Congratulations to the 2021 Silver Leaf Award Winners!

By Paula Bernardino We are proud to celebrate the 2021 Silver Leaf Award winners, recognizing outstanding professional communications. Of the 157 entries submitted, 57 are being honoured with a Silver Leaf Award this year – 26 with an Award of Excellence and 31 with an Award of Merit. Winners span …

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Talking Points

New survey from Microsoft Canada reveals a gap between what business’ leaders say is good for business and their actions. Almost two-thirds (61 percent) of Canadian business leaders agree that data — and knowing how to draw actionable insights from that data — are key to business success in today’s …

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Three Resolutions to Elevate CX Performance in 2022

By Vasili Triant Customer services operations were disrupted to the core over the past 24 months. While many brands are still playing catch-up, leaders are using the disruption as a catalyst to completely revitalize and modernize the customer experience — and they are starting with the contact center. With the …

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Post-holiday returns are coming. How can retailers turn this into an opportunity?

By Dan Surtees The 2021 holiday shopping season has come and gone. Yet the aftermath is upon us — the inevitable wave of returns. The past two years have seen an historical increase in online shopping. eCommerce sales have risen by 44 percent since 2019 ­ which has resulted in …

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The Connected Omnichannel Experience

An Interview with Martin Kihn, SVP Strategy, Marketing Cloud, Salesforce By Steve Shaw There is a tug-of-war going on in the marketing world these days between two opposing schools of thought. On one side are creatively minded brand marketers, who remain convinced that the only sure way to achieve long-lasting …

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Spectacular Direct Mail: Creating Assets that Wow and Bond with Recipients

By Nate Wells Sometimes a counterintuitive approach to social media, email, and banner ads can yield huge ROI. My company Applied Underwriters, a global risk management company, has made a number of recent acquisitions, challenging our internal brand communications team to amplify, or integrate new brands or subsidiaries under one …

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Direct Mentorship Works Well Too: The case for more and better mentorship

By Alan Middleton Inside marketing divisions and agencies across Canada the impact of the pandemic, aided by improvements in communications and technology, is rapidly accelerating change. Work habits and schedules, as well as organizational hierarchies and procedures are transforming. For anyone in interactive or direct marketing and sales, what’s critical …

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The Next Marketing Analytics Tool — Smart Labels

By Tania Amardeil Today’s shoppers are tech-savvy and informed. They read and write online reviews, search for the best deals online, and have invented the practice of “showrooming” — visiting a store to check out a product in person before buying it online at a lower price. When shopping, they …

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2021 CMA Award Winners

At the awards ceremonies this year, a series of awards were presented across six disciplines: Brand Building; Business Impact; Customer Experience; Engagement; Innovative Media; and Martech. Within each discipline, entries compete in one of nine categories (automotive, business, consumer products, consumer services, financial, food & beverage, health care, retail and …

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Special Category Marketing Awards Winners

CANADA POST INTEGRATED MARKETING AWARD Award: Gold Campaign: Bake it Forward Client: Gay Lea Foods Co-op Agency: Chalkboard Marketing Bake it Forward facilitated real human connections during a holidays season when so many connections were lost. Gay Lea delivered custom baking kits to random households throughout the GTA. Each kit …

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