Browsing Tag

Indigo

Eat, Read and Discuss: Amor Towles Tweet Up

As I’ve said before, what’s a Toronto visit without an Indigo event? This time my trip home coincided with another Indigo tweet up at the classy downtown French restaurant Biff’s Bistro. I was one of four winners selected to have dinner with the bestselling author Amor Towles, who was in town for the International Festival of Authors.

Amor Towles’ debut novel Rules of Civility (2011) has been well received by critics whose praise matches my impression of him. Rules of Civility‘s 1930s New York setting led the tweet up attendees to discuss history, including commentary about how students learn about previous decades through textbook summaries, often leading us to generalize how people lived in the past.

Grey nails for dinner in Biff’s Grey Room

The tweet up was organized by Indigo’s events team and Penguin Group (Canada), Amor’s publisher. Amor sat in the middle of the table, making it easier for everyone to ask him questions. Amor primarily works in investments in New York, so his stories about writing the manuscript and approving the final content while juggling a full-time job on Wall Street was interesting to hear about.

Although the earlier topics of conversation were directly linked to books, such as Kobos, reviews and book clubs, I enjoyed when the discussion shifted to marketing. It was nice to talk about word of mouth marketing as it relates to publishing and learn about how often the avid readers at the table make decisions based on friends’ recommendations.

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October 23, 2012 by

Behind the Brand: Zellers

It’s one thing to “Like” a store on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

It’s quite another to learn about how Zellers uses social media while in Liquidation mode.

Name: Jennifer Zedic  

Position: Director of Marketing – In Store and Social Media

Employer: Zellers

Education: Fashion Marketing and Merchandising, Ryerson University

Favourite Zellers purchase: Pure by Alfred Sung knit scarf (I liked it so much I bought 5 different colours!)

Professional role model: Heather Reisman – Indigo: I love how she has taken the book store and made it a shopping experience and how she did not back away from technology when it threatens the business, but instead embraced it. She has built a strong and reliable brand and owns the market in Canada.

What makes Zellers a uniquely Canadian store?

History and memories only found in Canada make Zellers a uniquely Canadian store.  The fans’ comments from our Facebook page talk about their experience with Zellers growing up in Canadian communities and how the great Canadians who work at those stores made a difference in a lot of their lives.

How has the marketing department’s role and responsibilities changed since learning that Zellers stores will close?

The marketing team is focused on continuing to build great flyer deals that our customers are expecting. We have pulled away from other forms of marketing, such as TV, radio and specialty print but maintained our flyer program and invested heavily in social media. For our Liquidation stores, we are using an extensive amount of ROP’s in local markets to highlight the weekly deals to the customer.

How does Zellers decide which social media channels are worth the investment?

Social media strategy for us is to provide information to the community on what they want to hear about as it relates to Zellers.  We chose to invest in Facebook since it is the best way for us to communicate to our customer on a more personalized level and to the largest audience.

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October 17, 2012 by

Jian Ghomeshi Visits London

When someone famous visits London, take note because from what I can tell, it doesn’t happen often. However, CBC host Jian Ghomeshi visited the Forest City today to promote his new memoir 1982. Rather than telling his life story “from womb to tomb,” Jian chose to share coming of age stories about fitting in as a young immigrant to Canada, focusing on the awkward year that was grade nine. His fan base immediately bought the book  – enough to ensure it debuted as the nation’s #1 bestselling non-fiction book, which is a huge accomplishment.

Taking a break from Western Homecoming festivities, I went to Chapters South London for Jian’s book signing. Delighted by the chance to have a seat without waiting hours beforehand, I eagerly waited for him to come out of the green room. Once on stage, Jian talked about 1982 and his memories of London, such as performing with Moxy Fruvous at Western Fair and drinking at the Spoke. Then he read aloud 2 stories about men watching sprinklers in Thornhill and his parents’ disapproval of his fashion sense inspired by David Bowie.

The Q&A that followed covered Q interviews such as Billy Bob Thornton and Harrison Ford, his transition from musician to broadcaster and tips for preparing for interviews. Jian emphasized the importance of doing in-depth research about guests, adding that he insists on knowing his guests’ work well before doing a ‘dance’ with them, as that’s how he metaphorically described the routine between interviewer-interviewee. I found it interesting when he talked about how his show disproves that listeners and viewers suffering from attention defecits are uninterested in longer content. People don’t tend to turn off Q 3 minutes in to the show!

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September 29, 2012 by

Some Kind of Wonderful Summer

My Facebook album featuring summer 2012 highlights is called Paradise, after the hit song by Coldplay, which captures my sentiment this summer. Here’s why:

Walt Disney once said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” Going backstage at a concert has been a dream ever since meeting a Marianas Trench band member working the merchandise table at their 2009 Western O-Week show. 

Ian Casselman, Marianas Trench (September 2009)

Saturday afternoon, I managed to meet Jesse Labelle, a 2012 headliner at the same show. Leaving that tent afterwards broke my heart, but at least I also got to meet my mitZine editor IRL for the first time!

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September 9, 2012 by

Next Top Role Model

Elizabeth Bromstein, who earns a living commenting on celebrities, work and love, yet refrains from gossiping over dinner at the Spoke Club. Elizabeth’s published work reflects her wit and intelligence that earned her a spot on this list, but my favourite memories with @missbromstein involved meeting in person to discuss Twitter, food and life.

Hilary Duff, Hollywood’s eternal good girl whose [extended] team coined the term ‘momager’ and eventually married a Canadian hockey player.

Kelly Cutrone, a PR pro known for succinctly spreading the message Normal Gets You Nowhere. Both her books gave me a lot to think about – enough material for a term paper about The Culture of Celebrity. I’ll never forget when she pegged me as a journalist, or her knack for bringing people together.

Kelly Cutrone (May 2011)

Lauren O’Neil, a professional internetter and online creep with FIMS training at Western as well. She’s made the rounds helping brands improve their social media, running around Toronto to share insights, and then wound up at CBC, true to her roots in journalism. On a side note, it’d incredible to get us, Julie Geller, Matthew Stradiotto and Jerry Seinfeld in the same room and determine Ms. O’Nizzle’s ultimate job title. Patrick Thoburn can moderate.

Shania Twain, whose motivational life story and lyrics taught me the word ‘prerogative’ once upon a time when I played ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman’ over and over again on my desktop karaoke software. Many thanks to the Toronto Star for organizing a contest to meet her in 2005, which marked the beginning of my winning streak, and to my pals at Indigo for reuniting us in 2011. I still don’t have a photo with her, but 3rd time’s the charm.

Tomorrow I’ll be of legal drinking age in the U.S. & Canada, so message me when you’re free for a champagne-inspired tweet up.

Cheers!

September 4, 2012 by