2006 Agencies that Mattered

November 06, 2006
2006  Agencies that Mattered, Promo

Whatever-it-takes marketing, By Paul-Mark Rendon
Capital C, Toronto

Capital C made its name as a promo industry innovator, but these days the Toronto shop is breaking new ground by creating and building new consumer brands from scratch.

For vintner Andrew Peller, Cap C came up with a new brand of blended wine called XOXO (pictured), targeted less at stodgy wine snobs and more at women who simply want good wine for Girls Night In.

Throughout the process, Cap C kept marketing front-and-centre, from how the brand would be displayed in-store and at trade-shows, down to the actual blend of grapes used (a bold "hug" from a Merlot and a light "kiss" from a Cabernet, hence the name XOXO). Since the brand's August launch, Peller has shipped 36,000 cases country-wide-more than triple what the vintner had forecast, putting it on the road to becoming a Canadian Top 10 in its first year on the shelves, says Terry Sauriol, Peller's director of marketing. "I think how we market in general has been influenced by the Cap C experience."

Tony Chapman, CEO, partner and the shop's very public front-man whose zeal for sales hasn't waned since he started out selling advertising for a Montreal radio station, says he's proud of the Peller work "because it plays directly to where we're taking our agency."

While that direction may be less about strict promotions and more about whatever-it-takes marketing, Cap C still generated a lot of promo marketing envy this year. It won three golds at the recent Promo! Awards for its work with marketers Unilever and Microsoft. For Unilever's ThermaSilk hair care brand, it created the "Hit on my Hot Guy" website that allowed visitors to play virtual doll dress-up with images of their ideal men. Average time spent on the site was a whopping 53 minutes, where comparable sites might be happy getting people to stay for 10.

Back in the innovation vein, Cap C breathed life into Dew Fuel, a pop-cum-energy drink from Pepsi QTG that eschewed the usual gamut of promotions, instead opting to "hijack" an entire TV station, demo-friendly MuchMusic, with Dew Fuel-sponsored content for a night. For longtime client Hallmark, the agency created a new program that lets customers write greeting cards to people 10 years into the future. It's all aimed at getting retailers and their staff excited, naturally generating buzz with customers.
Chapman says the company has made enough waves to land some project work for McDonald's in Chicago. Ditto a new assignment for RBC Financial Group. The agency is moving to a bigger space in Toronto to accommodate its growing staff, and revenues, which totalled $16 million in 2005, are expected to hit $25 million this year. Chapman talks about tectonic shifts in marketing, and how Cap C will service a world where the target has moved from "males age 18 to 34," to "jsmith@yahoo.com."

"We were always forced into a folder called 'promo,' " he says. "We wanted to work with the best brands. But the best brands had contractual relationships with big agencies. Today, we're getting more and more permission to do it, because clients realize what got them to where they are today is not going to get them where they need to go tomorrow."

Comments

[Ideas Queen]

I know this was written almost a year ago but I'm curious... entertain me for a minute...

Have you thought of developing a concept were XOXO can be the main Brand in the event? Let's say an all womens event?! I know the exact event which will generate awareness, and keep XOXO popular!

If anyone is out there reading this, email me...

[Bennett]

hey Idea Queen, what's your email, I'd love to hear more!