Shane Bennett has Canada’s only customized Samsung Galaxy S III
1. It's tough out there for a whole grain. Bread has been under fire for years as the trend of low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets has grown. This week, Maple Leaf Foods Inc. launched a new ad campaign to persuade diet-conscious consumers they don't need to shun the carbs in its Dempster's breads. The ad emphasizes their wholesomeness by showing a farmer plucking bread slices from trees and pulling a wrapped Dempster's loaf from the soil, to sell the message that bread contains vitamins and minerals, just as fruit and vegetables do. It also advertises the bread as helping to "maintain weight." With the movement against bread – including the book Wheat Belly that reached the top of a New York Times bestseller list this month – the marketing team at Dempster's and other bread makers have their work cut out for them. The commercial will run through October.
2. Prince Harry's recent nude hijinks may be an embarrassment for the Royal Family, but for the marketers pushing Las Vegas tourism, that bare behind is a powerful sales tool. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority took advantage of leaked photos reportedly showing the consequences of a game of strip billiards Harry played there. Last week, the tourism board posted a "Keep Calm and Carry On Harry" sign on its Facebook and Twitter pages, in a bid to capitalize on the attention the story had received. It also put up the poster, based on a famous Second World War-era slogan, at the Las Vegas airport. It extended the joke with a print ad calling shame on those who leaked the pictures. All the Harry-related marketing was linked to the gambling destination's "Know the Code" campaign launched last year, encouraging people – and their risqué behaviour – to stay in Vegas.
3. While Liam Neeson faced down icy wilderness and wolves in the film The Grey, another onscreen star was the Canada Goose jacket. For years, the heavy-duty winter wear has been a mainstay of movie makers on cold-weather shoots. Now, the Canadian brand is a sponsor of the Toronto International Film Festival that begins next week, in a bid to emphasize its connection to Hollywood. The company will sponsor the Best Canadian Feature Film Award, and will run a trailer directed by the winner of last year's award before every movie. Through the marketing spend, Canada Goose aims to advertise its unofficial relationship with the film industry; and to further its larger strategy of marketing the brand around a concept of authenticity. Canada Goose is also holding an online contest starting next week, in which entrants can write an adventure script for a 90-second video. The winning story will be shot at Pemberton Glacier, the location of the Journey North trailer.
4. A man whose less than skillful doodle of a dragon spawned a small marketing hit for Samsung Canada has finally been rewarded. In May, Shane Bennett sent a request via Facebook to the company for a free Galaxy S III smartphone, before its release in Canada. To sweeten the deal, he included in his message "a picture of a dragon I just drew for you." While Samsung declined the request, its social media manager at agency Cheil Canada responded in kind, with a drawing of a kangaroo on a unicycle. Mr. Bennett posted the comical exchange on online forum Reddit, drawing attention on online social media and in the press. On Monday, Mr. Bennett received the "only customized S III in Canada," with his dragon printed on the phone's exterior. Samsung's gratitude comes at a time when it is grappling with the fallout of losing its U.S. patent battle with Apple Inc., when a bit of good news is welcome.