THURSDAY MAY 3, 2007
HSBC TARGETS NATIONAL URBAN GROWTH
Much of HSBC Bank Canada’s customer base is located in Western
Canada, particularly in Vancouver. According to a report in the
National Post (April 25, Financial Post, National Report, D. Mavin)
Lindsay Gordon, chief executive, said HSBC will continue marketing
initiatives to build on progress made in brand awareness within
Canada. According to Gordon, having a “relatively modest” share of
the Canadian market means there is potential to get bigger. HSBC
recently agreed a sponsorship deal with the Toronto Blue Jays
baseball team. The Vancouver-based bank, a unit of U.K. financial
services giant HSBC Holdings PLC, is the seventh largest bank in
Canada. HSBC Canada is investing in branch expansions and has hired
more staff, particularly in the Corporate Banking Group.
ING DIRECT TARGETS WESTERN OPPORTUNITIES
ING Direct Canada chief, Johanne Brossard, noted at the bank’s
global management conference recently, “We’ve been very successful
in Ontario, but we still have a lot to do if you look at the West.
We are going to spend a lot more of our focus on that area in the
coming year.” According to a report in the National Post, (April 27,
Financial Post, Financial Services, D. Mavin) about 60 per cent of
the bank’s clients are in Ontario, and now the bank wants a slice of
the retail banking market in the rest of Canada. Traditional retail
banks can demonstrate their commitment to expansion by opening more
branches. ING Direct is a “virtual” bank and expansion relies
heavily on marketing. Brossard commented that “When we launched in
Quebec two years ago, we tied our marketing to that culture.”
HARLEQUIN AND QUEBECOR SIGN MULTI-YEAR DEAL
Quebecor World and Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the global leader
in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of
women’s fiction, have announced the signing of a multi-year
agreement for the printing of mass market paperback books. Quebecor
World annually produces approximately 145 million paperback books,
representing nearly 44 billion pages, for Harlequin and its imprints
Mira and Silhouette. This full-service solution for Harlequin
ensures they receive a consistent, top-quality product, on-time to
meet their precise on-sale and subscriber distribution schedule.
Torstar Corp. recently reported a higher first-quarter profit as the
newspaper and book publisher enjoyed strong profit growth in its
Harlequin and Metroland Media divisions.
ICA/CANADA POST SURVEY
SHOWS BUOYANT MARKETING PROSPECTS
The ICA/Canada Post survey of marketing budgets, conducted by NTC
Research and based on information from a panel of 270 senior
marketing executives in Canadian companies, showed growth of
marketing spend gaining momentum in Q1. Current marketing budgets
were revised up in Q1 on average, registering the second strongest
increase seen since the survey began in mid-2003. One-in-five
companies reported an increase to their existing budgets, while just
five per cent reported a decline. Budget increases were commonly
linked to improved corporate performance with higher sales revenue
and solid demand encouraging firms to boost marketing spend. The
survey also saw a rise in the number of other companies boosting
spend (especially on sales promotions) in order to stimulate weaker
than anticipated sales. New budget setting for the 2007-08
accounting year indicates that further strong growth is likely. Just
under half of all companies set their budgets higher than actual
2006-07, while only 16 per cent set their budgets lower.
Current direct marketing budgets
were revised up on average in Q1. At 16 per cent, the number of
companies reporting an increase to budgets exceeded those reporting
a decrease by almost two-to-one. Provisional data for the whole of
the 2006-07 accounting period signal robust growth for the fourth
consecutive year. Around one-in-ten companies now allocate half
their total budgets to direct marketing and one-in-five allocate
more than a quarter. Future prospects look good, with new budgets
for the whole of 2007-08 raised on average. Some 27 per cent of
companies reported an increase in budgeted spend compared to just 12
per cent that have reported a decrease. “The fact that one in ten
companies surveyed are dedicating more than 50 per cent of their
budget to direct marketing is a validation of the importance of
measurement and ROI that today’s marketers are responsible for,”
said Laurene Cihosky, Senior Vice President of Canada Post Direct
Marketing. “Looking ahead to 2007, we can expect that marketers will
become more sophisticated in their use of segmentation to target
direct marketing campaigns to reduce volume but increase the
frequency of their communication.” Learn more:
click here
NAMMU TORONTO CHAPTER WILL
FEATURE ACCURACY, BRM
The June 15 Toronto Chapter meeting will focus on updates and
proposed improvements for the Address Accuracy Program, presented by
Paolo Tuscano, Address Management – Data & Systems support; as well
as BRM product features and enhancements, presented by Rachel
Carriere, BRM Produce Manager.Also scheduled to date are National
Council updates from the VAM Council, Transaction Mail Council; and
Mail Marketing Council. Registration information will be circulated
in the coming week. Questions: contact
cporter@mackenziefinancial.com
PIPEDA REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS
Companies may soon be forced to tell Canadians when their personal
information is lost or stolen by identity thieves, under
recommendations released in the fourth report of the Standing
Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, in relation
to the statutory review of the Personal Information Protection and
Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA.) According to the report,
companies that suffer a security breach should be required to inform
the federal privacy commissioner, who will then decide whether the
loss is serious enough to inform affected individuals. The report
does not call for mandatory notification of every security breach.
The document and recommendations in both official languages will
reportedly be disseminated to the public, and the report will be
under consideration by Industry Minister, Maxime Bernier.
CANADA POST 2006 ANNUAL REPORT
In its 2006 Annual Report tabled May 1 in Parliament, Canada Post
Corporation reported its twelfth consecutive year of profit for its
group of companies. The Corporation recorded a consolidated net
income of $119 million for the fiscal period ended December 31,
2006. The return on equity was 8.4 per cent. The Corporation will
make an annual dividend payment at the rate of 40 per cent of net
income to its shareholder and is expecting to pay a dividend of
approximately $48 million to the Government of Canada in 2007.
Segmented highlights for Canada Post:
