Jennifer HornMedia in Canada January 11, 2012

Apparently, the adage of “less is more” really speaks to the execs at Canadian Direct Insurance.

Therein lies the reason behind the brand jumping on the idea of having the advertising pitch process portrayed in a series of new commercials for its simple, to-the-point tagline of “Say Yes To Savings.”

In three new spots, the ad guys at Noise (a Vancouver-based agency that handled both the media and creative) make fun of themselves and the industry they work in by portraying what turns out to be a disaster pitch. While the two creatives work their hearts out to present a flashy campaign, the insurance exec doesn’t budge, requesting that they “just keep it simple” and to show how the insurance company can help people save money. The ask falls on deaf ears with the ad men churning out ideas of a cyborg and a rollerblading kitten with chiseled abs as its next spokesperson.

The spots are in fact a play on a real-life situation that happened a year ago, when the president of the company jokingly asked a Noise creative and account director what kind of “out-there” idea they were going to pitch next, Trevor Carr, president and CEO, Noise tells MiC.

Read Media in Canada's full story here.

Jonathan PaulStimulant January 11, 2012

Canadian Direct Insurance is keeping it simple with its latest campaign, care of Vancouver-based Noise. It wants consumers to know, simply put, that it saves people money and that’s a message that doesn’t require crazy artwork to convey in commercials…or does it?

Watch the spots and read the full creative credits on Stimulant online.

Eve LazarusJanuary 10, 2012 Marketing Magazine

Michael Milardo, creative director at Noise Digital, was waiting to unveil a presentation to client Canadian Direct Insurance when its chairman walked by and asked why they couldn’t just say the company saved people money instead of wrecking cash with flame throwers, chainsaws and graters (i.e. the concept of the last campaign).

The idea became the basis of three television ads that launched this month in a campaign called “Say yes to savings.”

Read the rest of Marketing magazine's story here.

Jaeger Mah, the man who's spending 80 days and nights living at YVR, caught up with the YVR School Tour Program last week.

Watch his video here.

This week, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is officially launching its 2011 School Tour Program, The Future Lands Here. Over the next two months, thousands of Grade Five students from Metro Vancouver will visit YVR for a tour full of activities, information, and fun. Elettra Communications' Marcus Tan, Wyanne Wong, and Annalisa Pareja are the YVR School Tour Guides. Our Tour Guides hail from SFU's Communications Co-op Program and we're delighted to have them on board. Read their bios on the YVR Connections blog.

Congratulations to the JOEY Restaurant Group on their recent International Prism Award win. The award recognizes organizations that have profited through their commitment to coaching as a leadership strategy. From the news release: The Canadian-based Joey Restaurant Group began a coaching initiative with the strategic selection of the most senior leaders in their organization, so they could be coached and be trained as internal coaches while running their restaurant regions. In the last 30 months, they experienced more than 30 percent revenue growth, reduced turnover, and made the Top 100 employers list for the first time. JOEY calculates a 682 percent return on investment from their coaching initiative.

Past winners of the ICF International Prism Award include: Genetch, TINE Group, Solaglas Windowcare, ibm.com North America, SYSCO, the BBC, MCI, University of Texas at Dallas, Verizon Business, IBM, and NASA.

Read the full news release from The International Coach Federation here.