David Parker • MarketingMatters
Marketingmatters
By daVid PaRkeR
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ver the years there have been a number of advertising agencies come and go, grow bigger and bigger or reduce in size, and then there are those that choose to remain within a manageable size that suits their working environment and the size and character of their clients. Tandem Marketing is one such agency that is in its 17th year in business in this city. Managing director Todd Fraser is in the same location and still with seven very capable staff who have been able to keep clients like Remington Development happy since Tandem opened its doors. Remington is one of its largest accounts thanks to the busyness of the developer – particularly in its very successful Quarry Park development – and the relationship that has built up over those years. Fraser says he shies away from pitching the big accounts but was successful recently in being chosen over a number of other firms by Chandos, an Edmonton-based construction company with a fast growing presence in Calgary, after its vice president corporate accounts, Tim Coldwell, visited several agencies to determine which one he felt would best serve his company’s needs. Another recently acquired account is the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO) that hired Tandem to rebrand its recruitment vehicle. CCVO is Calgary’s largest source for careers in the non-profit sector and its new website, called Reachire, not only matches non-profit employers with
employees but also educates career seekers on the myriad of benefits of working in non-profit. And do check out the well-received infographic Fraser and his team produced for commercial mortgage and real estate broker Millar Foran. •••••••••••••• When Kelly Choi of Blacksheep Marketing began working on a campaign to promote the rejuvenation of a building at 916 Memorial Drive NW she sat down with owner Sable Developments and came up with 916 reasons for living in Kensington. Shops, restaurants, LRT or easy walk to downtown are easy – but Choi came up with 916 including enjoying a ‘Bulldog’ on the patio of Julio’s Barrio. •••••••••••••• Trevor McConnell, one of this city’s best known – and best – creative guys, has become an independent creative director after many years of coming up with some tremendous campaigns for agencies such as Parallel Strategies, Venture Communications, and for the past eight years with Scout Communications. McConnell is now freelance but says he intends to spend more time writing fiction – no doubt he will be a success at that too. •••••••••••••• Karo Group has expanded beyond its 40-year-old Western Canada base with the opening of an office in Toronto. The new shop is headed by Marc Whitehead, a veteran strategist with an impressive resumé with prominent national and global brands who worked with Karo president and CEO Chris Bedford when they were both with McKim Advertising. First clients on the Toronto account list include Organic Meadow, a pio-
86 • August 2013 BUSINESS IN CALGARY | www.businessincalgary.com
neer in organic farming for almost 25 years, and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. Both will also use the services of the Calgary and Vancouver offices. Newest accounts gained in Calgary include Wild Rose Brewery that is in the process of opening a new brewery in Foothills Industrial Park. Keeping the familiar WR in its logo, Karo is working on a rebrand for the brewery so we can expect new label designs and a new promotional campaign for Wild Rose Brewery standard draught and bottled beers as well as its seasonal, cask and barrel-aged products. •••••••••••••• I just caught PR wizard Neil Bousquet moments before the moving truck took all of his attention. He has relocated to Oliver at the south end of the Okanagan Valley. He says he will continue to serve his Calgary PR clients but will be networking around the Interior of B.C. to establish a new business there. •••••••••••••• After spending the majority of their first six months in their newly-created business partnership, C&B Advertising, working on its Travel Alberta account, Phil Copithorne and Leigh Blakely have been busy pulling in new clients. Among them is Heritage Park that has been showing off its promotional video C&B produced; they are now working together to create material to celebrate the park’s upcoming 50th anniversary. BiC
Parker’s Pick: Has to go to C&B’s Come Hell or High Water T-shirts for the Stampede.