Xavier Blais

For #Marketers and #Communicators... Here is question 16 of my #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries ✋🏻✋🏼✋🏽✋🏾✋🏿: Q: "I'm trying to be inclusive in our upcoming campaign TV ad. How can I tell if the commercial is tokenizing or not?" A: "Although there are a lot more layers and nuance to it, a simple way to test if your commercial script is tokenizing underrepresented communities or not is as follows; replace all the underrepresented individuals in your script with people from the dominant culture. If you do that and your script still "makes sense" ie. the story doesn't change, then likely you're tokenizing these individuals. Why? Well, people with different lived experience should experience your script's story in a different way. If they don't, likely, the inclusion of these individuals is very surface-level, and doesn't have the deep cultural nuance required to be authentically inclusive. Remember, diversity =/= inclusion" What are your thoughts? I invite you to discuss and ask more questions in the comments! --- Follow me next week for question 17 of my #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries! What is the #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries? Every week I'll answer common questions that we receive at AndHumanity, Inclusive Marketing Agency on #InclusiveMarketing and #InclusiveCommunications. --- #JEDI #EDI #InclusionMatters #InclusiveBusiness #InclusiveLeadership 

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Unleash Your Brand's Story Connect, engage, and build trust with your audience through the power of storytelling. Discover how to craft compelling narratives to elevate your brand's presence. 📚✨

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For #Marketers and #Communicators... Here is question 17 of my #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries ✋🏻✋🏼✋🏽✋🏾✋🏿: Q: "We want to integrate inclusion into marketing and communications, but we only have a budget for a one-off training session, how do we go about this authentically?" A: "Firstly, you're right to think that a one-off training session isn't going to make an marketing and/or communications department inclusive. However, one thing we always preach at AndHumanity, Inclusive Marketing Agency is #ProgressOverPerfection. In fact, inclusion is an ongoing journey and thus perfection doesn't even exist in this space. We emphasize the progress, knowing that while this year may only be a one-off training, it isn't going to be that way forever. With that said, there needs to be dedicated conversations and a plan/strategy on how your team can continue this journey. What will prevent this from being a one-off training forever?" What are your thoughts? I invite you to discuss and ask more questions in the comments! --- Follow me next week for question 18 of my #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries! What is the #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries? Every week I'll answer common questions that we receive at AndHumanity, Inclusive Marketing Agency on #InclusiveMarketing and #InclusiveCommunications. --- #JEDI #EDI #InclusionMatters #InclusiveBusiness #InclusiveLeadership 

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For #Marketers and #Communicators... Here is question 18 of my #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries ✋🏻✋🏼✋🏽✋🏾✋🏿: Q: "What is the most some common mistake that you see in inclusive marketing and/or communications?" A: "Brand incongruence; meaning, brands that are communicating or marketing something externally that is not authentic internally. Sometimes the performativity is subtle, but either way it's how call-outs happen. The thing is though, even if a brand is still struggling with inclusion internally, that doesn't mean authentic external inclusive communications and marketing can't happen. It just means the tone needs to change; audiences appreciate authenticity and vulnerability. In fact, acknowledging where growth needs to happen and any history of harm is not only ideal, but often necessary in order to move forward with any sort of inclusion journey." What are your thoughts? I invite you to discuss and ask more questions in the comments! --- Follow me next week for question 19 of my #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries! What is the #FrequentlyAskedQuestionSeries? Every week I'll answer common questions that we receive at AndHumanity, Inclusive Marketing Agency on #InclusiveMarketing and #InclusiveCommunications. --- #JEDI #EDI #InclusionMatters #InclusiveBusiness #InclusiveLeadership 

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For more information about lung cancer, continue smoking! 🚬 This was the headline for an anti-lung cancer awareness campaign launched by the Canadian Lung Association and created by TBWA. I'm not here to scare you, but to talk to you about creativity, from a slightly different view. ------------------------------------------------ How do you act when you get hit by a - creative block - ? 🧠 The day you want to write something or design something or prepare something and all you get is the blinking cursor on a blank page and all you have is: nothing... ------------------------------------------------ How do you write about nothing? 🚫 My English teacher played a significant role in motivating me to learn. He teacher used to ask us to write a weekly essay, and he would just give us a topic in one word. One week he told us: Our topic this week is: NOTHING! At that time, of course, the students would write a page and walk away, but I was committed to learning and I loved to do my best, so I didn't settle for writing less than a page and a half or two pages... Even though I was enjoying the learning experience, I felt helpless - how do I write about nothing? A topic that is difficult to write about in your native language, let alone a language you are learning? And I wrote about my story: The teacher asked us to write an essay about nothing. I thought a lot but all I came up with was nothing. I tried a lot and the result was nothing. I felt helpless but my feeling of helplessness resulted in nothing. I couldn't go to class and all I had was nothing. I thought I'd do something else to get rid of the case of nothing. Checking yesterday's leftovers, I opened the fridge and stared at nothing. No problem, I'll buy something to eat. I reached into my pocket and found nothing. I got a little annoyed and closed my eyes to focus and I discovered that when I close my eyes all I see is nothing. I've come to the conclusion that I definitely won't face the teacher with nothing. I will prove that I can write about any topic even if it was nothing. So I wrote about my strange story of how I wrote the assignment that was about nothing. ------------------------------------------------ It may not be rhetorical, but it was a creative solution for a high school student who needed to overcome creative block. What do you think? How do you overcome a creative block?

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An interesting initiative by FUSE Create to highlight the benefits of real food photography over AI-generated images. The agency and client (Schneiders) should be commended for clearly demonstrating the value of real photography in capturing the essence of culinary art. BUT… While it’s evident that AI still has a way to go before it can match the nuanced appeal of photographs taken by skilled professionals, we must acknowledge the AI images generated were as Larry David would say “pretty, pretty good”! As we embrace the future, I am curious about two things: 1. CONSUMER PERCEPTION: In a fast-paced digital world, where a 300 x 50 mobile display ad is a blink-and-miss, would consumers be able to distinguish between AI and real images? How about in-store, on in-aisle POS, where brands typically have 3 seconds to grab a shopper’s attention? 2. IMPACT ON PURCHASE: Does the use of real photography translate to a tangible increase in sales conversion compared to AI images? One thing is for sure. AI is here. It’s only going to get better. So, I look forward to watching how creative agencies like Fuse Create blend technology with human creativity, leading to unprecedented possibilities in visual storytelling. #creative #omnichannel #marketing #CPG #AI #photography John de Pinho

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As marketer, I couldn't help but notice the intriguing challenge Starbucks is currently navigating. In the article shared by Business Insider, Starbucks revealed that mornings are proving to be incredibly busy, leading to a concerning trend of abandoned orders. Now, why is this particularly fascinating? Well, consider this: Starbucks frequently employs marketing promotions on their mobile app, enticing customers with bonus rewards for orders placed during those very morning hours. So, what gives? This scenario highlights an opportunity for synergy between operations and marketing. There's a treasure trove of insights waiting to be uncovered here. How can they optimize operational efficiency to better handle the morning rush while simultaneously enhancing marketing strategies to ensure maximum engagement and conversion? It's a puzzle waiting to be solved, and I believe the solution lies in the collaborative efforts of both teams. By leveraging data analytics, consumer behavior patterns, and innovative marketing tactics, they can not only address the current challenges but also unlock new avenues for growth and customer satisfaction.  One recent promotion of theirs I've noticed focuses on Thursday afternoon. It would be interesting to know what the data for Thursdays is during this activation. Could this promotion be a response to address the morning rush predicament they're encountering? Let's all actively seize opportunities to align our efforts cross-functionality, break down silos, and drive impactful results. #Marketing #Operations #Collaboration #Innovation #CRM

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This is the calibre of creative #effectiveness the brands of the world are competing with. Do we stand a chance in the next five years even? I have heard lame excuses by our own industry stakeholders in corners watching these case showreels and saying these are international brands with big budgets, our clients do not have these kinds of money or will never go for it. To them I say......selling it to them is your responsibility as there Marcom. partners and if the creatives are awesome and meets the "BRIEF" you don't have to sell it to them even. Also with the right execution plan, it will organically succeed. #CannesLions2024 #CreativeEffectiveness

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CMO: “Okay, you reported on the effectiveness of our channels, but what about the creative? What can you tell us about the performance of our creative?” Almost all of our MMM clients ask us about this at some point during the project.  And of course they will, after all, creative is a big (if not the most important) part of media effectiveness. As a modeler, you have a couple of options to deal with this. Ideally you can measure creative impact in a campaign level analysis. You should be able to split the media variable for a channel into the different campaigns that compose that variable.    For example, if you have 3 campaigns that ran during the year, then you will have 3 variables and their coefficients in the equation.  Those coefficients can then tell you the impact of the corresponding creative on your sales.  So if Campaign 2 has a bigger coefficient, that basically means that the same GRP/Impression is delivering more value with Campaign 2 than using Campaign 1.  Obviously this is an ideal situation, because in real life things rarely work this way. Most of the time you end up with way too many campaigns to measure, and it's impossible to get them all in the same equation because: 1. You either run out of degrees of freedom (have way more variables than data points that you need to estimate these) 2. Multicollinearity between campaigns (i.e. some of the campaigns overlap) making it very difficult to get separate measurement for each campaign.   So what can you do? One way to remedy this is to have some ground truth around the quality of the campaigns.  If possible, you can tap into research being done by the brand in terms of quantifying the impact of their campaigns.  Fortunately, this is becoming more common. I’m seeing ad pre-testing making a comeback. Some brands run post-tests to understand which ads were more impactful. I also recently had a great talk with Mihkel Jäätma from RealEyes on the use of AI for creative testing, very promising technology that can provide the necessary ground truth for creative in a scalable way. So with reliable information on which campaigns stood out, you can have them as separate variables and test whether or not they have a bigger or smaller impact compared to the average variable impact.   And this way you can recommend what specific creative your client needs to run to be more impactful, improve their media performance and their ROI. 😉 

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For the second year in a row, we’re grateful for the opportunity to have brought together the powerhouse of Caliber’s users and clients at the Caliber Experience Forum.   In the dynamic multi-stakeholder universe that brands operate in, the corporate comms. function alone has limited control over reputation. That’s why this time we prioritized discussing how brands can successfully embed #reputation management in their overall strategies.    Here are some of the key takeaways from this last session:   💡 #Stakeholder tracking matters for most internal functions and business units in the organization. Getting them to care about it takes a lot of groundwork and proving the value.   💡 Embedding stakeholder tracking takes good planning – it is necessary to build a strong foundation through clarifying the overall purpose, relevance and structure for the setup.   💡 Driving outcome or change from stakeholder data requires concrete actions with identified accountability. Corporate Communications / Corporate Affairs should be the playmaker, but not always the executor.   💡 Using singular and oversimplified metrics like NPS (Net Promoter Score) to track stakeholder perceptions is not enough; a more holistic view of stakeholders is necessary to make it relevant for the broader organization.   💡 #corporatereputation impacts not only external stakeholders but also employees – leading to internal recognition of what the company stands for and what it focuses on. Having proof points of the progress is important for both internal and external audiences.   Team Caliber thanks everyone who took the time to participate and contribute – we hope to see you again next year!

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Connected TV (CTV) advertising is taking Canada by storm 🌪️! With 14 million streamers growing to 16 million by 2025, it's clear why marketers are tuning into CTV's charm over traditional TV 📺. As cable cords get cut, advertisers are switching channels to Connected TV for its targeted, measurable, and scalable perks. Key features? Think vast reach, pinpoint targeting, seamless connectivity, interactive ads, and premium spots 🎯 Time to switch up your ad game? 🚀 #StingrayMedia #DigitalAdvertising #AllGoodVibes

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Despite disruptions in streaming platforms, privacy challenges, and the rise of AI, a new study from Advertiser Perceptions offers encouraging news: digital advertising spending is set to increase by 10% in 2024 and 2025. This growth will be driven by retail media and connected TV (CTV), marking a significant shift in our industry's landscape. As Eric Haggstrom aptly stated, "Media and ad tech companies need to form relationships with retail media platforms or risk missing out on one of the few large and quickly growing segments of the digital advertising market." Next week's Upfronts will serve as an exciting frontier for convergence between content, entertainment, and commerce, particularly with anticipated announcements from Walmart and NBCU and expected reveals from Amazon. #networkedexperiences #networkedmedia #media #upfronts https://lnkd.in/eiUfpimN

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Around this time last year, we faced a significant setback. We had to part ways with one of our biggest clients, which led to shrinking the team and even a few months without a paycheck for me. This challenging period we turned into a valuable learning experience, pushing our agency to adopt a different model. One key lesson is the importance of practicing empathy and curiosity. Even when I believe I'm right, it's crucial to understand my team's and client's perspectives to foster success. If I could go back, I wouldn't necessarily choose to keep that client, but I'd handle things differently. Personally, this setback was a catalyst for my growth. It taught me the value of setting aside ego and prioritizing efficient and empathetic collaboration. #leadership #learning #empathy #teamwork #communication

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Last night's POCAM - People of Colour in Advertising & Marketing + Account Planning Group of Canada - APG Canada event was a vibrant gathering of creativity, diversity, and inclusion. It was inspiring to be in a room filled with professionals from the North American advertising industry that reflected the beautiful spectrum of cultures and backgrounds. Here are the key takeaways from this remarkable evening: 1. Celebrating Diversity The event brought together a diverse group of professionals, highlighting the incredible talent within the People of Colour community in advertising and marketing. The energy and unity in the room were palpable, with each speaker bringing a unique perspective. The winning team's ability to connect with language and media resonated deeply with the audience. 2. Fostering Inclusion The discussions and panel talks focused on creating inclusive environments where everyone feels valued. Speakers shared personal stories that emphasized the importance of representation and breaking down barriers in the industry. DEI isn't just a checkbox—it's a fundamental shift in thinking. With Canada's majority population being immigrants and people of colour, the need for diversity-first thinking was a recurring theme. The question of who takes ownership of these efforts was also discussed. 3. Championing Creativity The event showcased innovative ideas and fresh perspectives from people of colour in advertising and marketing. The atmosphere fostered collaboration and creativity, essential for driving the industry forward. The opportunity to network and share experiences was invaluable. Overall, the event reminded us of the importance of diversity and inclusion, leaving everyone with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to making the advertising and marketing industry a more welcoming and equitable space for all. I look forward to contributing to forums like this in the future. Having worked in the US, I experienced varying levels of racism and on the other end worked with brands like Toyota that genuinely understood the importance of multicultural marketing. It's fascinating to see how brands adapt their communication to different segments of consumers. Looking forward to more such forums where I can contribute as well from my experiences. Thank you, Michelle Lee and Mrigini Iyer, for introducing me to this incredible event! #diversity #inclusion #advertising #marketing #creativity #collaboration #POCAM #APGCanada

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"Perhaps often said, but creativity can’t live in the creative department. The best companies have it infused throughout, so it touches every department." Jordan Doucette, Dentsu Creative Canada's CCO and newly appointed President, speaks to LBBonline - Little Black Book about the complementary skill sets of creativity and business, and why she has a raging case of optimism for the future! 🔗 Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/dEMBRYhE

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“Fast-vertising” is a concept we leveraged at /newsrooms, merging marketing with the pace of breaking news. It’s still a concept many marketers stuggle with, trying to keep up with content production across all their owned channels, citing lack of resources, approvals and compliance as roadblocks. Little do they know the vast majority of this content can be pre-planned and engrained in corporate processes so you’re able to remain compliant but still react strategically……it is possible and successful.

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*Trigger warning* Imagine prioritizing your own (incorrect) perception of "correct grammar" over how another human being wants to be addressed. This video brings up an important statistic I read recently: ➡️ "Around half of Gen Z adults (48%) and four in ten millennials (42%), compared with fewer Gen Xers (31%), boomers (28%), and members of the Silent Generation (29%), say they would be comfortable with a friend using gender-neutral pronouns." Notice how the younger the generation, the more comfortable they are with gender-neutral pronouns? From a marketing perspective, it's time brands realize that inclusion is inevitable, so you might as well accept it before you fall behind. With all this said, I can't imagine handling this level of bigotry in such a graceful manner as Shivani Dave did. Follow more of their content here: https://lnkd.in/gBdiMb_X Video Source: via IG https://lnkd.in/gnq2csjC Statistics Source: https://lnkd.in/gkQhnEeJ #JEDI #EDI #InclusiveLanguage #InclusiveBrands #InclusiveMarketing #InclusiveAdvertising #InclusionMatters #Pronouns

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Trade Desk is setting themselves apart as the go-to ad platform for the open internet, which is not only brilliant brand positioning, it's also a good reminder that there are valuable alternatives to Meta and Google for both audiences and marketers. A recent Trade Desk report reveals that 57% of Canadians' online time is spent on the open internet, encompassing activities like streaming, gaming, news consumption, and messaging. Surprisingly, only 19% of advertising dollars are allocated to the open internet compared to walled gardens. This data challenges us as marketers and communications professionals to delve deeper into audience behaviour across various online spaces. Our focus should not only be on identifying where audiences spend their time but also on recognizing the intentional spaces that drive active engagement from Canadians versus passive consumption. These spaces often exist within the open internet landscape.

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