CALGARY – Shaw Communications has introduced a new marketing campaign that highlights the “power of its people and its technology.” It includes a new logo and animated “amiable robots” that highlight how Shaw delivers services instantaneously through its cable network, or pipe.
Over the past 40 years, Shaw has grown from its first customer in Sherwood Park, Alberta, into a coast-to-coast cable, satellite, and broadcasting company, but it says that it strengths remain unchanged.
“We are committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences through our caring people and our incredible network, and that commitment starts with clear, consistent and engaging advertising,” said Brad Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of Shaw Communications.
“In this highly competitive marketplace, brand matters, and we have created a new long-term marketing platform that further enhances our relevance to our customers and our viewers,” said Shaw. “Like our technology, you’ll find our marketing approach is fresh and innovative. Like our people, you’ll find our new approach will be friendly and engaging.”
Starting today, Shaw will begin introducing its new brand across all customer touch points, including television, print, online and out of home. The redesigned platform will integrate all Shaw businesses, conveying a consistent “only from Shaw” experience.
With its advertising positioning, Shaw is inviting customers to experience the animated world inside its cable network, also known as the “pipe.” The creative, produced in collaboration with Vancouver-based agency Rethink, will focus around Shaw delivery robots Bit and Bud. These amiable robots deliver services to customers instantaneously through Shaw’s pipe and each have their own “personality that demonstrates Shaw’s commitment to leading technology and exceptional customer experiences.”
A new logo and corporate identity are also being introduced as part of the new platform. The first update to Shaw’s logo since 1998, the evolved logo represents a modern, accessible and friendly design while retaining the iconic Shaw elements. The logo’s familiar half-ellipse shape will tie into the creative, playing off the shape of the network’s “pipe.”
“In this anytime, anywhere, at-home-or-on-the-go world, our customers want us to help them make sense of it all,” said Jim Little, Chief Marketing Officer of Shaw. “Our creative and new corporate identity connects our past with our future – reassuring customers and viewers that Shaw delivers what’s important to them. Our animated world is a fun and engaging way to show our customers that with Shaw, you won’t miss a thing.”
Guerilla giveaways at The Morning Show
Shaw also announced that Global Toronto has launched a new advertising campaign for The Morning Show. Rolling out this week, the new marketing plan utilizes a “mix of traditional tactics and original stunts that emphasize the show's energy, while providing viewers with the incentive to tune in and make their mornings better.”
Airing weekdays from 6-9am, The Morning Show hosted by Liza Fromer, focuses on content and interviews that are “warm, thoughtful and most of all, relatable.”
"From the very beginning, The Morning Show has provided viewers with a fresh and engaging alternative to the typical morning news viewing experience," says Jamie Schouela, Vice President, Marketing, Shaw Media. "This campaign is keeping with the overall spirit of the program."
To capture the essence of The Morning Show's format, Global Toronto says it has developed a mix of tactics revolving around one central tenet; 'we can't make you a morning person, but we can make your mornings better.’ To convey this message, Global Toronto has launched a traditional out-of-home campaign focused on the challenges most adults face when preparing for the day, with creative pieces incorporating these challenges being featured on bus kings and TSAs throughout the GTA. Global Toronto will further support this campaign with standard 15 and 30 second on-air promos that incorporate the same themes and creative. This promo will also be placed as pre-roll on relevant news, editorial and city websites, and will be geo-targeted to GTA-based audiences.
Taking this notion one step further, Global Toronto, along with marketing agency Mosaic, have created a series of guerilla giveaways. From Today to Friday, street teams decked out in The Morning Show-branded apparel will fan out across the GTA and intercept commuters and pedestrians, and provide them with unique giveaways to make their mornings better. These include covering fares for GO Transit and TTC riders, paying for daily commuter parking spots around the city, and offering to pick up breakfast tabs in restaurants. Street teams will also be offering grocery store gift cards, and offering to carry bags, open doors and help lend a hand to weary morning commuters.
"With this campaign we wanted demonstrate that we understand our core demographics' mornings – be it the hurried business professional rushing to work, or the parent frantically packing lunches for their kids – and the trials they sometimes have to go through to make it out the door," says Sherida German, Senior Director of Marketing, Global News. "By offering a thoughtful, helpful reprise, we're presenting The Morning Show as the light, fun and intelligent bright spot to an otherwise hectic morning routine."
This theme will be incorporated into a special in-show on-air contest beginning today. Dubbed The Morning Show Makes Your Mornings Better, the contest asks viewers to describe their mornings, and explain how The Morning Show can help make this routine better. Winners will be announced on-air every Monday for three weeks beginning November 19th. Prizes could include executive limo rides to-and-from work; hair and makeup done at home by a professional stylist; a free at home personal trainer, and lunches delivered to children at school. Contestants are asked to log on to The Morning Show's webpage, and follow the appropriate links to enter.
