The Subway Subway?

The McDonald's station? The Pepsi stop? The Subway Subway?

As reported by the Toronto Star last week, Toronto is considering reviewing a naming rights strategy for its massive underground subway system, just as other jursidications have also begun to consider the value of their assets.
Tess Kalinowski, the Transportation Reporter for the Toronto Star reports:

"The TTC has agreed to study the feasibility of selling corporate naming rights to subway stations as a way to raise money. The controversial request for a study of practices in other cities came from commissioner Peter Milczyn, who cited an ad from the Middle East city of Dubai inviting corporations to "Turn your brand into a destination" by buying rights to two new transit lines and 23 stations being built there."If one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the world is looking at doing this, we should at least look at it," he said. Saying "beggers can't be choosers," Milczyn noted the TTC is embarking on an ambitious expansion while struggling to raise operating funds."

At a time when citizens have hit the wall when it comes to personal and corporate tax increases, not to mention property tax hikes and Provincial and Federal sales taxes, creative revenue generation strategies must be explored. A feasibility study would certainly enlighten the community as to the hidden value of the the Toronto Transit Commission. From a brand awareness perspective alone, the TTC's Ridership Growth Strategy suggests that by 2011, as many as 500,000,000 riders will ulitize the service. Wow - that's a lot of eyeballs. Couple that with category exclusive rights to communicate with those riders and a fully integrated partnership benefits package, and you've got 8 figure revenue potential that can't be ignored.

Keywords: Naming rights, naming, rights, corporate naming rights, branded cities, branded communities, selling naming rights, corporate partnerships, brand awareness, valuation, ROI

Pepsi Buys Naming Rights for Xanadu Ferris Wheel

Its branded entertainment in all its glory: a 287 foot tall Ferris wheel in Xanadu, the "branded city" across the street from the new Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Pepsi-Cola North America has purchased the naming rights in a 10-year deal. A gigantic logo will be displayed in the middle of the wheel. Although Pepsi hasn't commented on the price, rumours are swirling that the naming rights to the "Pepsi Globe" went for $100 million over 10 years. The ride will take 25 minutes and will offer views of the Manhattan skyline.

Not only will this high traffic zone offer tens of millions impressions each year, but also, attendees will have the opportunity to associate the brand with a thrilling and unique experience. Pepsi will also reprint the Pepsi Globe image on 450 million cans of soda to further drive awareness of the brand and its novel partnership with the Xanadu development.

Now that's what I call thinking outside the can!

Keywords: Branded entertainment, naming rights, naming, rights, brand awareness, branding, experiential marketing

Experiential Marketing: Thinking Outside the Box

I was at the Interior Design Show today and was impressed by the size and scope of the event. Kitchen cabinet companies, tile experts, gas fireplace designers, and top designers like Brian Gluckstein and Sarah Richardson. One exhibitor that seemed out of place: Yellow Pages. Now why would a company like Yellow Pages, a physical and now online search engine want to pay $20/foot for booth space at a design show? The answer: to interact with an audience undergoing change in their lives where searching for trades, ideas, information is common.

Whether it's redoing a kitchen or getting married (Yellow Pages shows up at wedding shows too), yellowpages.ca wants to interact with people when they are in change mode because that's when they are most likely to use a search function. By experiencing the yellow pages search brand in the context of and inextricably linked to the show, attendees are more likely to think Yellow before Google the next time they search.


Keywords: Booth space, experiential marketing, brand awareness

Strategic Philanthropy: CIBC gives $1,000,000 to Mental Health

Whether you call it strategic philanthropy or cause marketing, non-traditional methods to create brand awareness continue to thrive. Case in point: the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canada's fifth largest bank, announced today a $1-million donation to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), a leading teaching hospital in Toronto.

"As CIBC has a strategic focus on youth, we were drawn to CAMH because of the innovative and effective programming they offer to children and young people," said Christina Kramer, executive vice-president of CIBC's retail banking group.

Whether this investment comes out of CIBC's marketing budget or donations budget is unclear. However, there is no question that this is a win win arrangement. The CAMH receives much needed funds to enhance programs and operations at its respected teaching hospital while CIBC gains on multiple fronts: heightened profile in the Toronto region; goodwill associated with donating to a worthwhile cause, likely brand exposure and recognition at the facility and a much needed morale boost for its 40,000 plus employees (following its sub prime slime tarnish).

Give CIBC credit - cause marketing pays huge dividends that can't always be measured in a straight line ROI kind of way. Well done!

Keywords: strategic philanthropy, cause marketing, brand awareness, ROI

Odwalla's Entry into Canada

Sure its great to be the juice of choice at your neighborhood U.S. based Starbucks, but how could Odwalla make a splash with its entry into the Canadian market, without blowing its 2007/2008 marketing budget? The answer: a creative multi-city event marketing and sampling program at a series of Dragon Boat festivals. Brand recognition was heightened by a NASCAR style wrap on a traditional 44 foot BuK Dragon Boat.

Now that's real experiential marketing...taste the product after enjoying the thrill of dragon boat racing in the world's only Odwalla Dragon Boat!

Keywords: experiential marketing, sampling, brand awareness, brand recognition

Ad Agencies: The Buffer?

Here's the deal. You have a great property that is perfect for a specific brand. For example, we rep the hottest Snowboarding show (http://www.shakedown.ca/) in North America. Concurrently, Mr. Big announces that it wants to blanket the 14-25 year old male demo. We have a fit! We all know that sponsorship marketing is the term of the moment in the advertising world and it continues to take market share from traditional advertising. However, Houston, we have a problem. Cadbury's brand manager says speak to my agency and four weeks later the agency says, "I'm not sure this works for us." In that context, the brand uses the agency as a buffer, moving the perfect fit property one step further away from the ultimate decision makers. I get it - experiential marketing needs to fit seemlessly with the overall marketing campaign. However, sometimes, great opportunities get missed when decision makers get buffered.