engage both consumers and potential collectors. We provided strategic advice on the creation and placement of advertising at the time of program launch to help build awareness of the program.

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5. Implementation and Challenges:

Budget: $175,000

The budget included:

• Key message development and media training • Development of media materials • Development and design of POS materials • Coordination of advertising with outside media buyer/ad agency • Proactive and reactive media relations surrounding the launch of the Used Tires Program on September 1st and post-launch to generate further interest/defend the program • Ongoing client counsel to Ontario Tire Stewardship call centre staff on how to respond to negative calls about the program • Tracking and assessing media coverage

Key Challenges:

• Challenge #1 – The Tire Stewardship Fee had the potential to appear to be a new “tax on tires” because the program requires manufacturers and first importers of tires to pay $5.84 per passenger tire to OTS to manage the program — a cost that in most cases would be passed on to consumers. To make matters worse, a previous government introduced a Direct Tire Tax that was later exposed as being used for other purposes and largely ineffective in mitigating illegal dumping and stockpiling. We managed this challenge by highlighting that this is an industry-funded (i.e. not tax- or government-funded) program; that consumers would no longer be charged a tire disposal fee (typically $4-5/tire); and that they can even return as many as four tires per person to collectors across the province, with no obligation to buy new tires.

• Challenge #2 – Significant benefits not tangible – Some of the key areas to benefit from this initiative (i.e. the environment and innovation) will take time and could not be immediately demonstrated to stakeholders. However, by highlighting the removal of the traditional tire disposal fee charged to consumers and the guarantee that old tires would be responsibly re-used immediately, we mitigated this challenge by showcasing immediate, tangible benefits.

6. Measurement / Evaluation:

Our goal was to build awareness surrounding the Used Tires Program, address and mitigate the communications risks associated with the new TSF. We achieved this goal by meeting and exceeding all our measurable program objectives:

• Program registration targets met: o Registered over 4,900 tire collectors — 144% of original goal of 3,400 registered collectors o Registered 115 tire haulers — 176% of original goal of 70 registered haulers o Registered 28 tire processors — 108% of original goal of 25 registered processors

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st • Point-of-sale (POS) materials in store for September 1 launch o POS materials distributed to key stakeholders prior to September 1st launch including key program implementers such as Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart and Home Depot etc. o Distributed over 1,000 POS kits (original goal was 800) o Distributed 100,000 POS brochures to consumers (original goal was 80,000+)

• Informative advertisements in local participating community papers throughout the first month of the program launch o Reached over 130 communities via Toronto Star and community newspaper advertisements (original goal was 75+ communities)

• Generate positive media coverage that contains at least one or more of the program key messages o Generated 8,475,843 media impressions — 170% of target of five million earned media impressions o 84% of all coverage contained at least one key message — surpassed target of 75% key message inclusion o 87% of media coverage was neutral or positive in tone — surpassed target of 75% of coverage neutral or positive in tone o Over 125 communities reached through media relations activities/media coverage —167% of target of 75+ communities reached in Ontario with media relations message o 203 total earned media stories. Print = 99, Online = 59, Radio = 37, TV = 8

• Preparedness to respond to resistance or negative feedback from media, stakeholders and consumers o Program spokesperson media training and preparation conducted in advance of program launch o Letters to the editor developed in response to negative coverage on the day it appeared in the press o Provided ongoing counsel to Ontario Tire Stewardship call centre staff on how to respond to negative calls

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Social Responsibility Including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant: Sharon Will, Communications Specialist, Strategic Communications Organization: Halton Region

Division 1/Category 11: Communication Management/ Social Responsibility

Title Entry: Halton Region’s 3rd Annual Be a Hero Be a Voice for Affordable Housing Contest

Time Period of Project: April 1, 2009 – November 30, 2009

Brief Description: Created to help Halton Region raise awareness among youth in Halton about the need for affordable housing in their community, Halton Region’s Be a Hero. Be a Voice for Affordable Housing contest celebrated its third anniversary in 2009. Open to high school students across the region, the 2009 contest attracted the highest number of entrants in its three-year history with a variety of creative submissions that delivered powerful messages on the issues of affordable housing from the eyes of the next generation.

Business Need/Opportunity

Located just outside of Toronto, the Regional Municipality of Halton serves more than 450,000 residents in four local municipalities, including the City of Burlington, the Town of Halton Hills, the Town of Milton, and the Town of Oakville.

While many residents in Halton enjoy a high standard of living, the community is not immune to the challenges of affordable housing. Each year, approximately 1200 to 1300 Halton residents are at risk of becoming homeless. Despite this reality, research conducted by Ipsos Reid in early 2005, found that a large percentage of residents had little or no sense of the problem of homelessness in Halton, including how a lack of affordable housing presents a barrier for people who want to continue to live in their own community as housing prices increase. To address the issue of homelessness and awareness in the community, Halton’s governing body, Regional Council, approved the development of a Comprehensive Housing Strategy (CHS) in the spring of 2005. This strategy focused on a number of actions that would help create a range of housing to service the needs of residents - of all income groups and stages of life.

Ensuring the availability of a range of housing options to meet the needs of all Halton residents is fundamental to Council’s vision for an inclusive, socially sustainable and economically competitive community.

To assist with raising awareness about affordable housing issues among Halton residents, Halton’s Strategic Communications and Housing divisions developed the first Be a Hero. Be a Voice for Affordable Housing contest in the fall of 2007. The research

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revealed that while 79 per cent of residents agreed housing costs were high in the region, residents’ awareness of housing and affordability issues overall remained very low. The results also indicated that young adults are among the groups that have the hardest time finding housing they can afford in Halton. Upon completion of their post- secondary studies, many young people acknowledged they were unable to build a life in the community where they were raised because of the high housing costs in Halton and elected to move out of the region. With this research in hand, the Be a Hero contest was created to target Halton students in grades nine to12. Through the contest, the Region could speak directly to the next generation of young people who will be impacted by a lack of affordable housing. The contest asked students to submit a creative entry (video, words, music, poetry, etc.) to demonstrate their understanding of affordable housing in Halton. Real-life scenarios were formulated, acting as a backdrop to the students’ entries. In 2009, the Strategic Communications and Housing team set out to continue to build on the successes of the 2009 Be a Hero program by increasing the number of contest submissions and by continuing to build awareness about affordable housing among the peers, teachers, and community of the high school participants. Intended Audiences

Primary

• Halton District Catholic School Board, Halton District School Board, independent schools in Halton • High school students in grades nine to 12 • High school faculty and staff • Friends and families of high school students • Halton residents • Media

Secondary

• Regional and Local Municipal Councillors • Regional staff, including Regional Chair and Chief Administrative Officer • Members of Provincial Parliament (MPP’s) and Members of Parliament (MP’s) for Halton • Halton Region Citizen Advisory Committees (e.g. housing, accessibility, youth committees) • Community groups (e.g. Ontario Not for Profit Housing Association, youth-support agencies)

Goals & Objectives

Organizational Goal: Increase community acceptance among Halton residents, for the development and expansion of affordable housing options in Halton by the end of 2010. Communications Objectives:

1. Build on the success of Halton Region’s 2007 and 2008 Be a Hero. Be a Voice for Affordable Housing programs to increase awareness and understanding of affordable housing issues in Halton among residents aged 14+.

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2. Increase the number of contest submissions by 20 per cent by the contest close date, October 31, 2009.

3. Increase attendance at the 2009 Be a Hero. Be a Voice for Affordable Housing awards ceremony by 10 per cent.

Solution Overview

Throughout the summer of 2009, interviews were conducted with school board members, principals, teachers and students to garner feedback about the 2008 Be a Hero program. Areas of opportunity to help grow the contest were identified and implemented, as summarized below:

Opportunity Solution

Teacher input revealed the fall semester is a Start date of contest was moved to the second week busy one for students and having a larger of September 2009. With a closing date of October window of time to allow students to create and 31, 2009, this gave students two months to prepare enter submissions would take some pressure off submissions. (Note: in 2008, the contest ran from students interested in participating. October 1 – 31.)

Secure a high-profile member of the local Olympic gold medalist and Oakville resident Adam community as the keynote speaker for the van Koeverden was secured as the keynote speaker awards ceremony, someone who has a close in the summer of 2009. Adam was raised in a connection with the issue of affordable housing. cooperative housing development in Oakville and Promote his/her attendance well in advance of could provide a very personal perspective on the the awards ceremony. impact affordable housing has had in his life. His photo was featured on all promotional materials (e.g. posters, Facebook page) which helped to generate a lot of excitement.

Hold the awards ceremony in a venue that is Burlington Convention Centre was selected as the accessible to the general public and also lends a venue for the awards ceremony. The décor and sense of importance to the proceedings. grandness of the room helped to make it feel like a “special” event.

Three new sponsorships added in 2009, including: Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada; Secure additional sponsorship agreements with Speaker's Spotlight; and Peel-Halton Co-operative non-profit agencies to help support the cost of Housing Federation. the program and also to raise the profile of the contest through cross promotion.

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Promote contest through vehicles utilised by A Be a Hero Facebook page was created containing high school students like Facebook. contest rules, criteria, event photos, links to relevant resources and news articles.

In early September 2009, Halton students were invited to develop a creative entry for the 2009 Be a Hero contest. A list of five real-life housing scenarios were provided to students who were asked to select one and illustrate why Halton needs more affordable housing. Creative entries could be submitted in their medium of choice, including video, song, or poetry, etc. Implementation & Challenges

To promote the start of the contest, a number of traditional communications tactics were used including presentations to school classes, advertising collateral in the form of posters (distributed to schools, libraries and other areas frequented by youth), a media release and internal staff announcements. A Facebook fan page was also created housing contest information, updates, news, and pictures from previous award ceremonies, etc. A judging panel was selected. The group included representatives from Halton’s Youth Advisory committee, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and local non- profit agencies Home Suite Hope and Support & Housing Halton. With the contest in its third year, one of the challenges faced was attracting media coverage, both for the contest and for the awards ceremony to announce the winners. To overcome media fatigue, Olympic gold medalist and Oakville resident was secured as the keynote speaker for the awards ceremony. Adam’s celebrity helped to garner great media attention among local media outlets. As a Halton resident who grew up in a cooperative housing development in Oakville Adam brought a very personal perspective to the issue of affordable housing that had great impact on the audience in attendance at the ceremony and with media. The awards ceremony to recognize the winners of the contest was held at the Burlington Convention Centre on Wednesday, November 18 to coincide with National Housing Day in Canada (Nov. 22). All entries (artwork, poetry, photography) were displayed around the room and video entries were looped and projected on a large screen. The budget allocated for the contest and awards ceremony was $10,000. The actual cost for the contest and awards ceremony totalled $12,340, less $4,400 received through sponsorships for a grand total of $7,947.27. A complete budget breakdown can be found in the appendices. Communications Tactics Objective Timing

Presentations to schools 1,2 May, June 2009

Creation of Facebook page 1,2 August 2009 Media release announcing contest 2,3 September 2009

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Announcement announcing contest in online 2 September 2009 Halton staff news

Distribution of posters with direct URL 2,3 September 2009

Media invitation to awards ceremony 3 November 2009

Announcements in online Halton staff news 3 November 2009

Awards recognition ceremony 1 November 18, 2009

Media release announcing winners 1 November 19, 2009

Update web content with winners art and 1 November 19, 2009 pictures

Measurement & Evaluation

• 53 submissions from students across Halton were submitted to the 2009 Be a Hero contest. This represents the highest number of submissions in the three-year history of the contest and more than double from 2008. (Objective 1 & 2)

• 135 people attended the awards ceremony, an increase of 17 per cent from attendance in 2008. (Objective 1 & 3)

• Secured a high profile, local ally in Adam Van Koeverden who has pledged to lend his voice and profile to help raise awareness about affordable housing in Halton. (Objective 1)

• Sponsorship money assisted in budget savings and with cross promotional opportunities. (Objective 1)

• The award submissions demonstrated tremendous creativity and offered a unique perspective and powerful messages on the issues of affordable housing from the eyes of the next generation - see appendices. (Objective 1)

• The winning submission (a 40 by 40 inch acrylic painting on canvas depicting a homeless youth seeking shelter on an outdoor bench) was presented to Regional Council at a Council meeting for permanent display at Halton Region’s administration building in Oakville. (Objective 1)

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• Media coverage secured in a number of local media outlets contained key messages, including a news piece on CHCH Television. Coverage helped to raise the profile of the contest and assist in raising overall awareness of housing issues among youth, parents, teachers and the community. (Objective 1)

• Keynote speaker Adam van Koeverden connected with youth and adults at the awards ceremony with his personal perspective and enthusiasm which help drive home the message of affordable housing. (Objective 1)

• The contest and awards ceremony were implemented at a cost of $7,940, well below the original budget of $10,000. (Objective 1)

The 2009 Be a Hero project made great strides to build on the successes of 2008, engaging a greater number of students and teachers in the program and bringing awareness to the community that affordable housing is indeed an issue in Halton. The contest has helped to lay the initial building blocks that will be required to build even greater community acceptance among Halton residents, for the development and expansion of affordable housing options in Halton by the end of 2010.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Social Responsibility Including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant's Name: Danielle Norris, Communications Specialist, Peel District School Board

Title of Entry: Peel District School Board's micro-websites in 40 languages

Division 1: Communications Management

Category 11: Social responsibility including Economics, Societal and Environmental Development

Time period of project: August 2009 – December 2009

Brief description Newcomer parents have access to over 2,000 pages of translated information. The Peel District School Board’s micro-website is now available in 40 languages.

1. Need/Opportunity Imagine moving your family halfway around the world, far from the place you used to call home. Feeling lost and alone in a new country that is unfamiliar to you—filled with strange customs, different cultures and a language you are not comfortable with. This is the reality for 23,227 families that move to Peel region every year. The Peel District School Board is Canada’s second largest and one of North America’s fastest-growing public school systems, with about 153,000 students in 236 schools. We serve 1.3 million residents in three municipalities immediately west of Toronto. The region currently has one of the highest rates of growth in the country, driven primarily by families new to Canada. With one-third of Peel residents being school-aged children, we get about 5,000 new registrants each school year (in addition to our new kindergarten students each year). According to statistics from the Peel board's student information database, about half of our new registrants are new to Canada in the past three years, and more than 90 per cent of these newcomer families do not speak or read English as a first language. According to our database, only 53 per cent of our total student population speaks English at home—the other 47 per cent speak a language other than English.1 In provincial testing of student achievement, English Language Learners (ELL) perform 30 per cent lower than non-ELL students, on average. 2 The Peel board recognized that children do better in school when their parents understand and are involved in the school system. Research shows that positive results of parent involvement includes improved student achievement, reduced absenteeism, better behaviour, and restored confidence among parents in their children's schooling. 3 The provincial Ministry of Education, which governs public school boards, now includes parent involvement as one of the performance measures of the publicly funded education system. It places the onus on school boards to offer "resources to help develop full involvement from the full

1 Student Information System, Peel District School Board. Oct. 2006 2 Education Quality and Accountability Office, Provincial Report. Sept. 2006 3 Ontario Ministry of Education, Parent Involvement Policy, 2005

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diversity of parents," especially "parents who may find involvement more challenging due to language, recent immigration, poverty, newness to the system or other factors."4 Everything we do is designed to help students learn and do well in school. In order to bridge the gap between our ELL students and increase parent involvement, we launched our first multi-lingual micro-website in 25 languages in 2006. This need was reinforced by the results from newcomer parent focus groups where they expressed concerns involving the transition into Peel’s education system. We recognized that newcomer parents:

• are often frustrated by their lack of knowledge about the education system in Canada • feel having school personnel who speak their home language is desirable • need face-to-face communication, and those with language barriers need information in their own language

In our ongoing commitment to welcoming diverse communities, we have updated our multi-lingual micro-website from the top 25 languages spoken in Peel to the top 40. These micro-sites help newcomer parents understand the education system and encourages them to get involved in their child’s education. We have also included information about our new We Welcome the World centres where newcomer parents can register children for school and also receive settlement assistance from staff in their own language to make them feel more comfortable.

2. Intended Audiences Primary audience Newcomer families—The main audience for the multi-lingual micro-website is parents now in the Peel board or planning to settle in Peel who do not read English fluently. From an analysis of our student information database, Statistics Canada demographic information and focus groups with newcomer parents, we know the following:

• Our families speak more than 80 languages, so we had to strategically choose the languages most frequently used, to reach as many parents as possible. • Most of these families have three years or less of exposure to Canadian society, so they have little or no information about the education system. This means the information has to be jargon-free, plain language and very easy to understand. • Newcomer families often face poverty initially as they struggle to get established in a new country. Often they are working at two or more part-time, shift-work jobs, so their schedules are erratic. The website gives them access to information anytime, but it must still be concise and carefully targeted to their immediate and specific information needs. • Because they are not familiar with Canada or Peel schools, newcomer parents need very basic information about our school system—for example, what types of outdoor clothes their children need in various types of Canadian weather. • Our multi-lingual families vary in education level and socioeconomic status. What they all have in common is an intense desire to see their children succeed in school. Many families have left more comfortable circumstances in other countries than those they initially experience in Canada, in the hopes of providing a "better life" for their children. That better life starts with school. So the websites have to go beyond just the basics of the school system and also give parents tips and strategies about how to help their children be successful in school. • Newcomer families are also very focused on trying to get the family settled, they don't have a lot of time to seek out translations on their own

4 Ontario Ministry of Education, Parent Involvement Policy, 2005

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We conducted four focus groups at four different schools with parents of four language groups. Interpreters were on hand to explain the questions to the parents and to translate their answers back to us. The purpose of the focus groups was to gather feedback from parents about their information needs. Here are some of the main findings from the focus groups: • The parents identified language as the single greatest barrier to their understanding of and involvement in their children's education. • Most parents reported that they use the Internet as a source of information, but few had visited peelschools.org. They indicated a high degree of interest in a having information on the website in their first language. • Parents prioritized the information they would most like to receive in their own language: 1. education system in Ontario 2. what they need to provided for their children to enter the education system 3. how the English as a second language (ESL) program works 4. how to express their concerns or ask questions about the school system 5. the school calendar and their child's school schedule 6. how to help their children in school, since they don't always understand the homework requirements and are not able to help their children in English

Secondary audience Peel schools, settlement agencies, community and faith groups—From past experiences with newcomer outreach, families tend to gravitate towards locations or organizations that seem familiar to them. Thus a religious building or community groups, with the same ethnic background or cultural connections, are often viewed as a place of comfort. Results from our student information database indicate that there were over 2,000 newcomer student registered directly through the school this year. Providing information to this secondary audience is a way to meet newcomer families in a place they would naturally visit.

3. Goals/objectives Goal: To provide newcomer families with the most important initial information they need to help them register their children for school in Peel, become familiar with the school system and support their children's learning.

Objectives: • 2,000 newcomer families visit the website within six months of launching the micro- sites (80 per cent of the newcomers) • Enhance the reputation of the Peel District School Board (within the education community as well as in our community) as a leader in welcoming students and families of diverse backgrounds.

4. Solution Overview On the right-hand side of the home page of peelschools.org is the word "Welcome" in the top 40 languages spoken in Peel. This is not just a greeting—it is the gateway into the micro-site in that language.

Content of micro-sites matches parent information needs—Though we plan to expand these micro-sites over time, our first priority was to provide information that parents had identified as being of greatest interest and relevance to them based on feedback from our newcomer parent focus groups. Parents can also watch videos prepared by our multi- lingual staff at the We Welcome the World Centres, providing information about the centres, school registration, and the education system. These videos are also posted on YouTube and refer viewers to our multi-lingual language site. Currently, this video

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component is only available in nine languages and we will be expanding this section in the near future.

Micro-sites mirror structure of peelschools.org—The site structure and main level of navigation for the micro-sites is the same as the overall peelschools.org website. In each section of the website, we selected or summarized the most vital information for newcomer families and translated that information. In most cases, it was not just a matter of translating existing web pages—but rather writing information that would be of most relevance, interest and benefit to the target audience.

As much as possible, the micro-site is stand-alone—if the user cannot read English, it does not make sense to link them to English pages on the main website. In the few cases where it was necessary to link outside the micro-site (for example, to direct them to the board's online hiring website), the website explains that they are leaving the micro-site and that the page they are being directed to is only in English.

Launch of micro-sites coincides with back-to-school—Launching the micro-sites to coincide with back-to-school meant taking advantage of a unique window of opportunity. The start of school is a time of high media interest in education-related stories—at no other time during the year is the media as interested in education stories as it is around back-to-school. It's also a time when parents are particularly looking for information to help them get their children ready to go back to school. The timing of the launch was crucial to get as much initial exposure as possible for the micro-sites. Marketing plan promoted micro-site specific language audience—We developed a strategy to market each micro-site directly to the users who read and speak the language. In addition to providing information to families through the schools, community partners and at the airport, we also used the following strategies to direct newcomer families to the language specific sites:

• In August 2009, we placed back-to-school ads in ethnic newspapers that serve the readership we are trying to reach. We worked with our community liaison coordinator and settlement workers in our community to identify the newspaper or newspapers for each language group that is most-read by parents in our community. (See the list of newspapers in the work sample, along with copies of the multi-lingual ads that appeared in each newspaper.) • We also ran ads in our local newspapers, to create general awareness in the community about the new We Welcome the World Centres, as well as the updated micro-websites. We know that newcomers to a community often rely on their neighbours to give them information about the school system, so it was important to ensure the community in general was aware of the new websites. • We distributed multi-lingual flyers to all of our schools at the start of school. They sent home flyers to newly registered families who do not read or speak English as a first language. For example, a family who speaks Punjabi would receive the Punjabi flyer. • Posters and flyers are displayed in prominent locations in all our 236 schools. • We mailed information packages with the multi-lingual flyers to all community agencies who work with newcomers. In the spring, we're holding an orientation and open house for all the settlement workers at the welcome centre. Settlement workers will learn about the new school registration process and go through the micro-sites in detail. They will also have a chance to discuss ways they can use the sites and welcome centres to help the newcomer families they serve. • The multi-lingual flyer is included in the registration packages for any new family registering their child for school. The language of the flyer is matched to the language spoken by the family. • 300 English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers received website flyers and information at the Fall Institute, a three-day conference for ESL teachers to receive tips on how to support newcomer students in the classroom.

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• In December 2009, we prepared ads for ethnic newspapers to promote the kindergarten registration deadlines. These ads were not published until January 2010 to align with the Ministry of Education's new announcement about the full-day early learning program for kindergarten students. (See the list of newspapers in the work sample, along with copies of the multi-lingual ads that appeared in each newspaper.)

5. Implementation and Challenges Timeline—During the summer of 2009, we spent several weeks rewriting and translating hundreds of pages to ensure that the existing 25 language sites would have all the updated information in time for the back-to-school period. All of the content for the new 14 language sites were implemented the following month. Budget and Resources— The total budget for this project was $261,000—that works out to $6,525 per micro-website. This project was made possible by a grant of $150,000 the Peel board received from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to help newcomer families through the We Welcome the World Centre budget. Our communications department contributed $10,000 to assist with the cost of translation and language review. At an average cost of $130.00 per page translated, a total of more than 2,000 pages are contained in the 40 micro-websites. About $18,000 was designated for external experts to assist with graphic design, coding of web pages, project management and overall project consulting. Our marketing budget, which we had designated from our department budget, was about $83,000 (see complete media buy budgets in the work plan.) The remaining budget was use to cover the translation of the ads and marketing flyers and the printing and distribution of marketing flyers (printed by in-house print shop at cost.) Translation issues—Verifying the accuracy of language translations can be a complex process. We worked with the translation companies to establish a verification process. Once the first translator had completed the translation, a second translator would independently review the translation for accuracy and to be sure it conveyed the meaning of the original text. However, through our internal reviewers, we found that there were still many issues with the quality of the translations. Thus, we included the internal review as a vital step in the translations process to ensure that the appropriate tone and message were being conveyed. This new step involved close time management to collect reviewed documents from 30 individuals in a timely manner.

Once the website pages were created, the original translators and our internal reviewers had to verify them to ensure that no text was lost or garbled in the conversion to the website. As a result of this project, we have created a database of over 300 multi-lingual Peel employees who have volunteered to assist with translations, review and interpretation.

Technical issues—There were many technical issues to overcome with this project. Some of the most significant were the fonts and character scripts from all the different languages—non-Roman fonts would become garbled going from one platform to another. There was also the issue of languages such as Arabic, Dari, Pashto and Urdu that read from right to left. The template for these languages had to be completely reversed (navigation on right, not left). We made the decision to make the language pages into graphics, rather than encoding each page as HTML text, because of the range of platforms that users might be using—both in Peel and in other countries. To ensure that the pages load quickly, the graphic pages were "sliced" into several graphics. With the number of documents and languages, keeping the "slices" of the page in the correct order added to the complexity and required the establishment of a strict naming convention for files, especially since several different IT staff with differing levels of web development ability were working on the project simultaneously.

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6. Measurement/Evaluation

2,000 newcomer families In the first six months since the micro-sites have been launched, there have have visited the website been more than 4,353 visitors. They visit an average of six pages per session. within six months of launching the micro-sites • 31 per cent of the newcomer parents that completed the client survey, indicated that they had already visited the multi-lingual micro-websites. • Feedback from newcomer families who completed client surveys at the We Welcome the World Centres provided positive feedback: • "Well designed, easy to navigate, informative." • "It is really a marvelous and informative website."

Enhance the reputation of • "When settlement workers introduce our multi-lingual websites to the Peel District School newcomer parents, they are pleased to find such useful information. When Board as a leader in parents can access information in their first language they feel like welcoming students and empowered. It helps them to be involved in their child's education." families of diverse Nalayini Moorthy, facilitator, Multicultural, Settlement Education backgrounds. Program

• "This website is a valuable tool for families overseas. I've received several calls about our website from families in South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan and India), Dubai, Hong Kong, Palestine and United Arab Emirates. People are finding out about the wonderful things we are doing to help newcomers in Peel." Jatinder Saggu, supervisor, We Welcome the World Centre – Morning Star location

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Electronic, Digital and Interactive Communications AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant’s Name: Vanessa Nero Organization: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited Division/Category:Div. 1: Comm. Mgmt, Cat. 12: Electronic, Digital and Interactive Communications Title of Entry: Toronto Hydro Earth Hour 2009: How Low Can We Go T.O.? Time Period: March 2009

Brief Description: Toronto Hydro launched How Low Can We Go T.O.? in support of the Toronto Earth Hour 2009 campaign. Earth Hour, a global initiative developed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), is a symbolic event where people around the world are encouraged to turn off their lights for one hour to show support for action on climate change.

NEED/ OPPORTUNITY Toronto Hydro is leading energy conservation in Ontario by investing in conservation projects that result in measurable demand and base electricity load reduction. The utility recognizes the power of consumer-driven campaigns as key opportunities for engagement and widespread education. Effective campaigns reduce electricity use, reduce the threat of blackouts and help create a healthier city. Coal-generated power is a major cause of air pollution and unfortunately, is sometimes used in Ontario when demand for electricity exceeds supply.

In 2007, WWF created Earth Hour in Australia as a symbolic event to fight climate change. Participants were asked to turn off their lights for one hour to demonstrate how individual efforts contribute to global action. Earth Hour went global in 2008 and WWF reported that millions of people in more than 30 countries adopted the event. Toronto was Canada’s leading city and saw the electricity demand fall by 8.7 per cent during the hour. Toronto Hydro saw this movement as an opportunity to develop an online campaign for the following year. How Low Can We Go T.O.? was designed to seize this captive audience to spread awareness about electricity conservation, and increase participation and the drop in electricity demand during Earth Hour 2009. Customers were sent online to watch videos, enter a contest to guess the total consumption drop in Toronto and follow a live blog for real-time results during the one-hour event.

Previous research conducted about customer attitudes supported the campaign’s call to actions to visit Toronto Hydro’s website and turn off the lights. In fact, a Toronto Hydro benchmark survey* determined that customers are theoretically committed to conservation but are less willing to invest time and money. Campaigns must be simple, easy to understand and participate in, and should provide an incentive in order to be successful. Programs also need to be innovative and highly visible to cut through the “noise”, create awareness and drive participation. How Low Can We Go T.O.? satisfied all of these requirements.

*2008 EKC Product and Market Analysis, SBR International report to Ontario Power Authority (2007) INTENDED AUDIENCES

Primary Audience • Toronto Hydro’s residential and business customers – 700,000 accounts Toronto Hydro operates in a “high-interest/low involvement” consumer mind space. Customers don’t, and prefer not to think about the electricity until an issue arises.

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Earth Hour was the perfect springboard to spread the message about conservation. With the growing popularity of social media and online networks, Toronto Hydro decided to tap into the online community by focusing its efforts on web-based communication tactics.

Secondary Audience • Toronto Hydro employees – almost 1,700 to serve as ambassadors and to spread the excitement; • Toronto-based traditional and non-traditional media – focus on Toronto bloggers/blogs and energy/conservation-related digital properties as well as environment, news and assignment and lifestyle and consumer media; • World Wildlife Fund Canada and WWF Canada Earth Hour corporate partners; • Government and energy industry stakeholders – municipal and provincial governments and related agencies (Ministry of Energy, Premier’s Office, Mayor’s Office). GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The overarching goal of How Low Can We Go T.O.? was to raise awareness about Earth Hour and the importance of electricity conservation in the City of Toronto. During summer heat waves and on cold winter days, electricity demand sky rockets. When electricity demand outweighs supply, the province of Ontario is forced to important coal-fired power which contributes to air pollution. The Earth Hour campaign was the perfect conduit to tout Toronto Hydro’s conservation message in the context of a larger environmental issue – climate change. The success of How Low Can We Go T.O.? was measured by the following objectives:

Objective 1: Generate awareness for Earth Hour and participation of over one million Torontonians to exceed Toronto’s Earth Hour 2008 results by surpassing the 8.7 per cent drop and savings of 262 Megawatts (MW) in electricity demand during the event.

Objective 2: Secure coverage with traditional and nontraditional media to generate a reach of five million impressions and a Media Relations Rating Point (MRP) score of 75 per cent.

Objective 3: Lift traffic on Toronto Hydro’s Earth Hour main page and micro site by 30 per cent on the day of Earth Hour to promote participation.

Objective 4: Increase subscription to EConnect, Toronto Hydro’s e-newsletter by 30 per cent.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW

Rationale When the Earth Hour event came to Toronto in 2008, Toronto Hydro immediately stepped up to measure and monitor the electricity drop across the city. In the grid control room, a friendly bet surfaced as employees speculated what the drop would be. Earth Hour 2008 was widely popular and surpassed initial expectations of a five per cent drop, resulting in an 8.7 per cent reduction in Toronto’s electricity demand. Earth Hour’s message and call to action supports Toronto Hydro’s goal to create a culture of conservation in the city and we partnered with the City of Toronto as an event sponsor for WWF Canada in 2009. The sponsorship provided Toronto Hydro with the opportunity to post weekly features on WWF Canada’s website and drive traffic to the utility’s digital properties. The spontaneous control room competition spawned the idea of a company and city-wide contest. How Low Can We Go T.O.? was born!

Energy conservation is not always top-of-mind for Toronto Hydro customers who are often motivated by financial rewards, and looking for simple and quick ways to

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participate in programs. To keep the momentum going, the communications team created a micro site for an online public contest at howlowcanwegoto.ca. This site supplemented Toronto Hydro’s main Earth Hour page and directed traffic between the two pages to drive participation in the event. Visitors were asked how low the electricity demand would drop during Earth Hour 2009 for a chance to win a prize pack of energy- efficient goodies (solar backpack, solar clock, crank flashlight and recycled tote) valued at $250.

To generate even more buzz, the communications team produced two Earth Hour videos which were posted on Toronto Hydro’s main Earth Hour page. The first asked employees to explain why Earth Hour was an important initiative that Torontonians should participate in; the second asked employees to place their wagers on what the drop in 2009 would be and directed viewers to the contest micro site.

Toronto Hydro’s website became an information hub for Earth Hour 2009. Visitors could read weekly Earth Hour features, and sign up for How Low Can We Go T.O.? contest. Visitors were encouraged to return to the site on March 28, 2009 to watch the results live via a live blog from the control room. Traffic was also directed to the official Earth Hour site, WWF Canada’s site and the City of Toronto’s Earth Hour event page.

Key Messages • Toronto, on March 28, 2009, turn off your lights at 8:30 p.m. to celebrate Earth Hour! • Go to torontohydro.com/earthhour to learn about Toronto Hydro’s involvement. • Visit howlowcanwegoto.ca to enter Toronto Hydro’s Earth Hour contest. Guess the demand drop and you could win an energy-efficient prize pack with a value of $250! • Unplug your laptop and join us online at www.torontohydro.com/earthhour to follow the electricity drop live! • When you conserve electricity you’re joining the fight against climate change. In Ontario, when electricity demand exceeds the supply, coal-fired power is imported. Coal-generated electricity causes air pollution and harms the environment.

Tactical Overview Online How Low Can We Go T.O.? Contest • External online contest –Visitors were asked to sign up for the contest and had three choices for what the drop would be; under five per cent, between six and seven per cent, between eight and nine per cent, and nine per cent or higher. If the customer guessed correctly, they were automatically entered in a draw to win one of three prize packs which included a solar backpack, a solar clock, a manual crank flashlight and a recycled, reusable Toronto Hydro tote (prize valued at $250) • Internal employee road show and contest – Information booths were set up at all locations to inform employees about Earth Hour. Participants could fill out a ballot to guess the drop for a chance to win Tim Hortons coffee shop gift cards, crank flashlights, solar clock and a reusable Toronto Hydro tote.

Video Production • Created two online Earth Hour videos based on employee perceptions about Earth Hour and their predictions for the drop. Sixteen employees participated in the making of the videos with jobs ranging from electrical trades people to customer care representatives and executives.

Website Development • Developed an Earth Hour web page as an information hub for all of the event- related activities going on in Toronto, on torontohydro.com/earthhour

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• From the main Earth Hour page, drove traffic to the contest micro site at howlowcanwegoto.ca. • Posted videos and weekly features to torontohydro.com/earthhour. • Cross-promoted online contest as well as weekly features on WWF Canada’s website to highlight Toronto Hydro’s involvement and to drive participation.

Public Relations • Promoted event to Toronto Hydro customers through on-bill messaging, EConnect (customer e-newsletter), Citywise (e-newsletter to city councilors and other stakeholders) • Issued media releases about the event and contest • Developed features for posting on WWF’s website • Provided ongoing information and support to WWF for press releases, key messages, backgrounders, fact sheets, etc. • Proactive and reactive media relations – fulfilled media requests and interviews, provided media with statistics and anecdotal information leading up to event and promote THESL programs

Earth Hour Event Live from the Control Room On Saturday, March 28, the communications team invited reporters to watch the electricity consumption drop live from the Toronto Hydro grid control room. The team also carried out Toronto Hydro’s first-ever blogging experience – live! Communications staff was on location in the control room, and blogged the demand drop in real-time. They also included live comments from colleagues on site at the City of Toronto’s Earth Hour concert event at Nathan Phillips Square. Throughout the hour-long live blog, the team interviewed Arlin Hackman, the vice-president and chief executive office from WWF-Canada, along with John Fletcher, one of Toronto Hydro’s grid operation supervisors to explain how the drop impacted the electricity grid. At the same time, the communications team provided WWF/media with real-time measurement updates during Earth Hour and provided comparisons from previous years.

IMPLEMENTATION & CHALLENGES

Budget: Toronto Hydro’s budget for How Low Can We Go T.O.? was $19,500. This included video production costs, prizes and the development of the contest micro site howlowcanwegoto.ca.

Planning: In 2008, the City’s major newspaper, which happens to be the largest daily in Canada, The Toronto Star, sponsored Earth Hour and provided heavy support with a month-long feature dedicated to stories surrounding the campaign. Although the Toronto Star remained a sponsor in 2009, there was not as much editorial coverage. Organizers worried about the event not reaching the same success it had achieved in 2008. Toronto Hydro formed its digital strategy as a new and creative way to drive participation from over one million Torontonians and exceed the 8.7 per cent drop in demand from the previous year. The team executed the campaign under extremely tight deadlines as the department was focused on a utility-wide crisis which delayed work.

Digital tactics: Toronto Hydro is heavily regulated and had to push the online contest through legal review under extremely tight deadlines. How Low Can We Go T.O.?’s results were quite impressive considering the contest was in market for just two weeks prior to the event. Another digital challenge surrounded the live blog planned for the Earth Hour event. This was Toronto Hydro’s first social media execution and it was difficult to obtain legal and executive buy-in under such tight deadlines. As a result, the commenting option on the blog was disabled, and the planned tweets from Nathan Phillips Square were transformed into phone-ins. It is important to note that the

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success of this exercise has resulted in full executive support for our ongoing digital strategy, including blogging, Facebook and Twitter.

MEASUREMENT/ EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES

Objective 1: Generate awareness for Earth Hour and participation of over one million Torontonians to exceed Toronto’s Earth Hour 2008 results by surpassing the 8.7 per cent drop and savings of 262 Megawatts (MW) in electricity demand during the event. Measurable Outcome: Toronto’s electricity demand dropped by 15.1 per cent which saved approximately 455 MW. That’s like taking 300,000 homes off the grid! We also started off the event at 10 per cent lower electricity demand than the previous year which we attribute to participants turning their lights off for Earth Hour in advance of the 8:30 p.m. kick-off.

Objective 2: Secure coverage with traditional and nontraditional media to generate a reach of five million impressions and a Media Relations Rating Point (MRP) score of 75 per cent. Measurable Outcome: How Low Can We Go T.O.? was adopted by online media and spread through blog postings on the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star Online, BlogTO, and TreeHugger. In total, the campaign generated over 21 stories, generating a reach of 6.9 million impressions and received a MRP score of 75.26 per cent.

Objective 3: Execute online social media tactics to lift traffic by 30 per cent on Toronto Hydro’s Earth Hour main page and micro site on the day of Earth Hour, to maintain momentum and drive participation. Measurable Outcome: The Earth Hour team executed a live blog during the event. This attracted visitors to the main Earth Hour web page where the blog was hosted and the team saw a 60 per cent lift in traffic on torontohydro.com and the contest micro site. Over 1,000 visitors viewed the blog.

Objective 4: Increase subscription numbers to EConnect, Toronto Hydro’s e-newsletter, with 30 per cent of contest registrants opting in to receive the newsletter. Measurable Outcome: The campaign exceeded this target, and 41 per cent of contest registrants opted in to receive Econnect.

Other Evidence of Success: The online contest and video elements were so popular that WWF approached Toronto Hydro to adopt these tactics in their own campaign for the following year. As a result of How Low Can We Go T.O.?’s success, executives are now in support of an ongoing digital strategy, including blogging, Facebook and Twitter.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Management Electronic, Digital and Interactive Communications AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrants’ Names: Linda Andross, Heather Hopkins, Sylvia Sicuso, Cathy Mitchell, Priyanka Jain, APEX Public Relations; Lores Tomé, Penny Savoie, Kellogg Canada Inc. Organization’s Name: APEX Public Relations / Kellogg Canada Inc.

Division/Category: Division 1/Category 12: Electronic, Digital and Interactive Communications Title: Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Holiday recipes with Trish Magwood

Time Period: October 2008 – January 2009 Description: To reach a growing online audience and ultimately drive Canadian moms to try Rice Krispies recipes over the holidays, APEX and Kellogg’s enlisted celebrity spokesperson, chef and mom, Trish Magwood, to demonstrate Rice Krispies recipes in a video that was distributed online. The video reached over 7 million viewers in the first month, making the 2008 Rice Krispies Holiday program the most successful yet. BUSINESS NEED/OPPORTUNITY

Each Christmas season, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies provides its customers with festive on- package offers to encourage families to spend time in the kitchen together baking holiday treats to give to friends and family as a gift. To encourage moms to purchase and bake with Rice Krispies to support a crucial sales period, Kellogg’s has traditionally conducted a media tour and recipe mailer using a celebrity mom spokesperson to demonstrate Rice Krispies recipes and to discuss the cereal’s versatility in the kitchen. Given the changing media landscape and the increased push towards online content – especially among the target demographic – Kellogg’s recognized a need to increase its online presence and integrate this outreach into its PR strategy. Since recipes are best delivered through an instructional format, APEX recommended developing an online video news release through News Canada to demonstrate Rice Krispies recipes that would resonate with the target audience. In 2007, Mary Jo Eustace, Canadian celebrity mom, chef and former TV host of “What’s for Dinner,” had represented the Rice Krispies brand for its holiday campaign. While the program was successful, Mary Jo Eustace’s high-profile divorce from celebrity husband Dean McDermott began to overshadow her reputation as a TV chef, resulting in some interviews that lacked focus on the Rice Krispies message of baking in the kitchen with your kids. While it was agreed that the use of a high-profile mom was still required to engage with the target audience, Kellogg’s and APEX believed a new face was needed for the brand. It was determined that the spokesperson should be someone fresh and dynamic, who would connect with the target audience and drive online pick up of the video. Based on research and recommendations put forth by APEX, Canadian chef, TV host, cooking studio owner, cookbook author and mom, Trish Magwood, was selected as a partner for the 2008 program. The online video news release campaign with Trish Magwood was successful and reached over seven million viewers in the first month, making the 2008 Rice Krispies Holiday program the most successful yet.

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INTENDED AUDIENCE

Primary audience: Through ongoing Rice Krispies product and consumer research, Kellogg’s and APEX identified women as the primary grocery shoppers in their families. Respectful of industry standards that voluntarily limit advertising to children below a certain age, the target audience for the program was set as: • Canadian women o With children under 12 years of age o Aged approximately 30 – 50 o Who have access to a computer, enjoy baking and would be inclined to watch a video recipe demonstration o Secondary Audience Unless the primary target went directly to the Rice Krispies web site of her own volition, a secondary audience of online media was required to disseminate the recipe video to the target. These online media consisted of:

• Popular general information web sites such as Yahoo and MS • Food and recipe web sites such as food.tv and yacht-chef.com • Mom/Family/Parenting-focused web sites such as sweetmama.ca

GOALS/OBJECTIVES

Overall Campaign Goal Communicate to moms the importance of spending time with their kids in the kitchen baking holiday treats with Rice Krispies and creating holiday memories. Objectives

• Reach four million Canadian moms across Canada through the online video news release within the month of December. • Secure media coverage in a broad spectrum of online outlets within the month of December. • Have the online Trish Magwood video posted to three to four top-tier web sites within the month of December including Google, MSN, Yahoo and AOL.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW

Research Prior to 2008, Kellogg’s and APEX’s practice was to issue a recipe-based mailer to food media to drive editorial content about Rice Krispies holiday recipes. In 2008, given the changing media landscape, APEX conducted a media audit to determine who would still be interested in receiving the recipes. From this research, APEX learned that most journalists were moving away from covering recipes in their columns due to space and competing demands, so APEX began to investigate alternative communication vehicles to communicate to moms. By reviewing recent surveys, such as the Leger/APEX Influencer Report conducted in 2008 (which stated that 65 per cent of the Canadian population – or 21 million – is on the Internet), it became apparent that an online, social media strategy would reach the desired target and serve to augment the traditional media mailer. Given that the program focused on recipes, it was determined that an online recipe demonstration

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video would be the best vehicle to reach the target market. For media who were still interested in receiving recipe information, APEX provided them with a hard copy mailing including recipes and product. In order to secure a new spokesperson, APEX researched reputable celebrity moms in English Canada and provided recommendations to Kellogg’s. Based on previous experience, APEX knew media would be interested in speaking with a high-profile mom. APEX also realized that using a celebrity spokesperson was an effective way to communicate and connect with the target audience. In addition to resonating with the target audience, the celebrity spokesperson had to be able to reliably and credibly articulate the Rice Krispies brand messaging around building nurturing moments with your children through baking. The spokesperson would also have to be a respected cook/chef who was media savvy and could demonstrate the recipes live on air without the segment being too commercial. Analysis: Based on the research, APEX recommended well-known Canadian mom and chef Trish Magwood as a spokesperson for English Canada. Her previous experience as the host of “Party Dish” and the author of her own cookbook gave her credibility and provided the required background. She also had prior experience in media interview situations, and an understanding of the online world and how the video needed to catch the attention of, and speak to, moms. APEX met with News Canada to discuss their online services. Based on their expertise and the success rate of similar campaigns, APEX and Kellogg’s agreed to create an online video news release with Trish demonstrating three Rice Krispies recipes for national distribution. Strategy:

• Extend beyond traditional print and broadcast media to reach an online audience. • Utilize a well-known and trusted celebrity mom to communicate the Rice Krispies brand message to develop a connection with the target audience. • Leverage the celebrity status and experience of Trish Magwood to generate consumer and media interest, and ultimately drive purchase and visits to ricekrispies.ca for more recipes.

IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES

Budget APEX had a budget of $43,0701, including fees and expenses, to develop and execute the Rice Krispies Holiday online video news release within a three month period. More than 50 per cent of the budget was allocated for Trish Magwood’s celebrity spokesperson fee, food stylist fees, props as well as the News Canada fee for production and distribution of the video.

Implementation

APEX and Kellogg’s planned a multi-faceted PR campaign that included the online video news release featuring Trish Magwood demonstrating Rice Krispies recipes, and was supplemented with a one-day media tour in Toronto and a very targeted recipe mailing to food media.

1 Please note that the budget for this campaign is to remain confidential.

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The first step in coordinating the video was the selection and customization of three Rice Krispies recipes. Fortunately, all of the Rice Krispies recipes are housed on the brand web site, so Trish was able to select her preferred dishes and amend them slightly with added ingredients to make them her own chef-inspired creations.

To create the online VNR (video news release), APEX developed the key messages and script for filming. APEX also coordinated logistics for the shoot, including venue selection and securing props.

News Canada managed filming the video at Dish Cooking Studio, Trish’s cooking studio in Toronto. APEX and Kellogg’s were both present to ensure the Rice Krispies messaging was delivered naturally and the product shots were kept to a minimum to keep the content editorial quality.

Once the video was filmed, APEX and Kellogg’s edited it until the video was in its final format. Upon approval of the final videos, News Canada distributed them to its database of online editors.

Challenges Because web editors are sensitive about posting promotional content without an advertising spend, APEX and Kellogg’s were careful that Trish’s key message delivery was natural and credible, but still included enough branding to ensure the Rice Krispies link was conveyed. In order to do this, Trish was encouraged to deliver personal stories about how she makes Rice Krispies recipes with and for her family, and talk about how versatile Rice Krispies can be as a baking ingredient. The cereal box was also displayed a handful of times throughout the video to make the viewer link to Rice Krispies brand evident, without seeming overly commercial.

Also, because online viewers can be distracted and tend to disengage quickly while watching videos, another challenge lay in developing a video that was short enough to hold a viewer’s attention and detailed enough to be used as a recipe demonstration. It also had to encompass all of the Rice Krispies messaging. To overcome this challenge, several rounds of time-consuming edits were made to the video, but resulted in a finished product that was streamlined, engaging and included all pertinent information for viewers at home. The video included all three recipes and dialogue from Trish in just over five minutes.

MEASUREMENT/EVALUATION

Overall Campaign Goal: Communicate to moms the importance of spending time with their kids in the kitchen baking holiday treats with Rice Krispies and creating holiday memories Result: The online video news release was picked up by 20 different online web sites that moms frequently visit for news and recipes including sweetmama.ca, AOL.ca and AOL.com, foodtv.ca and canadianparents.com.

Objective: Reach 4 million Canadians through the online video news release within the month of December Result: The online video news release achieved a reach of 7,569,720

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Objective: Have the online Trish Magwood video posted on three to four top-tier web sites within the month of December Result: The online video news release was featured on goal portals of Google, MSN, Yahoo and AOL

193 OVATION Awards Winning Entry

Communication Skills Multimedia or Digital Content

Entrant’s Name: Cyrus Mavalwala AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Entrant’s Organization: Advantis Communications Inc. Division & Category: Division 2 – Communication Skills: Category 16 – Multimedia or Digital Content Title of Entry: Why Join IABC? Time Period: September 2009 – February 2010 Brief Description: Advantis produces innovative video highlighting the value of being an IABC member. Advantis’ video submission wins best Individual Video award and generates sales leads for boutique agency. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ BUSINESS NEED / OPPORTUNITY

The Business Challenge

Advantis Communications is a boutique public relations and marketing agency that develops integrated public relations and marketing strategies that help clients achieve their business goals. Advantis’ thirst for continuous innovation means the team is continually looking to add new service offerings.

Clients typically rely on Advantis for PR and marketing strategy, message development and targeted distribution of that message, as well as graphic design to visually enhance their messages. However, through informal research, Advantis realized there was a gap – clients had to go elsewhere for corporate video production services and subsequently risked dilution or distortion of their message. Furthermore, this incomplete service offering impacted our reputation as an integrated supplier of communications services and limited our top line revenues. Although Advantis had a robust offering of writing-related communication services, there was room to improve the agency’s visual communications offerings which would support the comprehensive writing services.

Video is becoming an increasingly popular communications channel and Canadians, like our counterparts in the United States, have a voracious appetite for video content. Based on data gathered from October 2008 to December 2009, comScore (February, 2010) reported that Canadians consistently rank the highest for the percentage of unique individuals that stream video (92% of the Internet population, or 75 per cent of Canada’s population, December 2009), the number of videos per viewer per month (275 videos per month, December 2009) and the monthly minutes per viewer (1,310 minutes per viewer, December 2009). comScore considers the video marketplace in Canada to be a mature market, with not only user-generated content, but premium content also being consumed. (Online Video Measurement: Canada, February 4, 2010, presented by Dan Piech, comScore.com). Next to Google, YouTube is one of the largest search engines in the world.

The Canadian market was primed and video production would allow Advantis to expand what it does best: help clients craft compelling messages and deliver those messages using integrated channels that engage the target audience to bring about a stated outcome.

A Marketing Opportunity Appears

The plan was to launch Advantis’ video production services in spring 2010. The launch would be supported by several successful video projects promoted by a solid marketing plan to position the company in front of the right prospects.

On September 1, 2009, IABC announced their first IABC Film Festival to celebrate September as Worldwide Member Month. On The IABC Film Festival 2009 blog (http://filmfest.x.iabc.com) IABC challenged all their members to “tell the IABC story”. The three categories were Individual Member Video, Chapter Video, and Student Video.

Seizing the Chance

Since Advantis was already planning to enter the video production industry, a film festival focused on our target audience was a great opportunity to raise awareness about our new service offering. Winning this Film Festival would also give Advantis the additional benefit of being able to subsequently market ourselves as an award-winning video producer.

With this in mind, Advantis decided to leverage this new-found opportunity and include the IABC Film Festival as the first awareness building tactic in the overall marketing plan. Advantis elected to produce a video for the Individual Member Video category.

194 This was also an opportunity to help support a volunteer-based organization that the founder of Advantis had donated his time and energy to through several volunteer positions including chairing the Toronto Business Professionals (formerly the Alliance of Independent Practitioners) and a position on the IABC/Toronto board.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Primary Audience:

Advantis’ primary target audience for this service is the mid-to senior-level communicator who is influencer or chief decision maker when hiring an external partner to produce a video. They could be employed either by a corporation, organization or an agency. These target communicators are also savvy enough to recognize the value of visual communications and how videos are quickly becoming an important tool in their choice of media publishing channels.

Although creating videos for clients across North America and even around the globe is certainly possible, the travel costs alone would become a significant barrier to hiring a Toronto based agency vs a local firm. The travel costs would play a significant role especially since Advantis Communications couldn’t boast a long and esteemed track record of great video production to help offset the perceived need for a long distance business relationship. Since Advantis was just starting to produce videos, the focus on prospects was the Greater Toronto Area. However, we did want the word to spread throughout the global IABC network as Advantis is continually expanding its geographic reach with global partners.

Advantis’ target audience is highly correlated to the membership of IABC/Toronto and therefore makes this opportunity appealing. According to publicly available IABC/Toronto statistics, more than 80 per cent of the chapter’s membership is composed of intermediate or senior level communications professionals. Of these 1,300 members, 100 are Accredited Business Communicators. These senior level practitioners are the influencers and decision makers Advantis is targeting. The IABC/Toronto chapter membership was a great fit because it is the largest group of mid- to senior-level communicators in Canada. Other demographics such as age, sex and salary were far less important than title in order to identify who in an organization wore the decision making hat.

This primary audience of active IABC members served two functions. They were the Film Festival judges as well as the potential buyer of Advantis’ video production services.

Secondary Audience

Online voting was not restricted to only IABC members so anyone could visit the blog and vote for their favourite video. The secondary audience was any other interested party who could be easily motivated to vote for the Advantis video entry. This ‘low-hanging fruit’ included Advantis’ social media savvy supporters (friends, customers and select prospects) who could easily and quickly be contacted and then in turn likely share the news online to their online social networks.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound (SMART)

The overall goal was to leverage the IABC Film Festival as a platform to build awareness and preference for Advantis’ innovative video production capabilities by having this video showcased as a winner.

Objective 1: Win the Individual Member category of the inaugural IABC Film Festival by garnering the most votes during this contest.

Objective 2: Garner at least 400 views of this video on YouTube with the majority of views coming from Canada by February, 28, 2010.

Objective 3: Generate at least three sales leads for Advantis’ video services by Feb 28, 2010.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW

The film festival organizers gave little direction as to what they’d like to see in the submissions. They simply stated “tell the IABC story” and gave four possible themes including the value of IABC to your career and IABC member success stories.

195 Because the videos were being ranked solely by the number of votes they received from viewers, we knew the winning video would have to appeal to both IABC staff and association members in the Greater Toronto Area and worldwide. The winning video must be popular with every IABC member, regardless of industry experience, sex, geographic location or other demographic or characteristic.

To maximize the promotion of the Advantis video to the IABC membership, and to position Advantis as a premiere video producer, the Advantis video must win the Individual Member Video category. The wining video would be profiled to influential IABC communicators across Canada and the United States and globally as well. Winning videos would also be promoted through IABC communications channels and possibly by other local chapters wanting an innovative tool to help them sell the value of an IABC membership.

Advantis was challenged with producing a dynamic video with a clear, convincing message that would garner the most votes and help position the agency as an innovative video production agency. The strategy to ensure we motivated viewers to take action to vote for the Advantis video was three-fold. 1) We knew we had to produce content that would make IABC staff, active volunteers who would be influential members and general members, proud of their association. If the video content didn’t resonate with their idea of the IABC brand and remind them of the deep value they’ve received from IABC then they probably wouldn’t vote or forward the link to others so they could cast their vote. 2) Because this video was produced by an individual IABC member, we needed to engage other influential IABC members in different geographies to not only show the international aspect of the association, but also to ensure we had champions around the world who would invite their colleagues to watch and vote for the video in which they participated. 3) To ensure we had a broad base of voters we also accessed social media savvy supporters of Advantis which included friends, current clients and prospective customers. We leveraged our social networks as well as put the URL to the video in our email signatures.

The official IABC blog provided only limited direction as potential video themes and production styles that may be considered. However, many membership contests are held to create content which can be used to promote the value of that organization. We developed the script of the video based on the Advantis’ founders personal experience with IABC, but made it generic enough to highlight membership value that could relate to any experienced IABC member. The draft story board was the step between the script and the video shoot (Work Sample Exhibit 2).

We chose a high production value for the video to reflect the professionalism that the association’s management, volunteers and general members work towards on a daily basis in their careers (Work Sample Exhibit 3).

The solution we developed was highly effective at meeting the stated objectives.

IMPLEMENTATION & CHALLENGES

The budget to produce this innovative video was a challenge as this project was self-funded and produced in-house by the Advantis team. There was no budget assigned to fund this project because this opportunity came up before we actually planned the marketing program for this new service offering. Since we did not pay any external contractors, our hard costs were zero. The investment lay in the team’s time. Typically a project on this scale would cost an Advantis customer approximately $4,000 - $5,000.

Time was another critical factor. Advantis is a lean agency so time devoted to this project was after hours as client work remained the priority. The script, filming and post production was done after hours and very quickly, just before the contest deadline. We conducted all the work for this project in a two week period leading up to the contest deadline of October 31, 2009.

MEASURING / EVALUATION

Measurement and evaluation are essential requirements when assessing the success of any communications project. The results detailed below are overwhelmingly positive and this video has become one of the several ‘show case’ videos in Advantis’ new business arsenal. All our objectives for were met or exceeded.

Objective 1: Win the Individual Member category of the inaugural IABC Film Festival by garnering the most votes during this contest. ? Advantis won the Individual Member category award by garnering the most votes (Work Sample Exhibit 4).

196 ? Joseph Ugalde of IABC Headquarters wrote an email to Advantis stating that the Advantis video garnered more votes than not only any individual video, but also more votes than any video in the chapter category. ? Advantis has now become an award-winning video producer. ? The bar charts below graphically display the number of neutral and positive comments

Objective 2: Garner at least 400 views of this video on YouTube with the majority of views coming from Canada by February 28, 2010. ? The goal of 400 views was reached before December 31, 2009, two months before our target date. ? By February 26, the date of this submission, YouTube had tracked 493 unique views of the Advantis video. ? The Advantis video garnered more positive comments on YouTube than any other video entry in the contest regardless of the category (Work Sample Exhibit 5). ? The majority of viewers came from Canada as recorded by YouTube’s Statistics & Data (Work Sample Exhibit 6). ? The bar charts below graphically display the number of YouTube views that each video submission received to date.

Objective 3: Generate at least three sales leads for Advantis’ video services by Feb 28, 2010. ? Advantis has received three sales leads for potential video projects from prospects who heard about Advantis’ video capabilities because we won this IABC Film Festival award. Two inquiries were from the Greater Toronto Area and one was from the USA.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Skills Publications AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Name: Janet Vandehaar, Senior Project Manager, Conservation & Education Organization: Water and Wastewater Group, City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Category: Division 2, Communication Skills, Category 15 – Publications Title: 2010 Rate Book & Services Overview Time Period: Published in December 2009

Brief Description: The Rate Book & Services Overview is published annually by the City of Hamilton’s Water and Wastewater Group providing politicians and residents a high level view of water and wastewater services and the budget requirements.

BUSINESS NEED / OPPORTUNITY The Water and Wastewater Group is part of municipal government in the City of Hamilton in the Province of Ontario. All rate budget increases must be approved by Council and financial budget information must be made available to the public. To achieve this end, we created the Rate Book & Services Overview. The primary need of the Rate Book & Services Overview is to: 1. Provide comprehensive information on water and wastewater services, strategic planning, and required future capital projects to achieve political, media and customer approval of the requested water and wastewater increase and rates for the upcoming year. Primary opportunities of the Rate Book & Services Overview include: 1. To assist in achieving our vision: To be recognized by our customers, stakeholders and peers as a “Centre of Environmental and Innovative Excellence” in the sustainable management of our water resources. 2. Create heightened awareness and better informed politicians, public and media so that they understand the importance of the water and wastewater group and its role in protecting public health, property and the environment. 3. Increase readership and interest in the Rate Book & Services Overview among politicians and general public.

INTENDED AUDIENCE Primary Audience: Political Representatives. The Rate Book & Services Overview is distributed annually to politicians prior to the City’s ‘Committee of the Whole’ meeting to determine water and wastewater rate increases for the upcoming year. Politicians determine policy, procedure and all budget increases. As political representatives are voted by the public, age, prior education, income levels and careers may greatly vary. Politicians represent Wards from across the City and are a demanding demographic. We must ensure we provide technical information in an easy to read format so that they have an educated awareness of the workings of the water and wastewater services. This information must be provided in layman’s terms that can be forwarded to their constituents and substantiate their vote.

Secondary Audiences: Residents of Hamilton: The Rate Book & Services Overview is available to the public on-line at www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/PublicWorks/WaterAndWasteWaterDev/Rates/2010R ate.htm where budget or water and wastewater relevant information can be downloaded 24/7. Hard copies are available at City Hall, libraries and municipal service centres as part of our efforts to educate the public on technical water and wastewater services in

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an easy to read format. Local Media: Hard copies of the Rate Book & Services Overview are distributed to local media prior to the Committee of the Whole meeting to encourage correct, informative reporting of budget and services information regarding rate increases. Business Community: Hard copies are provided to community industry partners and consultants as an informative educational tool to give emphasis to our status as leaders in the water and wastewater industry.

GOALS / OBJECTIVES Primary Goal: Political representatives approve the requested water and wastewater rate increase. Objective 1: The Rate Book & Services Overview should provide Council with the information they require to approve the requested 4 percent increase to the 2010 water and wastewater rates.

Primary Goal: Water and wastewater customers and media understand and accept the required water and wastewater rate increase. Objective 2: The Rate Book & Services Overview should provide customers and media with the information they require to accept a water and wastewater rate increase with no negative responses.

Secondary Goal: Achieving our vision: To be recognized by our customers, stakeholders and peers as a “Centre of Environmental and Innovative Excellence” in the sustainable management of our water resources. Objective 3: The Rate Book & Services Overview, which includes our Report Card, if used correctly as a communication tool should assist in achieving our vision. It should showcase our level of professionalism, our strategic planning, highlight our achievements, recognition and successes and inform all stakeholders on initiatives that make us leaders in municipal water and wastewater industry.

Secondary Goal: Increase readership and interest in the Rate Book & Services Overview among politicians and the general public. Objective 4: The Rate Book and Services Overview should be created in a friendly, easy to read format that visually entices politicians and general public to pick it up and read it.

SOLUTION OVERVIEW The Water and Wastewater Group has developed an innovative new way to present what is usually ‘dry’ municipal financial information. We have taken our legislative responsibility and turned it into an opportunity to present friendly, visually-enticing information in an easy-to-read format, rather than follow the traditional institutional look for government documents. Added to the financial chapter are three additional chapters: Introduction and Services Overview; Theme Related; and Capital Projects. We include key messages that showcase Hamilton as industry leaders using proactive thinking to strategically plan improvements to our services and capital investments in our infrastructure, to ensure Hamilton’s ability to provide clean, safe drinking water to its residents as well as protect the natural environment through wastewater collection.

In consultation with the Senior Director, the Senior Project Manager, Conservation & Education, selects a theme for the annual Rate Book & Services Overview. The creative theme is strategically picked based on the environment in the water and wastewater industry, the political environment or as in the case this year, a special event - the celebration of 150 years of municipal drinking water in Hamilton.

The Senior Project Manager then works within the theme to strategically design

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creative, research and write articles that enhance our key messages. The theme this year easily reinforced our key messages as Hamilton was a leader in 1860, being among the first cities in Canada to supply municipal drinking water to its residents. Financial considerations and investments were of great concern then as now. “Protecting the public health, property and the environment” was what guided Hamilton over the years and it is the mandate of the Water and Wastewater Group. The photos, articles and advertisements used in the 2010 theme were used to reinforce current key messages while providing a visually appealing, inviting and easy to read document.

IMPLEMENTATION & CHALLENGES The Rate Book & Services Overview is an annual report provided to politicians in early December of each year. The annual budget is $15,000 for design and printing costs (approx. 200 printed, approx. 150 pages followed by budget spreadsheets). The Rate Book & Services Overview was published within budget and on-time. Our main challenge is taking very dry technical and financial information and putting it in a report that is easily understood and visually appealing, enticing the reader to pick it up. While our budget is based on water and wastewater rates and not property taxes, it is very political and we must always be conscious of the end result: using our money very wisely and not wasting. In order to reduce costs all photography is completed in-house of current facilities, staff and locations around Hamilton. With the exception of the financial chapter, which is supplied by the finance department, all information is researched and written/or edited in-house by the Senior Project Manager. To reduce costs with the printing company that puts the text and photos into InDesign, the text is provided to them in a word document, and shows what text and photos go on each page and what information is to be highlighted.

The design of the covers is outsourced, but photos and text are forwarded with an outline of the look and feel desired. The creative design on the Appendix tabs are all created in-house. In the 2010 book to recreate the look of an old photo album a photo was taken of a page out of a staff member’s family book and then used to create the background of the Appendix tabs and the corners on the photos. A previous staff member was hired to complete pencil sketchings of the facilities to add to the historical look. Historical archived newspaper articles and photos were researched at the library and included to demonstrate Hamilton’s history as leaders within the water industry, showing the financial struggles and turmoil between balancing finances and building infrastructure dating back 150 years.

MEASUREMENT / EVALUATION Primary Goal: Approval of requested 2010 water and wastewater rate increases. Objective 1: On December 9, 2009, Council approved the requested 4 percent increase to the 2010 water and wastewater rates. There was no negative coverage of the requested rate increase and no delegations from the public speaking against the increase or follow-up calls from the public.

Primary Goal: Water and wastewater customers and media understand and accept the required water and wastewater rate increase. Objective 2: No delegations from the public spoke against the requested increase at the Committee of the Whole or at the Council meetings. Media coverage of the rate increase wasn’t negative. No complaints were received from the general public regarding the rate increase.

Secondary Goal: Achieving our vision: To be recognized by our customers, stakeholders and peers as a “Centre of Environmental and Innovative Excellence” in the sustainable management of our water resources.

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Objective 3: The Rate Book & Services Overview, which includes our Report Card, is provided to stakeholders. Articles are dedicated to our Strategic Business Plan and Report Card. Strategic objectives are continuously tracked, monitored and reported in the Report Card. This showcases our commitment to sustainable management of water resources. We highlight our achievements, recognition and successes to inform all stakeholders on initiatives that make us leaders in the municipal water and wastewater industry.

Secondary Goal: Increase readership and interest in the Rate Book & Services Overview among politicians and general public. Objective 4: Requests have been received by residents, staff and community groups to get a copy of the book as the historical information, newspaper articles and photos have generated considerable interest. Councillors and staff have made comments regarding information in the book, which shows that they are actually reading it.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Creative Other Graphic Design/3D AWARD OF MERIT

Entrant: Megan Durlak

Organization: MaRS Discovery District

Entry Title: Lived It Lectures

Division: Division 3

Category: Category 18

Time Period: October 2009 – December 2009

Brief Description

MaRS Discovery District is a non-profit innovation centre focused on building Canada’s next generation of technology companies. MaRS fulfils that mandate through its advisory services for entrepreneurs, its large-scale lab/office/conference centre and through its inventive programming. This award submission involves a series of promotional posters that highlight MaRS’ Lived It Lectures, a lecture series that offers entrepreneurs and the general public opportunities to hear from notable Canadian business leaders about their experiences starting and growing successful Canadian companies. Presenters have included leaders from Telus, Harry Rosen and Porter Airlines. The posters were displayed in the MaRS Centre atrium for two weeks prior to each event, and the creative was used for promotional postcards used at other in-house events and in select University of Toronto newspaper advertisements. Project Summary

The project submitted is a series of posters that advertises MaRS’ “Lived It” lectures. The Lived It lectures are educational sessions, held at MaRS, that offer the general public, including MaRS clients and tenants, students and entrepreneurs, the opportunity to learn about the experience, challenges and opportunities of starting an innovative company. The lectures are delivered by notable Canadian business leaders and offer attendees the chance to hear, firsthand, about what it’s like to start and lead a successful company. Lived It lectures are part of CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101, MaRS’ flagship educational program. Running from October through April, this free weekly course provides students enrolled in the program with tips, examples, techniques, tools and processes for building and growing successful companies. Lived It lectures – also provided for free -- allow members of the MaRS community to participate in our educational programming and learn from experienced Canadian business leaders in an interesting, engaging and informal environment. MaRS already has a substantial online presence, so the goal of this project was to create, via print advertisements, a larger in-person audience for the Lived It lectures from the many tenants (60+ organizations) and visitors who walk through the MaRS Centre on a daily basis. With this in mind, the posters were displayed in the atrium for two weeks prior to each lecture. In addition, the poster content was used for postcards that were distributed at MaRS Centre events and ads in The Bulletin, the University of Toronto’s biweekly newspaper for faculty and staff. Finally, a copy of the poster was

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given to the presenter of each Lived It lecture as a takeaway and token of thanks, generating goodwill and gratitude for MaRS from our presenters! We felt that creating a unique, personal and eye-catching set of posters for these events would stimulate interest and encourage dialogue within the MaRS community and help promote the engaging, informative and innovative environment that MaRS provides. We also felt it was important to communicate with the wider MaRS community, as well as those outside the MaRS community, about the types of activities that take place at MaRS. Overall, the results and feedback from Lived It lectures show that our project, The Lived It lectures poster series, was very successful. Intended Audience

Through surveys and discussions with Entrepreneurship 101 students, we learned that Lived It lecture attendees wanted to walk away from each lecture with practical new knowledge that could be applied to their own lives and business ventures. The intended audience for the Lived It lecture poster series can be broken down into five categories:

• Students currently enrolled and participating in Entrepreneurship 101 o Through a series or surveys handed out between 2005 and 2009, we knew that the majority of students in Entrepreneurship 101 were male, between the ages of 26-40 and referred to themselves as graduate students, entrepreneurs or managers. In the past, Entrepreneurship 101 has been marketed to science, technology and engineering entrepreneurs, so students predominantly came from universities and research institutions. In 2009, we rebranded CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 to appeal to a wider range of entrepreneurs, including social venture entrepreneurs. • MaRS Centre tenants o Over 2000 people come to work at the MaRS Centre (including the Toronto Medical Discovery Tower) every day. Tenants work across all sectors, from biotech to branding. Many MaRS tenants are entrepreneurs; the MaRS Incubator houses 20 early-stage technology companies that often engage with MaRS for advice, resources and capital connections as they grow their companies. • Members of the general public who use the MaRS Centre o While we do not directly track foot traffic, many hundreds of people walk through the MaRS Centre every day, including University Health Network staff who connect through a lower-level tunnel, tenant visitors, university students, international delegations, food court/restaurant customers, entrepreneurs and scientists/researchers. • Members of the MaRS community o The MaRS community includes MaRS tenants, clients of MaRS advisory services, entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, supporters and users of MaRS’ many educational programs. • MaRS staff o MaRS employs over 70 people across various sectors, including business advisory services, real estate, IT, community investment, finance and human resources. Objectives

• To increase the number of attendees at Lived It lectures by 100 per cent. • To engage a broader public audience in attending and participating in the Lived It lectures by January 2010. • To encourage members of the MaRS community (including MaRS tenants and staff) to participate in educational events at MaRS, and increase the number of community participants by 50 per cent.

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• To showcase Lived It lecture speakers, all prominent members of Canada’s business and innovation communities, as successful entrepreneurs and leaders in their fields. • To create conversations and “buzz” around Lived It lectures speakers and topics. • To ensure that the Lived It lectures poster reflected the recently rebranded aesthetic of CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101.

The primary goal of the Lived It lectures poster series was to boost and broaden attendance (as outlined above) and create a reputation for MaRS as a hub for both emerging entrepreneurs and those who are succeeding in their fields. In addition, we aimed to increase awareness of the Lived It lectures within the MaRS Centre and the wider entrepreneurship community in Toronto, as well as communicate that MaRS routinely hosts innovative and entrepreneurial events that have both educational and practical applications. Our objectives were created with these points in mind—by increasing the number of people who attended each Lived It lecture, and by drawing on a wider, more diverse audience, we were able to bolster MaRS’ reputation as a provider of quality educational, entrepreneurship and business services. By showcasing the prominent speakers who delivered each of the Lived It lectures, we were able to communicate that MaRS is a high-quality organization, well-connected in the business community and committed to the success of Ontario entrepreneurs. Key Messages/Theme

• Lived It lecture speakers are experienced, reputable entrepreneurs who are open to sharing their knowledge and engaging with lecture attendees. (Q&A sessions were often lively.) • Lived It lectures are accessible, interesting, entertaining and open to everyone, not just science, technology and engineering entrepreneurs. • MaRS provides high-quality entrepreneurship education, free of charge, in an engaging and innovative environment. • It was important for us to convey all three of these key messages in order to meet our objectives—we needed to highlight that our speakers were experts in their fields in order to attract audience members; we needed to illustrate that the lectures themselves would be interesting to non-entrepreneurs in order to attract a wider, non- traditional audience; and we needed to showcase MaRS as a great place to learn about business in order to build MaRS’ reputation in Toronto, Ontario and around the world. Creative Rationale

In September 2009, we launched a fresh identity for all CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 course materials. Our goal in rebranding Entrepreneurship 101 was to implement a creative aesthetic that would appeal to a wider pool of potential students (including non-science and technology students) while staying true to the business mandate of the lecture series. With this in mind, we used illustrations and bright colours – a departure from a traditional speaker headshot – to tie the program elements together in a professional manner while appealing to a diverse audience. Considering that Lived It lectures are special segments of CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101, we wanted to ensure that the same branding elements were used in the creative promotional materials. Since we were advertising prominent lecturers, we decided to highlight each speaker’s face and personality in the poster advertising their lecture, all the while using playful illustration and complementary colours to make the posters eye-catching and attractive.

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The content of each presentation affected the poster illustration by way of the speaker’s pose and background illustration. For example, veteran clothier Harry Rosen was shown looking relaxed in a well-cut suit; Jed Emerson of Uhuru Capital, the guru of “blended value” financing, was depicted as the engaging, animated Californian that he is. And while we employed a playful quality in the Lived It lecture posters, we balanced the personal quality of each poster by ensuring each speaker was respectfully depicted as a business leader. Each poster highlighted the key elements that the speaker would bring to his or her Lived It lecture, while showing that the lecture would be informative and engaging whether the audience was familiar with the speaker or not. Results

The Lived It lectures poster series was extremely successful. It allowed us to meet and/or exceed our measurable objectives, such as increasing the number of attendees at each session, attracting a more diverse audience and engaging the MaRS community in our education programming. As a non-profit organization, our budget and resources for this project were limited. In order to minimize costs and use our time efficiently, all designing and printing was done in-house. The communications team worked together to conceptualize and develop the content for each poster. On average, the cost for each poster was $70—a tremendous value considering how many people they helped attract. Through the Lived It Lecture poster series, we were able to attract well over 100 per cent more live attendees to each lecture over previous years (see table below).

Year Date Lecturer Live Date Lecturer Live Attende Attendee es s

2008/20 02/19/0 David 83 2/18/09 David 93 09 8 Neale, Campbell Telus

2009/20 10/7/09 Harry 372 12/02/0 Jed 214 10 Rosen 9 Emerson

The poster series continues through 2010 and the numbers are equally strong. We are confident that our poster campaign has gone a long way in showcasing our speakers with a broader community, reinforcing the new brand and image of CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 and creating “buzz” around the MaRS Centre about the upcoming Lived It lectures. Many of these additional audience members were not students in CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101. Average live attendance over all Entrepreneurship 101 lectures in the 2009 academic year was 100; attendance at each of the Lived It lectures was at least 214. This indicates that we were able to meet our objective of attracting a more diverse crowd to the Lived It lectures.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Creative Other Graphic/3D AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name Tanya Bruckmueller-Wilson Organization: Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited Title of Entry: “Straight From the Fridge” - A Toronto Hydro Art Collective Division/Cat: Division 3, Category 18: Other Graphic Design/3D Time Period: September 2009 Brief Description

To build awareness and breathe new life into the five-year old Great Refrigerator Roundup recycling program, Toronto Hydro held a pop up gallery entitled “Straight From the Fridge”. The gallery concept provided a unique platform to promote the retirement of old, inefficient fridges through the use of art. Toronto Hydro showcased six old, fridge doors that were transformed from trash into works of ‘conservation art’ by young and urban Canadian artists.

PROJECT SUMMARY Research conducted on behalf of Toronto Hydro indicates approximately 25 per cent of Torontonians have a second fridge lurking around the house representing up to $180 in electricity costs. For customers interested in retiring their old, inefficient fridges/freezers, Toronto Hydro offers The Great Refrigerator Roundup recycling program, in partnership with the Ontario Power Authority. The collected appliances are disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner, after recycling and reclaiming reusable materials. The program is free of charge. Fridges and freezers (at least 15 years old and in working order) are picked up from wherever they reside inside a customer’s house, offering them comfort and convenience. This program is unique in that customers do not need to have it brought out to the curb. Toronto Hydro has successfully delivered the program for five consecutive years, having recycled over 16,516 energy-guzzling refrigerators. Still, there are many old, inefficient second refrigerators, or ‘beer fridges’ in homes across the city. Toronto Hydro needed to re-energize the Great Refrigerator Roundup program in order to increase participation, which was nearing a plateau. The goal was to give the program a facelift, and build Toronto Hydro’s presence in the customers’ mind space through a unique and highly visible campaign. A fresh campaign was needed to cut through the cluttered conservation market to create awareness and drive participation in the program.

A Toronto Hydro Benchmark Survey on Perceptions of Brand and Corporate Performance determined: • The company operates in a “high interest/low involvement” consumer mind space. Customers don’t, and prefer not to, think about the company until/when an issue arises. • Customer awareness campaigns need to be innovative and highly visible to be effective.

To this end, Toronto Hydro created the “Straight From the Fridge” art exhibit to increase awareness of the program and encourage the retirement of old, inefficient fridges. The exhibit showcased six vintage fridge doors that were given new life by young and urban Canadian artists who took the doors from trash, and transformed them into treasured works of ‘conservation art’. The exhibit was showcased in a ‘pop up’ gallery, a relatively new concept in mainstream communications and promotion, but often used in

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the indie art scene. A pop up gallery introduces art into an unconventional space (e.g. a coffee shop) without interfering with the normal function of that space (e.g. selling coffee). ‘Pop up’ refers to the short length that the gallery occupies the space – typically only a few hours. This was a new approach for Toronto Hydro to build awareness and educate customers on conservation. INTENDED AUDIENCES Primary Audience: • Toronto Hydro residential customers – 585,000 in total, as approximately 25 per cent of Torontonians have a second fridge in their homes; • News Media –Toronto media are keenly interested in conservation, especially when supported with strong visuals. Local media is a regular conduit for environmental information to many audiences including Toronto Hydro customers; • Community Influencers – Pop up galleries are intensely community-based. Targeting community influencers to attend the gallery would generate ‘buzz’ for upcoming events showcasing the art work. Secondary Audience: • Stakeholders – The municipal and provincial governments, and related agencies, (Ministry of Energy, and the Ontario Power Authority) who actively support and promote energy conservation. OBJECTIVES The overarching goal of the “Straight From the Fridge” art exhibit was to breathe new life into The Great Refrigerator Roundup program.

Objective: create highly visual, unique pieces of art that would increase people’s interest in The Great Refrigerator Roundup and therefore increase participation in the program.

KEY MESSAGES/THEME Derived from the 1950s expression "straight from the fridge, dad" meaning "ain't it the truth", the exhibit aimed to reveal just the truth about inefficient appliances. The theme for the creative was to utilize the subject matter, vintage recycled fridge doors from the conservation program as the canvas for spreading awareness of the program. The artists were free to interpret the theme as they saw fit, the only guideline given was:

“Use the fridge doors as a creative interpretation of canvas, and create inspiring works of art depicting conservation messages meant to encourage people into adopting the ‘culture of conservation’. The artistry will become the messages of conservation...”

CREATIVE RATIONALE Taking the direction from customer research, Toronto Hydro seized this opportunity to use an unconventional approach to build awareness of the program. We used the end product – vintage, recycled doors – as a canvas to ignite a conversation about conservation. The fridge-turned-artwork was used as a stimulus to communicate the benefits of retiring old, inefficient appliances. Toronto Hydro hand-picked six, vintage doors from the program’s recycling facility that were the most charismatic and showed a variety of ages and designs. The doors, some dating back to the 1950s and spanning every decade since, had been returned by Torontonians who had participated in The Great Refrigerator Roundup. Six young and upcoming Canadian artists were commissioned to convey messages of conservation through art on the fridges. While Toronto Hydro’s Great Refrigerator Roundup provided the theme, the artists were free to interpret it as they saw fit in completing their artistic vision. Once the fridge art was completed, Toronto Hydro decided to show the collection in a pop up gallery entitled “Straight From the Fridge”. The unique prospect of holding an art show was a first for Toronto Hydro. The pop up gallery was held on Friday, September 11, 2009. The gallery platform allowed Toronto Hydro to combine art,

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shopping, and conservation education in a creative, engaging and community focused event. RESULTS

Objective: Create highly visual, unique pieces of art that would increase people’s interest in The Great Refrigerator Roundup and therefore increase participation in the program.

Outcome: • The artists transformed the old fridges from trash into art. • The gallery event showing was well attended with over 65 guests comprised of community influencers, stakeholders, community residents and Toronto media. The campaign generated news stories and features that included a reach of over 1,087,426, with an MRP score of 77.78 per cent. • During event launch week, traffic to the online mock-gallery (fridge website) increased 163 per cent compared to previous weeks in September 2009. • The participation in the program in the month of September following the event increased by 31 per cent from the month of August with a total of 296 fridges retired - an increase of 70 units. • Toronto Hydro also extended the showing of the fridges to the Junction Arts Festival – exposing approximately 150,000 people to the artwork and program information. • While at the Junction Arts Festival, the art conveyed the message of conservation and resulted in 10 immediate registrations in the program. After the showings, the team was approached by more than 15 people who were interested in purchasing the art.

Budget: The unique prospect of the electric utility holding an art show was a first for Toronto Hydro; therefore the budget was kept modest. Material costs of $14,000 include: commissioned art, and exhibit displays.

Anecdotal feedback on the artwork:

“What a wonderful way to promote fridge recycling! This artwork is really outstanding! Lovely!”

“Oh aren’t these (art pieces) fabulous! They’re all Canadian? Are they going up for sale?”

“By far one of the best booths at the Festival – thank you for the information, and the art!” Please note: Toronto Hydro recently donated one of the fridges as a piece of art to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children’s, Holiday Mistletoe Ball. The artwork raised approximately $1,200 for the charity as a silent auction item.

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry Communication Creative Photography AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Entrant’s Name: Andrew Berthoff, APR, Senior Vice President, Environics Communications Inc. Organization’s Name: eBay Canada Division/Category: Division 3: Communication Creative Category 19: Photography Title of Entry: 2009 eBay Canada Entrepreneur of the Year Time Period of Project: May 2009 – November 2009 Brief Description: eBay Canada's Entrepreneur of the Year awards recognize the success of entrepreneurs who sell on eBay.ca In 2009, the program was refined to align with the current business climate and ended up being the most successful ever thanks to winning strategies that maximized results on a tight budget. 1. Project Summary:

eBay Canada offers businesses and individuals an opportunity to sell products to consumers around the world. To recognize the success of entrepreneurs who sell on eBay.ca, eBay Canada organizes an annual Entrepreneur of the Year awards program. In its fifth year, the highly successful eBay Canada Entrepreneur of the Year program faced a challenge that coincided with the downturn of the economy – the program’s budget was cut by almost half. Undeterred, Environics Communications proposed an efficient campaign that would focus on doing more with less. This approach resulted in better quality submissions, more passionate entries and winners who recognized the value of public relations. First, we reduced the number of categories. Only one overall Entrepreneur of the Year winner would be named. We also created a new category to address the current economic environment: Comeback of the Year, awarded to an entrepreneur who succeeded on eBay Canada despite experiencing a career setback, such as losing his/her job. Second, with the recession in full swing, we researched the types of stories that would be of interest in a crowded business landscape. A look at current business trends helped Environics create a program that aligned with the business climate. Analysis of our research led us to predict that, by the second half of the year, media would likely become fatigued by covering downbeat business stories and would be hungry for news of success and comebacks. We decided that an upbeat campaign would help position eBay Canada as an important enabler of entrepreneurial business in Canada and as a cost-effective means to establish an online sales channel. Shrinking newsroom resources prompted Environics to develop creative photography to offer to media. Photos of both winners not only depicted the entrepreneur and their business, but also clearly highlighted the eBay brand. Despite being heavily branded, these photos were used extensively by the media.

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2. Intended Audiences:

Key audiences included current and prospective Canadian small business owners via national and regional media. 3. Objectives:

Our goal was to position eBay Canada as an enabler of small business by meeting the following objectives:

• Generate positive media exposure for eBay as an economic catalyst for Canadians. Our target: 8-million media impressions. • Share high-volume seller stories with the media. Our target: 5-10 features in business outlets and/or in Small Business Month editorial. • Offer media creatively branded photographs for publication. Our target: 5-7 photographs accompanying print or online editorial. • Create a repository of entries for use as eBay Canada business case studies in the future. Securing testimonials from customers who are willing to publicize their stories is a major challenge for most organizations and agencies.

4. Key Message/Theme:

eBay Canada is a small business enabler. eBay Canada is a legitimate and respectable marketplace with knowledgeable and conscientious sellers and quality products. eBay Canada sellers have fun while still achieving business success. 5. Creative Rationale:

The Entrepreneur of the Year winner – a seller of premium used golf balls – was photographed in his Toronto, Ontario, warehouse surrounded by 30,000 golf balls and large, brightly coloured eBay letters. The eBay letters stood approximately 3 feet tall and were constructed especially for this photo shoot. The Comeback of the Year winner – an out-of-work butcher who became a restaurant equipment entrepreneur – was photographed wearing a butcher’s apron and hat wielding an eBay-branded meat cleaver in his Surrey, British Columbia, facility. The cleaver was especially purchased and branded for this photo shoot. The photos were deliberately taken in such a way that the eBay branding could not be cropped or edited. Both photos were slightly unusual and reflected the winners’ business. The creative photos of each of the winners supplemented media pitches and releases. Results:

Environics Communications was challenged to create this year’s program with a reduced budget of $34,000 for a seven-month project, compared with $65,000 for our 2008 program. To do this, we leveraged as much existing program material as possible and suggested relatively inexpensive ways to brand the photos. The changes to the campaign for 2009 paid off. The success of the 2009 eBay Canada Entrepreneur of the Year awards program under challenging conditions reflects the success of entrepreneurs succeeding in hard times. The 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year awards program resulted in:

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• National and regional coverage, including print, broadcast and online. • A total of 89 media stories, compared to 47 in 2008 (an increase of 89 per cent with a reduced budget). • More than 28-million media impressions, compared to 11-million in 2008, (an increase of 155 per cent); including the front-page coverage and a full-page article in the Toronto Sun, coverage in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, PROFIT magazine, CTV, on the CP24 ticker in subway stations. • Placement of 23 photographs alongside editorial: 11 photos were clearly branded with the eBay logo; 12 photos were a result of media-lead photo shoots. • An enhanced reputation among media and the general public. Successful media relations and key message execution shaped media’s understanding of eBay.ca as an enabler of small business in Canada. This was evident in the quality and tone of the media coverage. • Nearly 300 eBay Canada seller case studies – more than double the number of entries in 2008 – were uncovered for use in general media relations throughout the year. • Recognition from eBay Inc.’s CEO John Donahue who wrote personal notes of congratulations to winners. • Recognition from eBay Inc.’s corporate PR team who requested Environics Communications submit a summary of best practices to help create a similar program for US sellers. Also requested by the corporate team was a profile video and editorial to post on iWeb, eBay’s internal website accessed by eBay properties around the world.

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Award of Distinction IABC/Toronto Student of the Year Award Matthew Dudman

BRIDGING THE GAP: PR STUDENT LOOKS TO MAKE THE TRANSITION

TORONTO, Ont. – Change is inevitable – innovation is unstoppable. Dialogue and two- way symmetrical communication are constantly changing. Some may not see past their traditional means of communication like the telephone and fax machine, but Matthew Dudman; a Sheridan College Corporate Communications graduate student is preparing to bridge the gap! Emerging communications professional Matthew Dudman encourages public relations practitioners to reevaluate methods of dialogue and communication by looking at the change and effect it has on public relations and communications activities. “As technology has evolved, the five elements of communication have evolved,” said Dudman. “The ways in which society encode, message, channel, receive and obtain feedback of communication is growing and changing rapidly as society advances. As society has moved from an industrial age to the information age there has been a sense of convergence where the integration of mass media, computers, telecommunications and general technological advances has influenced society’s day-to-day lives, as well as many professions, specifically the public relations and communication sectors.” Although the availability of information was limited in the early to mid-1990s, methods of communication were primarily through face-to-face two-way communication. Business was primarily done on a Monday to Friday basis during the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with no overwhelming sense of a digital office. With the dominant technological force of social media being a more prominent player in communications, we must ask the question if PR departments should be setting guidelines for the appropriate use of such a medium? “With the use of digital tools such as the Internet, social media and the growing Web 3.0, information is more readily available to teams within organizations internally, but also the general public externally,” said Dudman. “Essentially, the use of two-way communication is reliant on a mutual understanding rather than a one way persuasive conversation, for example through social mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, Wikis and Blogs.” By identifying this free-flow of information as something that contributes to not only a wide variety of professions, but also as a method of constant availability of information on a societal and global scale, public relations and communications professionals are able to position their role and the role of PR as a strategic pillar in reinforcing business objectives, ensuring communicative adaptability and identifying accurate and fair communication amongst communicators. “A global world never sleeps and as PR professionals become a more integral role in organizations, they must take into consideration not a select few in a particular area, but a growing world of 6.7 billion,” says Dudman. Dudman points out that in order for public relations and communications practitioners to be able to adapt to the ever-growing digital society, they will have to ensure they are well-versed in both old and new methods of communicating, thus allowing for a strategic communications process. While PR is evolving, it is imperative for PR practitioners to identify and address three key factors in efforts of being proactive: transparency, timing and clarity of ones message.

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“In order to bridge the gap, public relations and communications practitioners must ensure that they are constantly thinking strategically and acting tactically,” said Dudman. “If public relations and communications professionals allow themselves to bridge the gap between typical communication methods with digital, technologically advanced systems of the future, the new-age digital environment will help to extend the knowledge of PR professionals as well as help them integrate and innovate new and enhanced two-way communication models.” Dudman adds that in order to impact the communications profession, it is imperative to accept change and adapt to innovation over time. Public relations is an art, the task that practitioners have is understanding the information and how they craft their message in order to communicate. By bridging the gap between the old and new and finding equilibrium, possibilities are endless and communication will continue to shine as the backbone of organizations and professions alike. “Matthew is an exceptional full-time student with a strong academic standing; I have been impressed with Matthew since he entered the program as he has continuously showed strong communication and leadership skills,” said Andrew Coxhead, Program Coordinator, Corporate Communications at Sheridan College. “Matthew has demonstrated a strong entrepreneurial spirit towards the public relations and communications profession and spends an extraordinary amount of time improving his knowledge and skill sets by thinking ‘outside-of-the-box’. There is no doubt in my mind that Matthew will succeed in his chosen field and become an icon of the profession in years to come.” A well-versed and emerging young professional, Matthew is currently completing his post-graduate certificate in Corporate Communications at Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. He plans to pursue a Masters Degree in Professional Communications and continue his success in the ever-growing, rapidly changing corporate world. - 30 -

For more information or for an interview, please contact Matthew J. Dudman.

Matthew J. Dudman Graduate Student, Sheridan College LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MatthewJDudman

Twitter: www.twitter.com/MatthewJDudman

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MatthewJDudman

YouTube: www.youtube.com/MatthewJDudman

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OVATION Awards Winning Entry BOBBY RESNICK PHILANTHROPY AWARD

Title Of Entry: Environics Communications Supports The White Ribbon Campaign To Raise Awareness Around The Issue Of Violence Against Women

Organization’s Name: Environics Communications Inc.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF COMMUNICATION PLAN

The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) is the world’s largest not-for-profit effort of men working to end violence against women. Founded by a group of Canadian men who felt they had a responsibility to speak out against violence against women after the horrific Montréal massacre of 1989, this passionate organization is now present in over 60 countries around the globe. Today, wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge to never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women and girls.

In 2009, the Toronto-based Canadian chapter of WRC wanted to generate public awareness for issues of violence against women to invoke change in a positive and impactful way. As an organization, they do not receive any core funding support from any level of government and rely solely on events and fundraising for their survival. As a result, they planned Walk a Mile in Her Shoes (WAMIHS): an event where men would walk one full mile en-masse in high-heeled women’s shoes to raise money and awareness for WRC. With only a small team of core staff, the WRC needed support.

Environics Communications (ECI) was approached by WRC to drive public awareness for their social issue and event, in a pro-bono capacity. We immediately embraced the opportunity for a few reasons. First, as Canada’s #1 workplace for women, according to the Great Place to Work® Institute, ECI has an affinity for causes that address and enhance the long-term well being of women. Second, as our agency is predominantly female, working with WRC to raise public awareness for this social issue and help make the world a safer place for women only made sense. Third, the WRC team is such an inspiring group of men and their passion for this cause is infectious making it next to impossible to say no. ECI signed on board to donate $20,000 in professional services to help support this worthwhile cause.

What follows is a synopsis of the communications plan that ECI developed for the White Ribbon campaign as well as the results.

Research:

WRC provided ECI with background information and statistics about violence against women in Canada – an often ignored or silenced issue. ECI worked with the WRC to analyze the research to assist in building, and executing, the communications strategy. Some relevant information included the following: • Statistics Canada data revealed that 51% of Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16. • According to a 2005 study conducted by Pollara – a Canadian public research firm – 75% of Canadian men feel it is important that men speak out against violence against women. • WAMIHS events had been held in other North American cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Kansas City, and with great success – we hoped to replicate that in Toronto.

Planning, goals and objectives:

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ECI leveraged the above information in public relations outreach to generate community awareness of WRC’s cause and issue. ECI’s communications plan included media relations as well as one-on-one influencer outreach. Maintaining a consistent message was key for success; all communications needed to include event details, the reason behind event, information about the cause itself and direct people to the WAMIHS Toronto website to donate or register to walk.

Our overall goal was to build public awareness for WAMIHS to help drive participation, funds and social consciousness for WRC to enhance the long-term well being of Canadian women. From this goal, we collectively set five specific objectives to define what we deemed to be “successful” as a team:

1. Generate media coverage that contains our key message: WRC is holding WAMIHS on October 1st, 2009 at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto to help raise awareness for issues of violence against women and girls. • Target earned impressions: five million, with an MRP score of at least 75% • 100% branded coverage • At least 75% of pre-event coverage to drive to web (so people can sign up to participate in WAMIHS) • Book at least five pre-event interviews and facilitate at least five on-site interviews with Todd Minerson, Executive Director of WRC 2. Secure participation from notable community influencers at WAMIHS • Event participation from at least one prominent media personality and one Toronto City Councillor

3. Meet the participation goal of 250 walkers / 80 volunteers; secure 500 new donors for WRC 4. Help raise $60,000 in funds for WRC through WAMIHS event 5. Impact the community in a positive way and set the stage for WAMIHS to become an annual event (to be determined subjectively by feedback from media, participants and community members)

Our target audience for the program included men and women, ages 18-49 living in the GTA and surrounding areas. In order to best target this group and encourage their participation in WAMIHS Toronto, public relations outreach targeted men as well as the women in the lives – wives, sisters, mothers and friends (namely, women who they care about and would encourage them to take part in the walk).

Communication and execution:

ECI worked with the WRC team to execute a multi-faceted approach to connect with our audience at the community level throughout the GTA and surrounding areas. Elements included: 1. Proactive pre-event outreach. By encouraging male GTA media to participate in one- on-one “high-heel walking lessons” with WRC Executive Director Todd Minerson, ECI created interview opportunities for Todd to deliver the key messages about WAMIHS. ECI also crafted and distributed media materials containing WAMIHS details to calendar listing editors, print/online media and radio.

2. Strategic topic tie-ins. ECI stayed on top of news stories related to issues of violence against women (such as the Stephanie Rengel murder or the Chris Brown sentencing) and connected with the journalists/bloggers covering these topics as we knew this cause was on their radar and they would likely support WAMIHS.

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3. Secure high-profile influencers to help share the message. ECI researched public figures that would be open to the cause and approached them with news about the event one-on-one, giving every interaction a unique “personal touch”.

4. Leveraging social media. The WRC team developed and managed a dedicated Facebook group and Twitter account, which were regularly updated with information about the event to generate excitement and participation and a WAMIHS PSA was uploaded to YouTube. All social media vehicles linked back to the WAMIHS website where potential participants could learn more about the walk, donate, or register to take part. ECI alerted media to all these vehicles in communications materials, pitches and conversations with media.

5. Building and entering an ECI team. As partners with WRC, ECI was very motivated to support the cause in any way possible. We created our own ECI team of men to participate in walk. All men were provided with women’s shoes in their size as well as a female walking buddy (the total team was 20 men and women in total). ECI also put out a company-wide call for donations.

6. Event-day media relations. It’s not often that groups of men in high-heel shoes walk through downtown Toronto – people needed to see this visual to understand how strongly the community feels about ending violence against women! To ensure this was shared via media, ECI encouraged media participating in WAMIHS to do their own feature piece about it; sent TV and photo editors a media alert and posted it to Canada NewsWire (CNW); managed media relations on-site and showcased key photo/filming opportunities; hired an on-site photographer, selected key photos and sent them to their media list immediately following the event; posted one event image on CNW.

Evaluation, Measurement and Success!

Our goal was to build public awareness for WAMIHS to help drive participation, funds and social consciousness for WRC to enhance the long-term well being of Canadian women. We were so pleased to meet and exceed all of our goals and objectives:

1. Generate media coverage that contains our key message – success highlights include: • Doubled impressions goal of five million; earned over 11.5 million impressions • Surpassed target MRP score of 75% with an MRP score of 95.83% • Surpassed goal of 75% pre-event coverage to driving to web; 96% drove to web • More than doubled our pre-event interview goal of five interviews and instead booked nine • Surpassed on-site interview goal of five and facilitated eight interviews at event Our media relations outreach resulted in 48 media hits including coverage with, but not limited to, Citytv News Toronto, Toronto Sun, 24 Hours Toronto, Global Television, Entertainment Tonight Canada, OMNI Television, CTV.ca, CP24 Breakfast, CH Morning Live, CosmoTV, TheStar.com, Proud FM, Laineygossip.com, Flow 93.5, NowToronto.com, CHFI.com, Edge.ca Metro Toronto, and Sing Tao. In addition, a photograph from our event was enlarged and featured in a quarter-page spread in the Toronto Star, along with a caption delivering our key message.

2. Surpassed goals and secured participation from five media personalities and two Toronto City Councillors

3. Surpassed participation, volunteer and donor goals: • 400 walkers participated in WAMIHS • 100 volunteers assisted with WAMIHS

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• More than doubled donor goal of 500; secured 1000+ new donors for WRC

4. Surpassed fundraising goal; WAMIHS raised $85,000 for WRC

5. Community impact: • More than doubled donor goal of 500; secured 1000+ new donors for WRC • An email arrived at WRC offices from Seattle a month before WAMIHS from a woman who had been directed to the WAMIHS website by a friend in Toronto. Her email read: “I’ve heard about the work your organization does; I wish you continued good fortune…one day soon, I will make it out to Toronto to walk alongside you”. • A group of young women heard about this event through social media dialogue. They connected with the cause so strongly that they drove six hours from Montreal, QC, to participate in the weekday walk in Toronto. • One of our male colleagues who walked with the ECI team on event day has joined the WRC steering committee for next year’s WAMIHS event. His words: “this is an important issue and I want to do anything I can to help”. • Emmanuel Belliveau, the HGTV/Discovery host who walked in the event, has also joined WAMIHS’ 2010 board. • Photo editors from the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and reporters from Citytv said “we’ve never seen anything like this in Toronto; the visuals are incredible and really make the point.” • Since the event, WRC has been fielding phone calls from all over the world (as far away as Australia) asking about the event and wanting to know best practices for holding events in their community. • As a result of this year’s success, WAMIHS is set to take place again this fall on September 30th, 2010 and we are pleased to say we will be working with the WRC in to support their efforts again this year in a pro-bono capacity.

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2010 OVATION Awards Judges

Linda Andross, ABC, President, APEX Public Relations Inc.

With more than 17 years of agency experience, Linda is responsible for managing a multitude of diverse clients from B2B to B2C at one of Canada’s top independent public relations agencies. An ABC, Linda is the VP, Professional Standards and Accreditation for IABC/Toronto. She is active in judging awards such as Gold Quill, and OVATION, as well as overseeing IABC/Toronto’s Accreditation College.

Shelley Aylesworth-Spink, ABC, Executive Assistant, Vice-Principal Advancement, Queen’s University

Shelley Aylesworth-Spink, has worked in organizational communications for 20 years in the private sector, with Syncrude Canada Ltd. and Goodyear Canada Inc., and broad public sector at Kingston General Hospital and Queen’s University. Her roles have included developing communications strategies aimed at media, communities, government, other external and internal audiences. She is currently the Executive Assistant to the Vice-Principal Advancement at Queen’s University as a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies studying the nexus of media and issues of health.

Nancy Bagworth, Vice President, Communication, Food & Consumer Products of Canada

Nancy Bagworth is Vice President, Communication, at Food & Consumer Products of Canada. Her experience includes roles as an instructor with the Humber College School of Media Studies Public Relations program, head of corporate communication with a global pharmaceutical company and account executive with a large public relations agency. She also ran her own communication business for a number of years. Nancy has been active with IABC for more than 20 years. She is a past president of IABC/Toronto and past District Director of then IABC Canada District 2.

Priya Bates, ABC, Senior Director, Internal Communications, Loblaw Companies Limited

Priya Bates is helps Loblaw engage employees and demonstrate best-in-class communications that result in more effective outcomes for the business. Her accomplishments include: 2009 Silver Leaf Award of Excellence from IABC Canada; Successful submission to Canada’s Top 100 Employer for Loblaw in 2010; HP Canada from 2003 to 2008; and Compaq Canada in 2002; Recognition of Compaq Canada president, David Booth, by IABC/Toronto as Communicator of the Year in 2002. IABC volunteer positions include the International Board, past-chair of the Canada Eastern Region Board and past-president of IABC/Toronto.

Eric Bergman, ABC, APR, MC, Senior Consultant, Bergman & Associates

Eric Bergman has graded award submissions at the local, national and international level for nearly 20 years. He was coordinator and chief judge of IABC’s Silver Leaf Awards in 1992, and has been a member of IABC’s Blue Ribbon panel for the Gold Quill Awards program. For 11 years, he was a member of IABC’s international accreditation council. Eric holds a bachelor of professional arts in communication studies from

Athabasca University, a two-year diploma in advertising and public relations from Grant MacEwan College. He earned his ABC in 1991 and his APR in 1993. In 2002, he was named an IABC master communicator. Eric is also a past president of IABC/Toronto.

Amanda Brewer, ABC, Director Change & Internal Communications, Hill & Knowlton Canada

During her career in public relations and corporate communications, Amanda has provided counsel to both private and public sector clients in regulated industries such as broadcasting, mining and metals, and financial services, with an emphasis on corporate reputation, internal communications and issues management. Amanda has worked with executives and senior management teams to create visibility with employees, shareholders and stakeholders, overseen a variety of public relations initiatives, and implemented communications programs designed to deliver on business priorities. Prior to joining Hill & Knowlton, Amanda served as Manager, Internal Communications with the CBC. She also has experience working with AGF Funds Inc., and spent five years with mining and metals giant Noranda Inc., (now Xstrata). Amanda is also a past president of IABC/Toronto.

Paulina Callaghan, ABC, Independent and IABC/Toronto, Director

Paulina is an ABC with over a decade in both the private and public sectors managing a multitude of internal and external communication functions. Paulina started an independent communications career in 2009. Prior to that, she was the manager of corporate communications for a business process outsourcer for almost 14 years. Currently, Paulina is looking for a full-time position with an organization that embraces communications. In the meantime, Paulina keeps busy with writing/editing, networking, guest speaking engagements, and seminars. Paulina is also an active volunteer with IABC/Toronto. She is the director of professional standards and the director of programming for PIC. She is also a mentor, exam proctor, and awards judge. For many years, Paulina has been a strong supporter of the World Wildlife Fund and proudly holds the warm and fuzzy title of community panda.

John Cappelletti ABC, Sr. Communications Advisor, OMERS

John is a senior communications professional with experience building and managing the reputation of high-profile pension plans. Throughout his 25-year career in corporate communications, John has learned to think and act strategically, and to deliver measurable results against predetermined objectives. He has been active in IABC primarily by volunteering to grade accreditation exams and judging programs such as, Silver Leaf, Gold Quill and the IABC/Toronto OVATION Awards.

Tanya Elliott-Briden, Vice President, APEX Public Relations Inc.

With more than 12 years of public relations experience, Tanya helps manage the corporate and consumer electronics divisions at APEX including clients such as Google Canada, George Brown College, Nintendo of Canada, Samsung Electronics Canada, UPS Canada among others. She provides strategic counsel while managing client relationships, and is skilled at executing corporate re-brandings and profiling, product launches, national media tours, event coordination and more. Tanya is a graduate of the Public Relations program at Durham College where she graduated with honours, and

sits on the Durham College Public Relations Advisory Board. Tanya also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Stephanie Engel, Vice President, APEX Public Relations Inc.

A seasoned PR professional with more than 14 years communications experience, Stephanie has a strong background in both the consumer and health and wellness fields. Within these areas, she applies her expertise in media relations, event management and stakeholder relations, in helping her clients drive their business development goals. She is involved in the strategic planning and execution of consumer campaigns for a number of leading brands including John Frieda, Jergen’s, Levi’s, Kellogg’s and Yoplait. Prior to joining APEX, Stephanie ran the consumer practice at a Toronto-based agency where she led major accounts, such as Evian, Coca- Cola and Robin Hood. She also spent several years as PR Manager for AstraZeneca, managing both corporate and product communications.

Kenneth Evans, Senior Vice President, APEX Public Relations Inc.

Ken Evans manages the APEX Communications Training Practice, as well as the agency’s financial services division. His approach to communications training, strategic counsel and senior media relations is focused on helping clients maximize the full potential of external and internal communications for business development purposes. Ken’s current roster of training and public relations clients includes BMO, NPD Canada, Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg, UPS and Samsung Electronics of Canada. Ken is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and a graduate of Dalhousie University with an honours degree in International Relations.

Morag Farquharson, ABC, Manager, Global Risk Management Communications Scotiabank

Morag Farquharson, ABC, is a communicator with close to 20 years’ experience in the financial services and HR consulting sectors. She specializes in human resources and employee communications, with extensive experience in print and online media, special events and face-to-face communication. She graduated from Glendon College, York University, and studied Corporate Communications at Seneca College. An accredited member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) since 2008, Morag is also a past IABC/International Gold Quill winner for writing. She has been an active volunteer with the IABC/Toronto chapter, including serving on the Board of Directors for several terms.

Marianne Gobeil, APR, CEO, Leading Communicators Inc.

As the CEO of Leading Communicators Inc., Marianne Gobeil works with the senior leadership teams of Fortune 500 companies, as well as with entrepreneurial, political and government leaders across North America. Her 25 years of senior-level communications experience, together with her seminal knowledge and expertise on strategic leadership communications, has earned her the trust and loyalty of many high profile leaders. Marianne advises top-tier leaders on how to communicate so that their followers are not only engaged but convinced to think and act in the way that fulfills the leader’s goals and objectives. Her strategic leadership communications services are measurement-driven through a unique, proprietary diagnostic called Speakcheck® to

achieve concrete and sustainable results. As a result, her clients have been able to dramatically accelerate the growth of their businesses, and build the profile and reputations that earn both them and their organizations great leadership distinction.

Leslie Hetherington, APR, MBA, Principal, LASH Communications Group

An award-winning communicator and quick study, Leslie has more than 20 years agency and client-side experience in PR, marketing and technical communications for diverse sectors. Her current focus is external communications for public sector and not-for- profit clients, integrating on and offline strategies. She is Immediate Past President, IABC/Toronto, following a year in which the chapter earned 12 Chapter Management Awards, including IABC’s International Chapter of the Year, and Co-chair, global trends track, for IABC’s upcoming World Conference. Leslie has won several IABC/Toronto OVATION and CPRS (Toronto) ACE awards in the past few years and three 2009 Packaging Association of Canada awards.

Mary-Ellen Hynd, MBA, Professor/Social Responsibility Strategist, Humber College

Mary-Ellen is a Social Responsibility Strategist with over ten years experience specializing in education, stakeholder engagement and communication to support the integration and implementation of social responsibility. An Associate of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility providing member advisory services and communications counsel, her experience includes full time leadership and consulting roles across the corporate and non profit sectors for organizations including Direct Energy, Royal Bank, Ontario’s Regulatory Health Colleges and the Toronto Community Foundation. Ms. Hynd is representing IABC International as a contributor to the development of the ISO 26000 international standard for social responsibility. She teaches on the topic of CSR/Sustainability at Nipissing University and Humber College and currently chairs IABC/Toronto’s Social Responsibility Committee.

Jo Langham, ABC, SVP & General Manager, Toronto, Thornley Fallis Communications

Jo is a multiple award-winning senior communications practitioner with extensive experience in consulting and public relations agency environments and a reputation for planning and leading innovative, high-impact strategic communications campaigns. She has recently joined Thornley Fallis Communications, an innovative, full-service public relations, communications and marketing agency, as SVP & General Manager. Jo was president of IABC/Toronto in 2002/3, currently sits on the international Accreditation Council as Director of Examiners, and is regularly called on as a judge for the Canadian Marketing Association Awards and IABC’s Gold Quill, Silver Leaf and OVATION Awards programs.

Anna Larson, ABC, MLS, Communications Specialist, Halton Region

Anna Larson joined Halton Region as a Communications Specialist in 2008. At the Region, she works with clients to develop and implement communication strategies consistent with corporate and departmental priorities. Prior to joining the Region, Anna held a number of senior communications posts including Director, Public Affairs and Communications with the Centre for the Financial Services OmbudsNetwork, Director of Communications and Special Events with The Boston Consulting Group and manager,

media relations officer and speechwriter with the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. Anna earned her accreditation (ABC) from IABC in 2009. In her former life, Anna was a librarian. She is currently Chair of the Oakville Public Library Board.

Andrea Lekushoff, MBA, President, Broad Reach Communications

Andrea is the president and founder of Broad Reach Communications, a full-service boutique communications firm. She brings with her two decades of senior marketing and communications experience with global consultancies, public relations agencies, venture capital companies and government agencies. Prior to establishing Broad Reach, Andrea was a strategy consultant with Deloitte Consulting and a public relations consultant with two mid-size Toronto-based agencies. She also spent four years in the press office at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., where she advanced Canadian policy interests. Andrea climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2004, holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, and is fluent in English and French.

Ellen Leesti, ABC, Senior Communications Coordinator, City of Toronto

An award-winning communicator with more than a decade in the field, Ms Leesti is currently with the City of Toronto, providing public education and communications services for Toronto Water. Prior to her role with the City, she worked on the agency side, providing communications planning, media relations, issues management, special events, employee relations and investor relations services to her clients.

Judy Lewis, Co-founder & Executive Vice President, Strategic Objectives

Judy Lewis is co-founder & executive vice president of Strategic Objectives, one of Canada's most award-winning public relations firms and IABC/Toronto's 2009 Agency of the Year. Together with agency co-owner, Deborah Weinstein and the team of PR and social influence pros at Strategic Objectives, Judy develops and leads memorable strategies and programs that achieve breakthrough results for an outstanding roster of Canadian and global companies. A recognized expert in the areas of branding, marketing PR, social responsibility and social influence, Judy will be hosting a session entitled It's A Brand New Day at the upcoming IABC 2010 World Conference, June 6-9, 2010 in Toronto.

Ruth Lewkowicz, Director, Marketing & Communications, Toronto Region Research Alliance

Ruth Lewkowicz is responsible for marketing and communications initiatives to support investment attraction and regional research capacity building at the Toronto Region Research Alliance. She brings experience in the not-for-profit, health and life sciences fields. Ruth has worked with corporate leaders such as Sanofi and Bayer, and public sector organizations such as North York General Hospital and several provincial government ministries. She has also worked agency-side with international firms Burson-Marsteller and Edelman.

Carrie MacAfee, Communications Specialist, Ontario Power Generation

Carrie MacAfee develops and delivers strategic employee communication at Ontario Power Generation. She has also served on the IABC/Toronto Board for three years and is Executive Vice President for 2009/10. As an award-winning communicator with both an IABC/Toronto OVATION and IABC Gold Quill award, Carrie is enthused about using her communication and project management skills to build understanding, discover new solutions and improve processes.

Karen Madho, Specialist, Government Relations, CNIB

Karen Madho was honoured to serve on this year’s OVATION Awards judging panel while also working as Director for IABC/Toronto's Sponsorship and Advertising portfolio. She is an enthusiastic public affairs professional with over eleven years of experience in the not-for-profit sector. She has a passion for health care communications combined with an interest in strategic communications. Her expertise includes special events planning, proposal writing, and organizing grass-roots campaigns. She holds an Honours BA from York University and a post-graduate diploma from Seneca’s Corporate Communications Program.

Cyrus Mavalwala, ABC, Founding Partner, Advantis Communications Cyrus Mavalwala, ABC, first experienced the joy of volunteering with IABC in 1995. He enjoyed it so much that he has since chaired the Alliance of Independent Practitioners (now called Professional Independent Communicators) and is currently an IABC/Toronto board member. He has also presented at IABC events in Canada and the USA. Cyrus is an award-winning PR practitioner with more than 15 years of communications experience. In 2002, he incorporated Advantis Communications, a lean, award-winning public relations and marketing agency. Working with early stage companies and industry leaders, Cyrus has traveled the U.S., Europe and Canada while on assignment.

Wendy McLean-Cobban, CMP, ABC, Manager, Communications & Regional Programs, The Canadian Payroll Association

Wendy has over 12 years of experience as a marketing and communications professional working in both the financial and association sectors. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Guelph and Public Relations Certificate from Ryerson Polytechnic University. Wendy also holds both the both the Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) and Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) accreditations.

Pat McNamara, APR, FCPRS, CEO, APEX Public Relations Inc.

Pat founded APEX Public Relations in 1998 and has built a strong consulting team and a roster of blue chip clients. As a manager with over 25 years experience, she provides senior client counsel in consumer marketing and corporate communications. APEX has been acknowledged by Canadian and international public relations societies with several awards including the IABC/Toronto’s 2007 and 2008 Agency of the Year award. A recipient of national and local mentor recognition awards, Pat has also been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Women Business Owners for seven years running. She is founding Chair of the Canadian Council of PR Firms, a Fellow of the Canadian Public Relations Society and a member of the Public Relations Society of America’s Counselors

Academy. In addition to her responsibilities as CEO of APEX, Pat is currently in the process of starting a non-profit microfinance initiative for budding Canadian entrepreneurs.

Wendy Orton, ABC, Principal, Orton & Company

Wendy Orton is a freelance communications manager whose projects varying from sponsorships to media relations to product and service launches. She is currently working with the Ontario Women’s Directorate, a branch of the provincial Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration dedicated to helping women achieve economic independence and preventing violence against women. Past campaigns include EatRight Ontario and the Foresters/ Children’s Miracle Network Champions program.

Michela Pasquali, ABC, Writer. Editor. Communications Consultant www.mpasquali.com

Michela loves writing. She spent 15 years writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and corporate communications, and is now a freelance writer and editor. She spends most days composing Web copy, white papers, articles, press releases, and a whole host of other things for corporate clients. She also writes short stories and is finishing her first novel. When not sitting at her computer, you can find Michela with her husband at Home Depot, stocking up on supplies for the never-ending home “restoration” project, or playing with their 1 1/2 year old son, Rowan, at playgrounds on the Danforth.

Janet Patterson, ABC

Janet has been in the communications field for more than 20 years, with a clear focus on the non-profit sector. She considers herself a generalist, and has successfully tackled a wealth of challenges over the years. Her interest in optimum health was further nurtured at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, where she played a key communications role during its major expansion. Her most recent position was with the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance. She keeps pace with communications trends and current events, and escapes from Toronto to hike and camp whenever possible.

Anna Relyea, Associate Director, Strategic Communications, Ontario Science Centre, VP at Large, International Task Force, IABC/Toronto

Anna Relyea was a business journalist before starting her diverse career in public relations and corporate communications more than 20 years ago. She contributed to successful PR campaigns in the travel and aerospace sectors before setting up the communications department at National Trust and developing communications programs at CIBC. Anna progressed to Heinz Canada where she spent seven years working on many aspects of corporate image building, marketing communications, media and government relations, issues management and crisis communications. Now Associate Director, Strategic Communications, at the Ontario Science Centre Anna is leading a strategic communications program to advance the centre’s image and profile in the marketplace. She earned her B.A. and M.A. as well as a Certificate in Public Relations Procedures from the University of Toronto. Anna is overseeing IABC/Toronto’s support for the 2010 IABC World Conference in Toronto from June 6 to 9, 2010.

Natasha Renaud, MBA, MS Mass Comm, Director, Communications and Social Responsibility, Grand & Toy

Ms. Renaud joined Grand & Toy in 2006 with more than 10 years of experience in Corporate Communications, a Master’s degree in Communications from Boston University and an MBA from McGill University. In addition to managing all of the G&T’s corporate communications, she is also responsible for the corporate sustainability journey Grand & Toy embarked upon in 2007 while ensuring Grand & Toy’s efforts are communicated to its customers and that the company remains on target with its sustainability efforts.

Roberta Resnick, ABC, APR, MC, IABC Fellow, CPRS Honorary Fellow, Principal, Roberta Resnick & Associates

Roberta (Bobbie) Resnick has spent 53 years in public relations, starting in 1957 with Zurich Insurance Company and Morton International (salt and chemicals) of Chicago; in sales communication with the former SmithKline Pharmaceuticals in Philadelphia, and since l972, in all aspects of corporate and targeted communication for Libby’s (now Nestlé) of Canada in Toronto, Canada. An independent consultant since ’85, she specializes in HR communication to employees, including handbooks and manager manuals for organizations in every known field of commercial activity. She has presented educational seminars for clients, IABC chapters and other associations across North America and internationally, and for many years, she taught several subjects in corporate communication/public relations programs at three community colleges and (Toronto). She’s been active in IABC since its formation, (and in one of its U.S. predecessor groups, ICIE, beginning in 1959), is a Chairman’s Award recipient (1987), was named Master Communicator, Canada District 2, in 1991 and a Fellow of IABC in 2005.

David Rowney FCPRS, Senior Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers

David is a public relations professional with over 20 years experience working primarily in the area of corporate communications, branding, change management, crisis and media relations. A graduate of Carleton University in journalism, he started his career as reporter and editor with Thomson Newspapers. His past responsibilities include corporate positions with Ernst & Young, Intact Financial Corporation and AMEC plc. He currently works at PricewaterhouseCoopers as Senior Manager, Media Relations. David has won several national awards for communications excellence and has spoken at conferences on the topic of measurement and evaluation.

Gary Schlee ABC, Principal, Gary Schlee Communications

Gary Schlee has worked in communications for four decades, spending nearly three of them teaching and/or coordinating the postgraduate Corporate Communications and Public Relations program at Centennial College. He currently runs his own communications practice and has been doing work for the Yonge Street Mission. Gary is a past president of IABC/Toronto and has served on a variety of committees at the chapter, district and international level. He founded the Silver Leaf Awards program in the late 1970s, was one of the early ABCs in Canada and the second Canadian to serve

on the International Accreditation Council. With IABC/Toronto support, he launched the Talk Is Cheap annual social media unconference in 2007.

Diana Spremo, APR, Principal, Spremo Communications

Diana Spremo is an accredited industry veteran who specializes in media relations and special events. She applies her strategic thinking and attention to detail to the management, implementation and publicity of events, programs and campaigns designed for an organization's customers, employees or community. Spremo Communications enjoys working closely with clients as a team member to achieve the desired results.

Penny Tomlin, Manager, Communications, Interior Designers of Canada

Penny has more than 20 year experience as a business communicator. A graduate of the University of Regina’s School of Journalism and Communications, she has worked as a communications professional in both the private and public sectors, primarily in postsecondary education, in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In November 2008, she joined the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) in Toronto. ARIDO has recently undergone a restructuring and is now a national body known as Interior Designers of Canada (IDC).

Karen Traboulay, ABC, MBA, BA, President Marketing, Communications & PR, Kriket Communications Inc.

Principal of Kriket Communications, Karen has more than 20 years experience in the many disciplines associated with Communications. A strategic thinker who has gained experience from a variety of industries such as Health Care /eHealth, Finance, Aviation, Standards and Advertising, Karen and Kriket Communications leverages a vast network of professional relationship and now provides integrated communications for large transformational projects both nationally and internationally. Visit: www. Kriketcommunications.com

Virve Tremblay, Director of Communications, NCR Corporation

Virve is a communications generalist at NCR, a global technology company with 20,000 employees in 100 countries. She has more than 25 years of experience in media relations, employee communications, advertising, marketing and strategy. As director of Corporate Communications, Virve provided reputation management counsel and executive support to the CEO and his leadership team, including speechwriting. Previously, as vice president of Teradata's data warehousing division, Virve built a global PR network. She also developed a similar PR network for NCR. As director of Advertising and Associate Information for AT&T Canada, Virve provided strategic counsel and marketing support for AT&T's six business units.

Gal Wilder, ABC, Account Group Director, Cohn & Wolfe

Gal is a seasoned communicator whose professional experience includes working with and providing communication, public relations and reputation management counsel to

many well known organizations across various industry sectors, both in Canada and abroad. Gal holds an Accredited Business Communicator designation (ABC) from the International Association of Business Communicators. His successful track record in leading a variety of domestic and globally-aligned media relations campaigns earned him industry awards and recognition from professional associations and global communication networks.

Janet Wile, ABC, MC, Director Internal Communications, Barrick Gold Corporation

Janet Wile is Director, Internal Communications with Barrick Gold Corporation in Toronto, where she is responsible for developing and implementing global communications programs. She has more than 20 years of experience in the communications field, including corporate, agency and government roles. She is an Examiner for the IABC Accreditation program and a frequent judge for local, national and international communication awards programs. She served on the Blue Ribbon Panel for IABC Gold Quill awards in 2006. She was named Master Communicator in 2007 -- IABC Canada's highest honour. She has won more than 30 awards from professional societies since 2000, including OVATION, Silver Leaf, and Gold Quill.

BOBBY RESNICK PHILANTHROPY AWARD JUDGES

Brent Carey, ABC

Head of International Communications, KPMG International Annette Martell, ABC, MC, IABC Fellow

Independent Consulting Associate, TWI Surveys Inc. Roberta Resnick, ABC, APR, MC, IABC Fellow, CPRS Honorary Fellow

Principal, Roberta Resnick & Associates

IABC/TORONTO STUDENT OF THE YEAR JUDGES

Christine Andrew

Senior Marketing Manager, Shred-it Sharon Beattie

Communications Specialist, Marketing, Grand & Toy Trell Huether

Account Director, Marshall Fenn Communications

2009/2010 IABC/Toronto Executive Board

President Brent Carey, ABC

Immediate Past President Leslie Hetherington, APR, MBA

Executive Vice President Carrie MacAfee

Vice President, Accreditation & Standards Linda Andross, ABC

Vice President, Advertising & Sponsorship Cyrus Mavalwala, ABC

Vice President, Association Management Julie Wilson, ABC, MEd

Vice President, Awards Trell Huether

Vice President, Finance Natasha Renaud, MBA, MS Mass Comm

Vice President, Marketing Communications Christine Andrew, MBA

Vice President, Member Communications Diana Degan Robinson, ABC

Vice President, Membership Sharon Beattie

Vice President, Networking & Special Events Louise Armstrong

Vice President, Professional Development Yasmin Ranade

Vice President, Volunteer Services Marie Fitzpatrick-Hall, ABC

Vice President at Large, International Task Force Anna Relyea, BA, MA

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2010 OVATION Awards Committee Trell Huether Amanda Laird VP Awards Communications Specialist Account Director CNW Group Marshall Fenn Communications Melissa Lee Directors Member and Student Records Representative Lyndsay Carter Institute of Chartered Accountants of Director of Awards Ontario Marketing Communications Generalist Canada Health Infoway Marketing Beverly Fairclough Kate Blackwell Director of Materials Communications Coordinator Consultant Central Local Health Integration Network Amanda Flude Director of Marketing Tim Ledger Stakeholder & Communications Marketing and Education Coordinator Coordinator Inside Out Ontario Power Authority Materials Michael Miller Director of Sponsorship Patricia Burton Manager, Marketing and Communications Specialist Communications The Globe and Mail Markel Insurance Jessica Cheung Emilie Smith Marketing Communications Specialist Director of Gala Moneris Public Affairs Advisor GS1 Canada Katie Fretz Coordinator, Events and Awards Communications Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors Shane McKenna Public Relations Student Elena Mazur Durham College Communications and Development Coordinator Gala The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (Canada)

Rob Hanson Sejal Solanki President Event Coordinator Interact Productions Power Within Inc.

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About Us

As the largest chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, we provide access to products, services, activities and networking opportunities in Toronto and around the world. We help people and organizations achieve excellence in corporate communications, public relations, employee communication, marketing communication, public affairs and other forms of communication.

Visit http://toronto.iabc.com/awards for more information on the OVATION Awards.

Join Us

IABC, the International Association of Business Communicators, is a global network of communications practitioners committed to improving organizational effectiveness through strategic communications. With more than 100 chapters, IABC serves more than 16,500 members in over 70 countries and 10,000 organizations. IABC/Toronto, the largest chapter in the world, is the leading resource for effective communication practice for its more than 1,650 members.

Once you join IABC, you immediately gain access to a wide variety of services designed to enhance your professional development and your role as a communicator.

IABC/Toronto 296 Jarvis St., Unit 7 Toronto, ON M5B 2C3 416.968.0264 http://toronto.iabc.com E-mail: [email protected]

IABC International 601 Montgomery Street, Ste 1900 San Francisco, CA 94111 1.800.776.4222 http://www.iabc.com

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