NEWS IN BRIEF

Bob Finnigan elected 2007 GTHBA-UDI President

TORONTO, ON — Bob Finnigan, principal and executive vice-president of Heathwood Homes and The Heron Group was elected 2007 president of GTHBA-UDI at the association’s annual general meeting recently. The association represents more than 1,500 member companies involved in every facet of new home building, development and residential renovation throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

Finnigan sees his mandate as working with all levels of government and the association’s low- and high-rise builders, developers, professional renovation contractors and associate members to ensure that choice in home ownership continues to be an affordable option in the Greater Toronto Area.

“This is especially important as the province looks at implementing the growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe,” says Finnigan.

As president Finnigan also sees his role as helping to educate the public on the beneficial role of the industry. “We need to help people understand the role home builders and developers play in making the GTA a great place to live, work and play through over $12 billion in annual economic impact and the development of great high- and low-rise communities,” commented Finnigan. 

St. Catharines-Thorold Chamber donates to Wellspring Niagara

ST. CATHARINES — At December’s Business After Five at the Hilton Garden Inns, Niagara-on-the-Lake, the St. Catharines – Thorold Chamber of Commerce presented a cheque for $7,500 to Ann Mantini, acting operations manager of Wellspring Niagara.

Wellspring Niagara provides a wide range of cancer support programs and services to serve the emotional, social, and informational needs of people living with cancer, and those who care for them.

The funds were raised at the annual Fall Classic Golf Tournament. This year’s event was the largest in recent history. “Any time you can give back to the community, it feels good,” says Chris Bourke, chair of the Chamber’s Golf Committee. Each year, the Chamber selects a charity as the recipient of proceeds from its popular golf tournament.

Keeping ahead of channel surfing

BY BRENT CLIFFORD Special to The Business Executive

There are numerous ways for viewers to avoid commercials, making it increasingly difficult for advertisers and marketers to reach their target audience. The advent of Personal Video Recorders (PVR) offered by cable companies, channel surfing, and downloading television content from the Internet are eroding the effectiveness of the traditional :30 second television commercial.

What is an advertiser to do? Marketers are taking product placement to the next level by producing their own television content. Instead of paying for product placement within a production, there is a small, but growing trend of companies creating their own shows. Admittedly, striking a balance between entertaining and selling can be difficult, but the ultimate goal of advertiser-produced content is not an entertaining infomercial, but the creation of a forum to attract the attention of a specific target audience.

Case in point: Foodies™ on Global. Foodies™ is a new 30-minute cooking show developed to appeal to the growing ‘Foodie’ culture. The Foodie concept is simple: people want to get away from fast food, away from prepared meals, and back into understanding and enjoying cooking. The increasing popularity of the Foodie culture is an opportunity for marketers to capitalize on a popular trend and connect with consumers at an emotional level.

Oster® Canada is the primary sponsor of Foodies™ and their line of countertop appliances has been integrated into the show concept, set, and recipes. The recipes on the show, developed by host Chef Lesia Burlak, all use Oster appliances in the meal preparation, and prove that ‘stoveless’ cooking can achieve gourmet quality meals.

Conceived and produced by Urban Advertising + Design, Foodies™ is an excellent example of the next generation of television advertising. Creating a platform that speaks to an audience on an emotional level means advertising opportunities for more marketers. The Foodie culture demographic is attractive to marketers (adults 25-54, slight female skew), and one that more companies will want to take advantage of.

Foodies™ is advertiser-produced content that speaks to a specific audience with one goal in mind: achieve the balance between entertainment and infomercial. Oster Canada understands that associating their brand with a concept that appeals to customers on an emotional level offers a much greater chance of turning awareness into action. And as consumers are further able to avoid being bombarded with direct advertisements, well-known brands will continue to innovate the advertising industry.

(Brent Clifford is with Urban Advertising + Design in Hamilton.)

Canadian Red Cross joins CATA Alliance

Partnership results in National and International initiatives

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance) has announced the recent joining of its newest member, the Canadian Red Cross. As a result of this new partnership, the two organizations are embarking on a number of new initiatives that are certain to positively impact on every Canadian business and citizen, as well as potentially improving the international operations of the Red Cross itself.

These projects include the Red Cross’ participation in CATAAlliance’s Brand Canada campaign, their contribution and support of the current study of Canadian First Responders, and most importantly, their decision to allow CATAAlliance to act as their facilitator and link to the ICT vendor community.

“CATAAlliance has demonstrated a clear commitment to assisting not only the Red Cross to become a better known and more efficient organization through the use of leading technology, but have also demonstrated a similar desire for the Country,” says John Mulvihill, Deputy Secretary General, Development for the Red Cross. “We do not enter into such partnerships lightly and we place significant emphasis on working with those who are dedicated to bettering the communities they serve; CATAAlliance has very obviously proven their worth to us in this regard.”

Recently, the Red Cross co-sponsored and helped lead discussion at CATAAlliance’s Advantage Canada Summit in Halifax. This summit was the first of a series of national consultations designed to develop a Canadian Brand capitalizing on its sourcing advantages, and the Red Cross, as the world’s second-most recognized brand, was clearly an important contributor to the proceedings. The Canadian Red Cross has also been consulted for the development of a study that is being prepared with the Canadian Police Research Centre. It will focus on the needs and challenges of the country’s first responders — police, fire, paramedic and emergency aid organizations — in their delivery of emergency response and emergency preparedness solutions.

Finally, and most importantly, CATAAlliance and the Red Cross will soon be announcing detailed plans regarding an upcoming ICT Vendor Briefing Session taking place in January 2007. This briefing will bring the leading providers of Canadian ICT products and services into direct contact with Red Cross executive IT leaders for a half-day of information sharing and discovery.

“I was absolutely amazed to learn of the breadth of services that the Red Cross provides and the extent to which effective use of ICT can be a critical enabler in their business and humanitarian pursuits,” says CATAAlliance President, John Reid. “The Red Cross faces the same challenges, if not even greater, than that of most recognized multi-nationals firms, and they are looking to CATAAlliance and its members for solutions. Needless to say, we are proud to be able to work alongside this incredible organization.”