Established in 2000, Altius provides clients with strategically integrated marketing and communications services. Bringing experience working within the top 5 branding consultancies in the world, the Altius team delivers strategy, quality and depth to each of its projects with particular expertise in corporate branding.

“Bringing Altius on board adds robust, strategic branding and marketing expertise to our service repertoire, further solidifying our full circle communications solutions,” says Robert Angeloni, President, CVC Communications Agency.

“I am thrilled to be a part of a company I’ve been working with and respected for years. We share the same values in working hard, impressing our clients and delivering beyond expectations. CVC is the perfect fit for me and the services Altius offers,” says Lynda (Kwasnik) Carroll, President, Altius Marketing, Inc.

Celebrating its 36th year in business, CVC Communications Agency’s primary driving motivator is to impress their clients. Boasting award-winning programs serving large, global brands as well as local companies; CVC, along with its in-house production group VCR Active Media, delivers high calibre branding, advertising, public relations, video production, digital media, eLearning, websites and events. With the unique ability and experience to service both internal and external communications needs, CVC offers a full circle communications solution.

Of the three I have seen, Moneyball really struck a chord. I liked it not only because I’m a life-long baseball guy and a fan of the book, but also because the message rang true for the current state of advertising.

One scene particularly resonated, in which Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), General Manager of the Oakland A’s, is speaking to Paul Podesta (Jonah Hill), his assistant GM, about the idea of using sabermetrics to draft players for their team.

  BILLY Why–You’re not the only computer science major who likes baseball. If what you and Bill James are saying is right–

  PAUL It’s right.

  BILLY It sounds right.

  PAUL It is right.

  BILLY If math isn’t a theory–

  PAUL It isn’t.

  BILLY If this is right, why isn’t everybody doing it? In fact why isn’t anybody doing it?

  PAUL Because it’s not what they were taught.

Marketers today are challenged more than ever to find new customers. The old ways of finding “prospects” – such as targeting with demographics – are growing as outmoded as thinking that a team shouldn’t draft a player because his girlfriend is ugly (honest to god, it’s in the movie). But it is the way we all have been taught. It’s also safe and comfortable.

Is it fair to assume that our traditional ways of finding new customer prospects are akin to scouts looking at batting average, home runs or slugging percentage? Are we using old and inferior techniques to solve for new problems? Can we apply advanced statistical analysis to find new customers for brands, much as the A’s found prospects in 1999? I, and many others, absolutely think so.

As with Billy Beane and his staff, marketers are now using data more than ever. In fact, we would all agree, there is more data available than we can usefully process. The mantra now has shifted from the amount of data collected to how it is utilized. How is that data put into action?

Much of that data is less valuable and actionable than we had expected. A browser that comes across a website with automotive reviews is not necessarily interested in buying a car, let alone a Ford. However, if that browser demonstrates certain web patterns, and it can be matched to other browsers who have proven to be strong Ford customers, then empirical evidence proves that it’s a great “prospect” for Ford.

So, what does this new world look like? The new coda is to target browsers that will work for your brand, not your competitor’s brand, not your product category, but your brand. The players that Billy Beane drafted for the A’s were drafted specifically to play a role for that team. They were valued for the contribution they could make to the A’s, and wouldn’t have worked for another team (think Scott Hatteberg post-A’s).

Our industry challenge is to find new customers, or prospects, that will engage with your company, brand, sub-brand, and even SKU. Why not pursue that challenge by finding prospects who have already shown the propensity to be interested in your brand? To put it simply, the techniques we have been using are not strong enough proxies for interest in a given brand with a specific appeal at a specific time online.

Our behaviors have changed dramatically as we have become more comfortable with this all-access anytime to anything world. Shouldn’t we adjust to those new behaviors and look for new ways to find our customers?

Source: Ad Age

Presidential elections have served as important catalysts and benchmarks in the slow but steady adoption of digital marketing tactics by political campaigns. The 2004 election represented a breakthrough, as the Dean campaign used emerging social networking tools and communities to generate a potent new stream of donations and to organize and engage supporters. In the 2008 cycle, the Obama campaign took this process to the next level, with a well-tuned digital marketing machine, blending search and display, social and email — and blew the roof off with record-breaking levels of donations and digital engagement, not to mention a residual digital community the President’s political organization continues to mine.

So where will the 2012 presidential race fit within this trajectory? The 2010 midterm elections provided us some good clues. Overall, digital spending on political ads continued to grow at a steady pace. Political campaigns adapted quickly to the rapidly growing supply of pre-roll video inventory, into which they could deploy existing video assets. We also saw the immediate impact of the Citizens United ruling, as 527s and others ramped up their digital investments.

As independent expenditures continue to fuel significant increases in online political advertising, we see the major new theme for the 2012 cycle as data. Using data platforms (such as Crowd Control, the data-management platform marketed by my company, Lotame Solutions), political campaigns and their digital agencies are able for the first time to seamlessly marry relevant and privacy-safe data sources to target their online advertising buys. These data sources include both offline registration data (brought online in ways that de-identify personal information while associating political affiliation and other relevant voting data with a browser cookie), and more traditional online data types, such as age, gender, geography and the interests and actions expressed by a web user’s browsing behaviors. By building audiences using these rich sources of data, campaigns can be concentrated and efficient in their advertising — to raise visibility, persuade prospects, earn donations and mobilize supporters.

In 2010, Blaise Hazelwood, the founder of Grassroots Targeting, helped Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal get re-elected. Hazelwood emphasizes that “the power of data is no longer exclusive to offline voter contact. For a candidate to reach all of his or her potential supporters and win an election, he or she must also target online, using individual data points to persuade and to motivate turnout.” Though we’re still early in the 2012 cycle, we’re already seeing strong interest in these data-driven advertising tactics.

How will prospective voters experience these developments? For starters, voters in swing states should prepare to be inundated — not only by the expected phone bank calls, robocalls, mailers and TV ads, but also by an onslaught of online ads from every digital corner (search, display, email, pre-roll). On the plus side, with the greater use of smart data, consumers should see fewer irrelevant ads and more ads that relate to candidates and issues of interest to them.

That said, given the unprecedented amount of money that will be invested in political advertising overall, and the increasing percentage of this spending that will be earmarked for digital, the average swing-state resident may simply feel inundated — especially once campaigns race to deploy their remaining gunpowder at the end of the campaign.

Will 2012 mark a turning point when political campaigns realize that digital advertising offers them even more efficient and impactful marketing channels, and at much lower cost per impact, than their more traditional channels? Not in the sense that campaigns will invest less in their traditional go-to channels, as confirmed by the heavy TV spending we’ve already seen in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. But we do believe 2012 will reflect another significant step forward in shifting the share of ad spending towards digital — and that savvy campaigns, party groups, 527s and other political spenders who make use of all of the available digital tools, data, channels and tactics will reap the benefit of their foresight through superior advertising outcomes and more victories Nov. 6, 2012.

Source: Ad Age

THE FEBRUARY FREEZE is a great opportunity for any film, television, digital media or audio professional in the area to take advantage of this remarkable technology showcase. Guests can also attend informative seminars and interact with the best in the business while getting a first-hand glimpse of some of the newest cameras and accessories along with support equipment, lighting, grip, audio and much more.

“We’re thrilled to be hosting the 10th anniversary of February Freeze at the new William F. White Centre,” said Paul Bronfman, William F. White Int’l Chairman/CEO. ”What better place is there to get hands-on, free training on various topics for a wide range of skill levels? From seasoned pros to students, there will be something for everyone.”

Last year’s event boasted an attendance of 1,000 leading film and television production professionals spanning regions from Ontario to the U.S. while showcasing the latest in technology from over 40 prominent motion picture, broadcast and live entertainment industry suppliers.

“This year’s event is shaping up to be a big hit,” adds Larry Lavoie, CinequipWhite National Sales Manager. ”2012 also marks the return of the ‘Flea Market’ zone where you can peruse used gear or even sell your own.”

The prizes, which honour the best in Canadian film, are to be handed out March 8, with the show airing on CBC-TV.

The leading nominees are Jean-Marc Vallee’s sweeping romance Cafe de Flore with 13 nods, followed by 11 for David Cronenberg’s psychoanalysis drama A Dangerous Method.

A striking number of Hollywood stars are among this year’s pool of Genie nominees, including Oscar nominee Michelle Williams as well as Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Taylor Kitsch and Rachel Weisz.

Monsieur Lazhar, from Quebec director Philippe Falardeau, has nine nominations going into the Genies.

It’s also vying for a best foreign-language film Oscar at the Academy Awards, which take place Feb. 26.

Said Martin in a statement: “I am thrilled to be hosting the Genies with George Stroumboulopoulos, one of Canada’s most eligible bachelors … I also like film.”

Responded Stroumboulopoulos: “The truth is, while I am happy to be a part of the Genies this year, I mostly agreed to do this because I thought Andrea was asking me on a date.”

The Genies are put on by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Source: The Toronto Star

The fest, which runs April 26 to May 6, plans to screen a retrospective highlighting Brault’s achievements as a director and cinematographer.

Brault is known for “direct cinema” – a style that had its origins in Quebec documentaries of the late 1950s and ’60s. Known for his use of hand-held cinematography, Brault has over 200 film credits, including the celebrated Mon Oncle Antoine.

A Governor General’s Award recipient, Brault is expected to attend the festival. Previous recipients of the oustanding achievement award include Nick Broomfield, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris.

Hot Docs has also announced plans to fete Emmy-nominated filmmaker John Kastner with its “Focus On” retrospective, which celebrates a Canuck filmmaker in mid-career.

Kastner’s most recent film, Life With Murder, earned him the Emmy recognition. Past “Focus On” subjects include Ron Mann, Jennifer Baichwal and Zacharias Kunuk.

Source: The Toronto Star

The Surprises

“The Help” wins big: “The Help’s” win for ensemble performance over perceived front-runners and Golden Globe winners, “The Artist” and “The Descendants,” certainly makes the Oscar race a little bit more interesting. While The Wrap thinks the silent French film starring Jean Dujardin and Uggie, the wonder dog, will still take home the Oscar for best picture, it’s hard to call the movie’s win a lock.

Viola Davis wins, George Clooney loses: Like “The Help’s” ensemble prize, Viola Davis and Jean Dujardin’s wins also make the outcome of the Academy Awards seem a little less certain. Will Meryl Streep be able to win her third Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher? Will George Clooney, or maybe even Brad Pitt, be able to conquer the charming Frenchman? We’ll know soon enough.

“Modern Family” lets the kids speak: “Modern Family” won the SAG Award for ensemble in a comedy series for the second year in a row. While it wasn’t surprising that the cast would try to switch things up and let the kids make the speech – “How cute will this be,” they must have thought – it was shocking how badly it went. The clearly scripted speech began with Nolan Gould declaring “I think it was the late, great W.C. Fields who said ‘Never work with kids or animals.’ Well, he can kiss my …,” before being pulled away from the mic. As TV Guide’s Damian Holbrook tweeted, “another sign that the Modern Family writers are awesome … and necessary #SAGAwards”

The Snubs

Steve Carell loses: This was Carell’s final nomination for playing Michael Scott on “The Office.” But alas, Alec Baldwin won for his role on “30 Rock” for the sixth year in a row. (And then gave his speech like an excited tween would.)

During his seven seasons on the NBC mockumentary, did Carell win a SAG Award? Nope. An Emmy? Nah-ah. A Golden Globe? Just one, in 2006. Come on, SAG voters! Sure, Carell’s last season wasn’t his best. But couldn’t you have rewarded him for his undeniably fantastic body of work?

So did Kyle Chandler: Okay, Chandler’s loss to Steve Buscemi isn’t really that egregious of a snub, especially considering Coach Taylor won the Emmy. But like Carell, it would have been nice for Chandler’s work on the now-defunct football show that wasn’t really about football to have been recognized. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose (except at the SAGs, I guess.)

Source: The Washington Post

“We are aware of the challenges that these establishments have faced with current regulations and in fact over the last several months have been examining the policy implications and are currently considering what changes may be appropriate,” Ms. Bond said in a statement. “We look forward to having to more say about this in the near future.”

Historically, B.C. has not allowed movie theatres to hold a “liquor primary” licence, reflecting concerns around alcohol and underage moviegoers.

“We are working to try and balance the desire to assist business owners in being successful with the responsibility of regulating liquor in the interest of public safety,” the statement continued.

B.C. facilities that do mix movies and alcoholic drinks operate under different provisions. The Silver City movie complex in Coquitlam, for example, has been issued a licence for a “food primary” lounge. And the Vancouver International Film Centre is licensed as a club and is therefore allowed to serve alcohol. Current regulations, however, do not allow movie theatres to obtain a “liquor primary” licence.

Changes, if they come, won’t immediately help the Rio Theatre, a Vancouver theatre that sought and obtained a liquor primary licence – at the cost of no longer being able to show movies.

“That doesn’t really address our issue – which is, we’ve made it pretty clear that we’re asking to show movies without alcohol,” Rio owner Corinne Lea said on Wednesday. “The Liquor Control Licensing Board has not changed their stance on the matter – they’re still holding to that, that we are not allowed to show any movies, at any time.”

Ms. Lea applied for a liquor licence with the intent of gaining permission to serve alcohol at live events to which minors would not be permitted.

Officials warned her that she would have to choose between being a live-events venue and a movie theatre, Ms. Rea conceded. But, based on advice she said she was given by a liquor inspector, she sought a licence in the belief that the Rio would be able to serve alcohol at live events and still show movies without booze being served – and issued a press release to that effect on Jan. 19.

The next day, on Jan. 20, however, she was forced to backtrack, after the province imposed a condition on the Rio’s licence stating that the establishment was “not to show movies or any type of cinematic screenings at any time.”

“They went the extra step to put the nail in the coffin on our movie – and they made it extreme – and they made it so that we are not allowed to show any movies, at any time,” she said.

Ms. Lea argues that the Rio is a “multipurpose” venue. She and supporters have also challenged the province’s public-safety rationale, saying that large facilities are licensed to serve alcohol at other events, such as concerts and sporting events, that minors frequently attend.

The Rio scenario has generated considerable public support, including a Facebook group and support from city Councillor Heather Deal, who plans to introduce a motion calling on the province to amend its liquor laws.

The controversy over the Rio has highlighted the issues of provincial liquor laws, some of which have come under fire for being too complex and weighing down business growth and innovation.

B.C. MP Dan Albas last October put forward a private member’s bill that would amend a federal law that makes it illegal to ship wine across provincial boundaries.

Source: The Globe and Mail

“I was screaming,” the 32-year-old laughed in a telephone interview shortly after the nominations were announced. “I was with my girlfriend and my daughter, and we were screaming in front of the computer.”

In fact, there was plenty of good cheer to go around as two National Film Board of Canada productions landed Oscar nominations for best animated short film.

Calgary-based filmmakers Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby earned the other nod for their Prairie-based picture Wild Life, while Doyon claimed the honour for his debut Dimanche/Sunday.

They’ll compete against La Luna from Pixar Animation Studios, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (Moonbot Studios) and A Morning Stroll (Studio AKA).

Dimanche/Sunday is a winsome animated fable that follows a bored young boy trying to escape a dreary Sunday. Doyon says the film is based on his memory of his own childhood – specifically spending numbing grey afternoons after church with parents and grandparents – but injected with sufficient whimsy to keep the charming tale from being autobiographical.

The work was Doyon’s first professional short film – his only other credit being Square Roots, a three-minute film he crafted while a student of an NFB program for emerging filmmakers – so he greeted the nomination with awe.

“It is special,” he said, before joking: “I don’t expect that on every film.”

Forbis and Tilby, meanwhile, have more experience with the Oscars.

They were nominated together in the same category for their 1999 collaboration When the Day Breaks, while Tilby also received a nod for her 1991 short Strings.

Still, they were elated by the recognition.

“It doesn’t get old,” said Tilby, 51, on the line from Calgary.

“On a personal level, it’s just so gratifying because we spent years on it and went through a lot of insecurities about whether it’s working, whether it’s understood, whether it touches people at all.”

Set in Alberta in 1909, Wild Life tells the story of an affluent Brit who immigrates to Western Canada to establish a ranching career, but finding himself devoid of practical skills, spends his time instead playing badminton, birdwatching and quaffing liquor.

The filmmakers were inspired by their own ancestors, Prairie-bound Englishmen who “did not fare very well” in their fumbled attempt at farming. They had been concerned that the sprightly short was too overtly Canadian to receive recognition from the Academy, but obviously they needn’t have worried.

“(It) certainly was a concern because it is such a deeply Canadian tale … (but) our hope was that you could really tell a story about anything and anywhere and if it’s well told, it would reach people,” Tilby said.

Oscar vets that they are, Tilby and Forbis can now begin preparing for the ceremony – which isn’t always a pleasant proposition.

“I think the last time we told ourselves: ‘We’re going to have fun, we’re going to treat this like a lark, we’re not going to take it too seriously,’” Tilby said. “And then as the day draws near, you get whipped up into a frenzy of nerves just at the prospect of having to stand up in front of however many billion people. Who can relax with that?

“So anyway, we’ll try to not dwell on that, because we have a very good chance of not having to get up.”

Interjected Forbis, 48: “It’s just all the preening that we find really terrifying. All the shopping you have to do, and making sure you look good, and the facials and the massages.”

“Men have it easy,” Tilby agreed. “You can just go and rent a tux.”

The 84th Academy Awards will take place Feb. 26 in Los Angeles.

Source: The Toronto Star

For his romantic roundelay set in the City of Light, the 76-year-old Allen picked up his seventh Academy Award nomination in the director category; Allen also was nominated for his original screenplay.

He won the director prize 34 years ago for “Annie Hall,” the best picture winner that also netted Allen and Marshall Brickman the original screenplay Oscar.

Allen already has won the Golden Globe and the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for his “Midnight” screenplay, and he is nominated for WGA and BAFTA Awards in the screenplay category. He is also nominated for a DGA award for his direction of the film. He was honored with the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.

Scorsese, one of the most influential directors of the last 40 years, also collected his seventh nomination for his direction of the Paris-set valentine to cinema. Scorsese, 69, earned his first director Oscar nomination for 1980’s “Raging Bull” and won the award five years ago for gangster film “The Departed.” Scorsese won the Golden Globe, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review honors for directing “Hugo.” He is also nominated for a DGA Award and the BAFTA. Scorsese also earned a nomination Tuesday as one of the producers on the film, which is nominated for best picture.

For his black-and-white silent movie, 44-year-old French filmmaker Hazanavicius earned a director nomination, and also was nominated for his original screenplay. (The last director to receive a director Oscar for a silent film was Frank Lloyd for “The Divine Lady” at the 1928-29 ceremony.) Hazanavicius already has won a number of awards for the charming tribute to the early days of the talkies – including the Critics’ Choice Movie Award and the New York Film Critics honor. He is nominated for DGA and BAFTA Awards, and will compete at the Independent Spirit Awards in the director and screenplay categories.

Payne, though, also could pull through with a victory in the category. The 50-year-old writer-director earned his second director Oscar nomination for “The Descendants,” a family drama set in Hawaii. He was previously nominated in this category for 2004’s “Sideways,” for which he won the Oscar for adapted screenplay. He also was nominated Tuesday as a producer on the film, which was nominated for best picture prize, and for the film’s adapted screenplay penned with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Payne also is nominated for DGA and WGA awards. “The Descendants” won the Golden Globe for best motion picture drama.

For his existential drama about a Texas family, the iconclastic Malick, 68, earned his second director Oscar nod. He also was nominated for his original screenplay. Malick previously was nominated in the director category for 1998’s “The Thin Red Line,” for which he also earned an adapted screenplay nomination. Malick won the Palme d’Or last year at the Cannes Film Festival for “The Tree of Life” and has won several critics’ honors for his direction of the film, including honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., the National Society of Film Critics and the Toronto Film Critics Assn.

Source: The Los Angeles times