The Pivot with Ken Evans

In recent weeks, we've seen companies such as Twitter and Shopify announce their workforce will continue to work from home either full time or in a modified fashion permanently. However, the majority of people are actually looking forward to a return to office, opting against continued work from home. Host Ken Evans chats with Annie Bergeron, Design Director and Principal at Gensler Toronto about...

For brands to go through an extreme organizational pivot, it usually takes several months. But when the pivot is in support of a greater community, one ravaged by an external force affecting millions, collaboration is essential and evidently contagious. In our first episode in our new series, Host Ken Evans chats with Gerry Guitor, President and CEO of Spirit of York Distillery Co. about the compa...

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly brought new challenges to brands, and now there isn't a brand or marketer who isn't pivoting in fundamental and in some cases radical ways. Be it restaurants offering heat-and-serve meals or distillers shifting production to produce hand sanitizers, it has certainly been fascinating and inspiring to see. Host Ken Evans and producer Ashley Villarroel sit down (...

In the age of robo-advisors, same-day shipping and ordering lunch through an app, the birth of digital has allowed brands to provide convenient and affordable solutions to simple tasks. Now that we are well into the digital age, we see brands that are changing the game for milestone events – including estate planning. In this episode we chat with Erin Bury, CEO and co-founder of Willful. Tune in t...

To connect with a brand, consumers need to buy into the message and its image. The two go hand-in-hand - If one of these components is missing, the impact of the other is lost. The focus of all marketers should be on bringing a more visual approach to content, as well as well as processes. Xenia Muntean of Planable joins us to discuss the launch of the platform and the importance of an integrated...

When asked by people outside of our area of expertise, "What really drives you professionally?" most communications and marketing pros would say, "A client or project where you can create real change." While practitioners are finding clever ways to bring this potential to a greater range of programming, few sectors can literally and personally effect change like the wellness and nutrition space. B...

A decade ago, Canada's retail landscape revolved around the decision to invest in eCommerce and find that balance between bricks and mortar and online. It has since shifted into manufacturing practices and supply chain, and the rise of "fast fashion." Today, we're seeing a tension between luxury and artisanal on one side and value driven brands on the other, with the players in the middle getting...

Canada's cannabis sector has been fascinating to watch over the last 13 months as a fully legal and regulated sector. From the peak investor highs to the on again and off again rollout of the retail play, particularly in Ontario, to the release of edibles, beverages and topicals. It's certainly not been boring. Yet what often gets lost in all the market prognostications, regulatory laments, and th...

Design, and designing with branding front and center, are fast becoming a vital part marketing and brand image. It can be both immensely in your face while also sophistically subtle and nuanced. Overall, an office space can do a lot for a brand, according to Gensler Toronto. Design director and principle Annie Bergeron and Marketing and communications director Tamarisk Saunders-Davies discuss how...

Experimentation, authenticity and humility. Wealthsimple sets an example of what marketers can achieve when they know who they are and have a clear vision of what they want. Despite disrupting the investing and financial advising market, they view themselves as filling a gap rather than a genuine disruptor. Tune in as Nick White, Head of Growth Marketing at Wealthsimple, explains the approach and...

Suddenly as a marketer, the stars align, the clouds part and everything comes up roses. That was certainly the experience of New Balance when they globally signed Kawhi Leonard, who went onto win the 2019 NBA championships for the Toronto Raptors. Marketers can only dream of an opportunity like this. Jon Purdy, Senior Marketing Manager at New Balance Canada led his team through this exciting chall...

Many believe that public relations and marketing can be two different but complementary practices, but merging the two together builds a better brand. Communicators must use their power of story and persuasion across all channels to see brand reputation management as a brand building thruster. On the other hand, marketers must put a greater emphasis and sensibility into risk managing their campaig...

Circumstances related to transparency, editorial integrity and ethics, are now shifting the whole ground within the influencer category. For brands and agencies, the way in which they work with influencers has changed and will continue to shift dramatically over the next few years. Tune in as Barry Choi, a Toronto-based personal finance and travel influencer discusses the growth of his own persona...

With the increasing access to data, it's no wonder insights have become the fuel for just about everything in communications and marketing. From market polling to algorithm-based insights, data is only as objective as the content it's fed, which itself could be filled with bias. To influence decision making, marketers need a diversity of data and research. Tune in as Andrew Grenville , author and...

For many brands, selling a product or service can be purely transactional and straightforward – but it doesn't have to be. When it comes to strategy for retention and new business leads, it's important to keep brand tone and personality in mind. Using humour and enthusiasm has proven to be a good strategy for this episode's guest – Shannon Lee Simmons. As a personal finance expert and co-founder o...

In the world of communications and marketing, we have no option but to learn, adapt and apply new techniques and technologies. In PR, we've evolved into integrated communication practitioners, to better understand and integrate social and digital plays into our storytelling. Marketers needed to master new digital platforms to amplify campaigns and access greater metrics and data. Now, we face arti...

In this special edition episode of The Pivot recorded at the latest Ruckus Makers event, host Ken Evans chats with comedians Barry Taylor and Dena Jackson, Jacqueline Waters of the Royal Ontario Museum and Toni Shelton of Collective Arts Brewery, about brands taking the humorous route to their programming and content. Peeling the onion on comedy in marketing communications, the panel discusses how...

To be all things to all people is to ultimately be generic. And to be ultimately generic is the essence of risk aversion. In this episode, Ola and Mathieu of Hershey Canada delve into brand authenticity and the integrated approach behind recent campaigns like the Reester Egg and the Oh Henry 4:25 bar. Tune in as the pair discuss risk aversion, marketing to millennials and generation z and building...

Marketing touches many different areas of a business and in the future it's clear that the problems companies face are no longer siloed by business unit. Be it a bank, a courier company or a retailer, many legacy brands now claim their core competency to be technology.  In that context, all businesses are essentially technology brands because technology now influences just about everything we do a...

Data and science only played a little role in the marketing industry in the early 1990's as art and creative lead marketing strategies until the digital disruption and democratization of media. Today's marketers have seen a shift from art and creative leading marketing strategies, to data and science leading marketing decisions and measuring attribution fully across all channels. Duri Alajrami, he...

Over the course of our first season, we've explored what modern marketing looks like, how the industry has changed over time and how those who are willing to pivot from conventional marketing strategies often thrive. We've spoken to experts in health, tech, media, academia, advertising and even cannabis. And we look forward to continue exploring the art and science of brand building in our second...

Journalism isn't what it used to be. With shrinking newsrooms, newspapers closing its doors and a shift to a digital-first economy, more and more journalists have had to adapt to the new order. Tech expert Marc Saltzman discusses how he has managed to not only survive but thrive in the changing media landscape over the past 25 years via strategic sponsorships, media opportunities and brand deals,...

For canna-curious marketer, Jessica Moran, Director of Marketing and Communications at leading North American cannabis intelligence company, Strainprint – legalization has proved to be the opportunity of a lifetime. Quick to sink its teeth into the power of crowd sourced data, Strainprint's rapid growth has sparked more than 55 million data points and one million tracked medical cannabis outcomes...

While many mourn the death of traditional media, David Brown, co-founder and co-editor of The Message, reinvents the wheel to tactfully amplify important Canadian stories and profile thriving marketing and commercial creative initiatives. Media permeate every nook and cranny of our daily lives, curating our understanding of activism, politics, privacy law, celebrity and identity. However, not ever...

While the tobacco, pharma and alcohol industries have had more than a century to mature, integrate and capitalize in global markets – an entirely new beast emerged on October 17, 2018. You guessed it: the billion-dollar Canadian cannabis industry. Daniel Davidzon, Director of Strategy and Education at Cannvas MedTech, a leading digital cannabis education company, is pioneering the highly regulated...