IAB Canada Adds 50 New Members, Announces New Chair, Board and Staff -- PLUS Sets 2012 Agenda For Industry In Year-End Report

TORONTO, Feb. 2, 2012 /CNW/ - As Canadian Interactive ad revenues inch closer to those for TV, and as Mobile marketing continues to gain momentum as well -- IAB Canada heads into 2012 with an explosion in Member-Companies (over 50 new Member-companies were added in 2011); a newly-elected Chair (Dominique-Sebastien Forest of TC Media (a division of Transcontinental Inc.); Board additions of L'Oreal Canada and Tim Hortons; three new staff; and an industry agenda within its 2011 Year-End Report, that includes launch of the Canadian Self-Regulatory Program For Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA).

"It's such an honor to have been elected Chair of the Board of IAB Canada," says Dominique-Sébastien Forest, Vice President, National Digital Solutions, TC Media. "It's a thrilling and thriving time for the Interactive and Mobile industry, as Digital solutions -- more than ever before -- are becoming core to the marketing mix. In my career, I've had the pleasure to work with a variety of companies and help them leverage Digital change and innovation in order to create new growth opportunities, and that's exactly what IAB Canada is all about. I'm looking forward to working with the IAB Canada Board, as well thought leaders from across Canada as we strive to help the greater Canadian marketing community do the same. And with so many new companies on board for 2012, we have a huge pool of business professionals that the industry can look to for deep individual expertise as well."

Marie-Josée Lamothe, Vice-President, Chief Marketing & Communication Officer, L'Oréal Canada, who is one of the two new Advertiser additions to the IAB Canada Board agrees and adds: "As a global leader in Digital innovation, L'Oréal understands the strategic importance of integrating Interactive into our media mix. Working with IAB Canada Publisher, Agency and Advertiser Members, my goal is to help shine more light on the myriad of best practices and policies that are already available to assist the industry in achieving Digital success -- and as the acknowledged leader in Interactive advertising research, education, standards and policy -- IAB Canada is the perfect partner for L'Oréal Canada as we seek to do that work."

Michael Lorenzi, Director, Brand Development, Tim Hortons, also recently elected to IAB Canada's Board echoes Lamothe's sentiments: "I very much look forward to working and networking with the Interactive leaders that the IAB Canada Board and Membership represents. I  have a passion for Digital Marketing, and that coupled with a Client perspective, will  allow me to better communicate the persistent pain points of Advertisers to Publishers, Agencies and Service Providers in both the Online and Mobile environments; and conversely, will allow me to better understand these matters from their perspectives."

IAB Canada's 2012 Board of Directors includes:

Paula Gignac, IAB Canada	President
Dominique-Sébastien Forest, TC Media	Chair
Carolyn Cramer, Tribal Fusion	Vice-Chair, VP Publisher Council
Dawna Henderson, henderson bas kohn	Board Liaison to Agency Council
Peter Vaz, M2 Universal Digital	VP Emerging Platforms, Mobile Councils
Adam Kardash, Heenan Blaikie	VP Policy Council
Jay Aber, The Aber Group Inc.	VP Marketing Council
Jeff Lancaster, Outrider	VP Search Comte.
Martin Lundie, Ernst & Young	Treasurer
Brian Fitzpatrick, MindShare Canada
Veronica Holmes, Zenith Optimedia Canada
Marie-Josée Lamothe, L'Oréal Canada
Michael Lorenzi, Tim Hortons
Eric Morris, Google Canada
Paula Presley, Yahoo! Canada
Bryan Segal, comScore Media Metrix
Joe Strolz, Microsoft Advertising
John Szczygiel, Bell Media/Sympatico.ca
Alfredo Tan, Facebook
Dana Toering, AOL Canada
Chris Williams, Media Contacts

In addition to finalizing the national Board, the Québec Regional Council includes:

Samuel Parent - Vice President, IAB Canada, Regional Director, Québec Council

Nathalie Boucher, Olive Média - Chairman, Québec Council

Patrick Tapp, Jobboom - co-Vice-Chairman, Québec Council

Sylvie Robitaille, Sympatico - co-Vice-Chairman, Québec Council

France Brunelle, Casale Media - VP, QC Publisher Council

Geneviève Guay, Carat - VP, QC Agency Council

Philippe Roberge, Intact Assurances- VP, QC Advertiser Council

Malik Yacoubi, Cossette - VP, QC Mobile Council

Nicolas Darveau-Garneau, Google - VP, QC Video Comte.

Alexandre Hénault, Mediative

Stephen St. Pierre, Human Equation

IAB Canada also added three new staff in 2011: bringing Kelly Tulett in as Director of Marketing; Julie Ford in as its Director of Councils; and moving long-serving Québec Council Regional Director, Samuel Parent into the position of Vice President. Tulett comes with 15 years in brand strategy and development experience for Clients including The Tomm Group, Danier Leather, HBC and The Northern Group, as well as Digital marketing experience with Rogers. Ford has over 10 years of experience in Digital, is a Certified Webmaster with business development skills from her work with Ad Network Rydium, and has deep Agency expertise from her Client-facing role as Media Strategy Director at henderson bas kohn. Parent has 15 years of experience across both traditional and Digital channels, and has Publisher-side experience from his previous roles as GM, Internet at Corus Québec, and most recently, as Director of Sales at Mediative. His Agency-side expertise is drawn from his past Media Planning + Research Specialist roles at Cossette and MBS in Montréal.

"We're extremely happy to have added these seasoned professionals to our organization," says Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. "What they have in common, is direct and deep expertise in Interactive; the ability to see and operate from both buyer and seller perspectives based on previous Publisher-, Agency- and Client-side experience; and, an acknowledged commitment to delivering the highest level of customer service to the stakeholders they work with, and for. You simply couldn't ask for a better walking-talking reflection of IAB Canada's tri-partite organization as well as the mission statement of the association, in the resumés of these three people, and indeed from all of IAB Canada's staff."

So what challenges and opportunities will 2012 hold for the Canadian marketing and advertising industry with respect to Interactive? Gignac sees the one of the most important agenda items for a variety of players within the industry, as registration in the Canadian Self-Regulatory Program For Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA). While details re: program are still being finalized with the Digital Advertising Alliance in the U.S. (DAA), Webinars detailing the step-by-step process for initiating compliance under the Transparency, Education, Choice and Accountability tenets of the program, and in conjunction with the guidance given in December 2011 by Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC), will begin in late February or early March 2012.

"Real-Time Bidding, unified Social Media ROI measurement and CMO dashboards are all technologies and topics that will also gain substantial momentum in Canada in 2012," says Gignac, "So we're focusing on them under the umbrella of Real-Time/Human -- Innovations In Efficiencies, Ideas and Consumer Experiences, at IAB Canada's MIXX Canada Conference, in Toronto on March 27, 2012. Lastly, the ongoing rise in the importance of Mobile within the marketer's toolbox will find IAB Canada and the industry working together to develop unique research promotion and development partnerships, in order to assist the Canadian marketing industry in optimizing Mobile to drive both brand and direct results."

To dive deeper into the key projects executed by IAB Canada's Councils and Committees in 2011, and what's next in 2012, Download IAB Canada's 2011 Year-End Report NOW!

IAB Canada (www.iabcanada.com), is the national voice and de facto thought leader of the Canadian Digital marketing and advertising industry, and is a not-for-profit association representing Canada's most well-known and respected Advertisers, Agencies, Media Companies, Mobile and VideoGame Marketers + Developers, Measurement Companies, Service Providers, Educational Institutions and Government Associations operating within the space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paula Gignac 
President, IAB Canada
iabcanada.com
416-598-3400 (ext. 26)