Carat also won the Grand Prize in the radio category for Desjardins Assurances Générales for the DAG Hour campaign.

The agency also took home the six following awards:

Prize: Category: Best Magazine Use - MANGO, Campaign: 2011-2012 Fall-Winter collection launch in Paris.

Prize: Category: Best Social Cause Campaign – Quebec Lifesaving Society, Campaign: 2011 National  Drowning Prevention Week.

Prize: Category: Best OOH Use – Saputo, bakery division, Campaign: Igor Launch in Toronto.

Prize: Category: Best TV Use – Desjardins, Campaign: Génies en herbe.

Prize: Category: Best Print Use – Desjardins, Campaign: Habitation Fall 2011.

Prize: Category: Best Radio Use – DuProprio, Campaign : DuProprio features its homeowners.

The Media Awards are an initiative of Infopresse, in partnership with the Quebec Media Directors Council, and are aimed at rewarding work excellence of Quebec media industry professionals.

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Contact : Claudia Gervais, Velocity, 514.284.8465, claudia.gervais@teamvelocity.com

Today, Bell Media announced the $3+ Billion acquisition of Astral’s media assets. Bell Media will acquire 24 pay and specialty television services (including HBO Canada), 84 licensed radio stations in 50 markets (including Virgin Radio, EZ Rock), more than 9,500 OOH faces located in the largest markets in Québec, Ontario and British Columbia and over 100 websites. Once given CRTC and Canadian Competition Bureau approvals, Astral will be integrated into the Bell Media unit, which was created in April 2011 following Bell’s acquisition of CTV.

In Quebec, Bell Media will now have the footprint required to make them a major player in the content game. The integration of Astral assets into their stable of properties will fulfill Bell Media’s objective to have greater control over the content in both English and French Canada and feed that content across their platforms in cable, tablet and particularly, mobile.

We believe the continued vertical integration of media ownership provides our clients greater opportunity to engage and connect with consumers across those multi channel platforms.  Consumers are ready to ‘cut the cord’.  Our objective on behalf of our clients is to engage with those consumers whenever, wherever, regardless of the device and turn those engagements into transactions that deliver positive returns on media investments.  With the scale of Aegis in Canada, we are well positioned to be at the head of the table in discussions with media owners to deliver best in class convergent communication solutions for our clients.

A recognized digital media specialist, Geneviève has been with Carat for more than seven years, where most recently she headed the agency’s digital department. From the outset, she has reinvented the agency’s digital offering and positioned Carat as a leading integrated communications agency.

Geneviève is very active in the industry and is a member of the board of directors of Aegis Media Canada, sits on the board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), is often invited to speak as a digital media expert and give presentations in the industry, and is an active member of the National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS).

“At age 29, Geneviève is supporting our clients every day in navigating a digital media landscape in which the brand experience is more important than ever!” said Ody Giroux.  “In a world in which communication revolves around bought, owned and earned, the brand experience offer is becoming a harmonious component of the media strategy.”

As part of her media reinvention mission, Geneviève will be responsible for extending Carat Montréal’s integrated communication approach into a brand experience offer that is inspired by digital media, public relations, social media and experiential marketing. “To meet advertisers’ need to create an emotional relationship with consumers, the brand experience has become an essential component that goes beyond the purchasing experience,” explained Geneviève.

Geneviève will announce her digital media and brand experience organizational structure in the next few weeks.

The Carat Montréal strategic committee—comprised of Jacques Dorion, Ody Giroux, Michèle Savard and Geneviève Guay—is proud to pursue its ongoing reinvention.

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For more information:

Claudia Gervais, Velocity, 514-284-8465, claudia.gervais@teamvelocity.com

Awarded on November 16 by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), a world-wide organization of executive administrators and advisors in corporate matters and a leading authority on compliance and governance, this honor rewards Aegis’ performance as one of the companies having met the highest standards of disclosure among 250 companies listed in the London Stock Exchange (FTSE 250).

Rewarding high standards for disclosure in company reports, the ICSA Hermes Transparency in Governance Awards are not open for nomination and are independently judged by the ICSA and asset management firm Hermes. Company and annual reports of all FTSE 250 companies are independently reviewed and only those which meet top standards of disclosure are shortlisted.

In awarding the Best Sustainability and Stakeholder Disclosure award to Aegis, judges commented that the Aegis Group 2010 annual report was chosen not just for its clear explanation of progress made over the year but also for its honesty and transparency on a range of sustainability topics and related challenges regarding its Future Proof programme.

Some of Aegis’ global accomplishments in sustainable development to which both Carat and Vizeum contributed include concrete in-office measures to reduce carbon footprint, participation in a variety of volunteer activities and the submission of local annual reports, consolidated by the head office on a yearly basis.

“We’re delighted to have received this award,” said Nigel Morris, CEO Americas and Chair, CR steering group said. “Our Future Proof strategy is about taking our responsibilities seriously and demonstrating to clients how ambitious we are.”

“It is testament to what has so far been achieved on our journey of consistently improving our sustainability disclosure and of taking positive action as a responsible corporate citizen,” concluded Morris.

The award follows a sector leading performance by Aegis in the 2011 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) review and its best ever rating and continued inclusion in the responsible investment index FTSE4Good.

About ICSA
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators is a world-wide organization of executive administrators and advisors in corporate matters and a leading authority on compliance and governance. Chartered Secretaries are high-ranking professionals with a broad base of skills unique among the professions. Trained in law, finance, accounting, strategy and governance, Chartered Secretaries provide a focal point for independent advice and guidance on the conduct of business, governance and compliance.

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Contact: 

Claudia Gervais,  Director, Velocity,  514.284.8465,  claudia.gervais@teamvelocity.com

Carat and SVY&R were awarded the media concept of the year award thanks to their contribution to Réno-Dépôt’s “Knock on Wood” campaign, featuring as well the collaboration of experiential marketing agency Velocity.

Carat took home the Grand Prize in the Nonstandard category – non-media approach for this same campaign. The concept, deployed in 2010 for Réno-Dépôt, which is a sponsor of the Montreal Canadians, was designed to root for the hockey team during the NHL Eastern conference semifinals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Carat was also awarded a prize in the digital media category – unique approach for the Reebok Zigtech campaign and another prize for Reebok Hockey, in the magazine category thanks to its cover execution in the Hockey News magazine.

The agency was also awarded a prize in the consumer insight use category, which recognizes the work undertaken in its comprehensive CCS study (Consumer Connection Study).

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Contact: Claudia Gervais, Velocity, 514.284.8465, claudia.gervais@teamvelocity.com

The SMAs, presented this afternoon at the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada’s annual conference in Toronto, recognize companies that have maximized their investments in sponsorship marketing by developing innovative strategies that drive business results.

RONA won Best of Show and a Gold Award in the special 2011 category “2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games” thanks to its five-year sponsorship program of the most recent Canadian Winter Olympics.

RONA’s media and sponsorship agency, Carat, advised and represented the company over the life of the program, from the onset of negotiations for the Vancouver Olympics in 2005 to sponsorship implementation and activation during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

“RONA is honoured to receive today these special awards, which recognize the value of our sponsorship investment for driving brand, business and community results,” said Claude Bernier, RONA Executive VP, Marketing and Customer Innovations. “As a truly Canadian corporation, we are proud to have been part of the Olympic movement in Vancouver and to have helped our athletes and our fellow citizens win gold at home. This great adventure allowed us to team up with a remarkable group of athletes who share the same values of passion, discipline and determination just like the RONA team.”

All SMA entries were evaluated according to four major criteria categories including attainment of partnership objectives and sponsorship selection, maximization of sponsorship marketing investment, results, and case quality. RONA clinched the top honour and a Gold Award thanks to a carefully crafted strategy that rested on supporting Canadian athletes, helping build the Olympic venues, training at-risk youth and engaging RONA employees.

RONA became a National Partner of the 2010 Winter Olympics when the company teamed up with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Organizing Committee (VANOC) in 2005. During the last five years, RONA set out to achieve and surpass two key objectives, which were to increase unaided Olympic advertising recall from 2% in 2006 to 10% in 2010, and to be among the top ten Canadian companies in terms of corporate reputation. RONA surpassed by 10% its advertising recall objective and finished fifth in the prestigious company list.

Some of the impact and lasting legacy behind RONA’s Vancouver Olympics sponsorship include 21 medals won by RONA athletes out of a total of 26 Canadian medals; the transformation of Olympic facilities, for which RONA donated materials, into 150 permanent affordable housing units; the reinsertion of 64 at-risk youth who graduated and have ongoing employment; and the participation of one of the largest corporate delegations at the Games.

About RONA
RONA is the largest Canadian distributor and retailer of hardware, home renovation and gardening products. RONA operates a network of more than 950 corporate, franchise and affiliate stores of various sizes and formats. With close to 30,000 employees working under its family of banners in every region of Canada and more than 17 million square feet of retail space, the RONA store network generates over $6 billion in annual retail sales. For more information, please visit www.rona.ca.

About the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada
Formed in 2004 under the auspices of the ACA, the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada was created to advance the development of best practices and accountabilities in the field of sponsorship marketing.

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Media Contact:
Claudia Gervais
Velocity
claudia.gervais@teamvelocity.com
514.284.8465

“As a result of our extensive media review process, we are very pleased to announce the Canadian media planning and buying responsibilities for The Walt Disney Company will now be handled by Carat. This includes all Canadian divisions of the Walt Disney Company including the Studio, Parks & Resorts and Disney Interactive Media Group. Transition is now underway to Carat.”
 
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Contact :

Barb Matheson
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada
Barb.matheson@disney.com
416.204.7206

In the market research division, David Béland, Director of DeepBlue, a consumer insight consulting Aegis Media agency, welcomes Élodie Maillard (formerly at Lagardère Publicité, Paris) as Media Analyst, DeepBlue. Finally, Diane Patenaude, Creativity & Sponsorship Director and Event Communication Leader, announces the appointment of Nadine Azer (formerly Media Buyer, Carat) as Creativity and Sponsorship Consultant, Carat, and Claudia Gervais (formerly at the Montreal Impact) as Account Supervisor, Velocity, an agency specialized in event management and public relations.

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Further information:
Claudia Gervais, Velocity, 514-284-8465, claudia.gervais@teamvelocity.com