World Vision TV

the challenge: to increase flat response rates while differentiating World Vision from competitors who have effectively matched their look, feel and purpose in consumers' minds

the creative strategy: giving a new twist to stories of children in need, in the context of how easy it is for Canadians to make a huge difference in a child's life

the execution: a mix of :120 and :60 DRTV spots driving to phone and an online landing page, where potential sponsors could deepen their emotional connection with a short video and immediately begin the sponsorship process

the result: "Two Simple Words" and "Reality" were the first spots in 8 years to match or beat the control creative in calls received and sponsorships – and cost per call was about a third of industry standard

the team: Ian Martin (AD), Jinnean Barnard (co-CW), Scott McKay (co-CW and CD) at MacLaren MRM

Smarties site interface

the challenge: to re-engage older children and young teenagers with the Smarties brand

the creative strategy: to create an interface that was engaging, fun, and unexpected in a way that made product the hero – creating a place that (in conjunction with content provided by other agencies) our target audience would spend time with, return to, and share with friends 

the execution: we created a dynamic and fun interface that functioned as much as a game as an interface – in order to get at content, users had to sweep away virtual Smarties and engage with the interface, and in doing so would likely initiate a competitive game built into the interface, spending significantly more time with the brand and product

the result: two years and agencies later, the interface is so popular and innovative that the client is still using it as the basis of Smarties.ca, continuing to add new content from other vendors

the team: Ryan Hryciuk (AD), Josh Haupert (CW), Scott McKay (CD) at MacLaren MRM

DAC Group lead generation DM

the challenge: every company must advertise in Yellow Pages, but a medium-sized business usually has to advertise in literally thousands of directories across North America – and in 2002, that meant creating and submitting thousands of print ads, at a huge cost of time and money; DAC Group needed to reach out to such businesses with a ground-breaking new online tool, but didn't have a huge budget for a prolonged campaign

the creative strategy: create a simple, dimensional DM package that brought to life the fact that advertising managers no longer needed to rely on paper for managing Yellow Pages ads

the execution: a cost-effective "off the shelf" box was used to stand out in the ad manager's mail, which teased with an intriguing message – opening up to an extremely simple package of a crumpled-up personalized letter which told the prospect how DAC Group had rendered paper obsolete, and solved a key pain point for many ad managers

the result: the DAC sales team immediately found that prospects who had been mailed the package were far more likely to engage with them, significantly increasing their business – and even two years after mailing, prospects still remembered the package when DAC sales people called

the team: Megan Fullerton (AD), Scott McKay (CW), Fransi Weinstein (CCO) at Tattoo the Agency

Lean Cuisine site redesign

the challenge: to reinvigorate the Lean Cuisine brand by making it easy for consumers to stay engaged with the brand on a weekly or even daily basis

the creative strategy: launch LC Rewards, a way for users to earn reward points by interacting with site content – answering quizzes, posting product reviews, reading articles, and so on

the execution: relying on the literally thousands of pieces of LC content, we automatically highlighted several different pieces of content each day, to give users the sense of a new experience daily

the results: within 4 weeks of launch, and with virtually no marketing support, we had over 7,000 comments from excited LC consumers, far more traffic than expected, and we had launched a successful rewards program

the team: Ryan Hryciuk (AD), Karl Nilsen (CW), Josh Haupert (CW), Jeff Gilliard (IA), Scott McKay (CW and CD) at MacLaren MRM

Zellers Toyland Christmas DM

the challenge: to differentiate Zellers from the competition in an extremely price-based "commodity" category at a key time of year for retailers

the creative strategy: to see the typical "low prices" story in a new way, while showing a wide range of product and incorporating personalized rewards coupons

the execution: toys protest the low prices that Zellers is selling them for – they are worth far more, so they want parents to get them out of the store (and personalized Hbc Rewards coupons are an added incentive)

the result: numbers are not known, but anecdotal stories from store and marketing staff tell of a very strong and memorable impact with parents shopping for toy gifts at the busiest time of year

the team: Jim Wortley (AD), Scott McKay (CW), Fransi Weinstein (CCO) at Tattoo the Agency

LifeScan "Making a Difference" campaign

the challenge: to follow up the "Inspirations" campaign by demonstrating that people with type 1 diabetes can live an ordinary life with having extraordinary goals – and to continue making LifeScan a standout in the blood glucose meter category

the creative strategy: highlight the story of C.D. Jones, a police officer living with diabetes whose condition does not impair his ability to serve

the execution: :60 DRTV, DM, FSIs and online banners drove Canadians to phone, or to a landing page where they could continue to watch C.D. talk about his experiences, and immediately order their meter, all on one page

the result: in an environment of bad economic news, the campaign exceeded targets and grew LifeScan's market share while the rest of category dropped by an average of 20%

the team: Ian Martin (AD), Jinnean Barnard (co-CW), Scott McKay (co-CW and co-CD), Andy Montague (co-CD) at MacLaren MRM

sprint "ascenda" small business campaign

the challenge: to make inroads in the small business segment by addressing the "heroic" impulse of small business owners – those people who saw themselves as the "good guy" who didn't have the resources to compete with the big guys

the creative strategy: to help them understand that their goals were finally within reach because the tools they needed for success were now within reach

the execution: the DRTV launched the upstart, "take on the giant" tone of the campaign and let small business owners know that they had an ally; the DM put "the golden egg" in the hands of small business owners – a CD containing the tools to market themselves and truly compete with larger organizations, helping them to achieve their personal and business goals

the result: ongoing issues with the product and production delays contributed to weak response, and a follow-up campaign to overcome these issues was cancelled as the end of the "tech boom" became evident

the team: Michael Arismendez (AD), Scott McKay (CW), Fransi Weinstein (CD) at BBDO Response

LifeScan "Inspiration" campaign

the challenge: to boost sagging share of the blood glucose meter market for LifeScan by going straight to consumers living with type 1 diabetes – encouraging them to live an active life, and standing out from the competition in a very product-focused category

the creative strategy: to inspire people with the story of Sébastien Sasseville, the first Canadian with type 1 diabetes to climb Mount Everest

the execution: a crew followed Sébastien to Everest base camp to create :60 and :30 DRTV spots that were truly authentic and conveyed his sense of passion and achievement, along with DM and online banners

the result: in an unprecedented success for the category, we were close to meeting target within 3 weeks (before legal issues forced campaign off air, sigh)

the team: Ian Martin (AD), Scott McKay (CW and co-CD), Andy Montague (co-CD) at MacLaren MRM

Smarties "Gimme Colour" promo microsite

the challenge: to create the online home of a national "design the next Smarties box" campaign – delivering a design tool that was easy and fun for kids to use, as well as giving the contest some emotional context 

the creative strategy: to combine the Smarties brand, product and colours with all the fun and creativity of being an artist

the execution: by seamlessly combining Flash and HTML, we were able to cost-effectively build a robust painting/drawing/design tool and still give users a fun experience that engaged them with the brand

the results: over 25,000 entries were successfully designed and submitted, with loads of positive buzz and publicity based on the microsite's fun and ease of use

the team: Yunjoo Bacic (AD), Liesa Cummings (IA), Scott McKay (CW and CD) at MacLaren MRM

AOL Canada awareness TV

the challenge: to boost awareness of AOL Canada in order to support flagging response to their unaddressed "free CD" acquisition mailing program

the creative strategy: to show the wide range of uses of the service, along with the service's down to earth users, and demonstrate that AOL Canada offered a safe and familar environment

the execution: a mix of :30s and :15s using fun testimonials from existing AOL Canada users – ordinary Canadians as well as figure-skating champion Kurt Browning

the result: unknown

the team: Debi De Santis (AD), Rob Stofega (CW), Scott McKay (CD) at Wunderman Cato Johnson