ABOUT | APPROACH | ADVERTISING | GALLERY

To promote Marz Homes as a homebuilder dedicated to its communities and the environment, Greening Marketing launched a two-pronged media campaign, which included a free press element and a paid-for-media element. Targeting primarily the Greater Hamilton Area, Greening issued press releases to multiple mediums including newspapers, radio and television stations, and trade publications. Greening also distributed the press releases to various websites. The combination of free press and paid-for media garnered more than 35 million media impressions for Marz.

Print

Marz utilized a variety of print media to promote its corporate social responsibility initiatives. Advertising was purchased regularly in the Hamilton Spectator, the only daily newspaper in the city. In additional retail advertising, Marz’s ads also included written statements informing the public of its work with Bullfrog Power and the Canadian Cancer Society. Marz also advertised in the Burlington Post, specific magazines and specially produced sections.

Radio and Television

Radio and television ad campaigns were launched with 15-second television commercials airing on CHCH News in Hamilton and Rogers TV stations, and 30-second radio commercials airing on six stations in the Greater Hamilton Area, including Corus stations AM900, Y108 and The Vinyl 95.3, and Astral stations K-Lite FM, Oldies 1150 and Talk 820. The radio and television spots were produced specifically to promote to the public Marz’s partnership with Bullfrog Power, and the opportunity to live in a home that runs on renewable energy. It also resulted in interviews with numerous newspapers including the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and Hamilton Spectator, and several stories printed in smaller community papers. Dan Gabriele, Vice-President of Marz Homes, was also a featured guest on Bill Kelly’s radio show on AM900. Marz’s green energy initiative was the subject of international press through the profile feature in the American Builder magazine.

Public Relations

In planning the campaign, Greening Marketing decided that a full-on media approach was necessary. Through a press blitz, which included the distribution of press releases to media outlets primarily in the Greater Toronto Area, Marz Homes was featured in multiple print publications, on radio programs, on television and on the web.

Marz’s Bullfrog Power initiative was covered in publications such as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator, Builder Magazine (U.S.) and several community newspapers. In broadcast, Marz received coverage on CHCH News and AM900.

Greening Marketing continues to distribute press releases to media outlets to keep the public informed of Marz’s corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Eco-Friendly Initiatives | Charitable Initiatives

In 2010, Greening Marketing approached Marz Homes with a twofold idea: develop a corporate social responsibility strategy that would see Marz Homes become an active participant in social causes within their community, and a company dedicated to increasing its environmentalism; and create an advertising campaign promoting the company’s offerings and its dedication to creating healthy communities. The campaign was based on Marz’s tagline and was called “The Way Home Should Be.”

As a result of its environmental initiative, Marz Homes became the first homebuilder in North America to achieve a zero-energy footprint, and has gone on to incorporate numerous eco options as standard into each home that it produces. Through its charitable initiatives, Marz has helped organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society raise more than $100,000 to help people in need.

Greening Marketing and its president, Glenn Marshall, have worked with Marz homes since 2005, providing a variety of marketing services that have promoted Marz Homes as one of southern Ontario’s premier homebuilders. Utilizing Marz’s dedication to creating healthy communities, Greening has leveraged Marz’s initiatives in the company’s marketing and has branded Marz as one of the region’s most socially proactive companies.

ABOUT | DIFFERENCE | ADVERTISING | GALLERY

For Canada’s Largest Ribfest, Greening Marketing utilized media including web, TV, radio and print to garner as much publicity as possible. The result was more than 150 million media impressions throughout Ontario and Western New York.

Print Advertising and Custom Publishing

Partnering with a local newspaper chain, Greening Marketing created print advertisements that promoted the event and its drive for volunteers. Greening also created a visually distinctive, cost-effective custom publication that provided information on the event, and was distributed in the Buffalo News to create awareness of Canada’s Largest Ribfest south of the border.

TV

Greening Marketing worked with CHCH News in Hamilton to capitalize on its vast reach. Working with the station, Greening oversaw the production of a commercial that described the festival’s key attractions, and encouraged people to come to the park. This commercial was also aired on Rogers TV Listings Channel, which was broadcast throughout southern Ontario. Greening also aired the commercial on WIVB/WNLO-TV in Buffalo, New York, to promote the festival south of the border.

Radio

Greening Marketing partnered with Corus Entertainment in Hamilton, Ontario, to ensure that the local market was plugged into the event via the airwaves. Corus broadcast commercials for Ribfest on its three Hamilton stations, and also broadcast live at the event each day. Through Corus, Greening also developed a number of contests that promoted Ribfest. These included a backyard barbecue with John Ellison performing, the giveaway of a SmartCar live from the event, and a “Best Seats in the House” promotion where winners would have preferred seating and other prizes during Ribfest’s musical performances. Each of these contests required people to contact the radio station, making them take action to be a part of the festival. Greening also partnered with Entercom Buffalo and Citadel Broadcasting to develop and air commercials specifically designed to entice people living in Western New York to come north and visit Canada’s Largest Ribfest.

Web and Social Media

Through Greening’s dedication to providing regularly updated information, incorporating SEO tactics, and encouraging people to visit the site through other advertising initiatives, Ribfest’s website received more than 54,000 page views throughout August and the first week of September. This represents an increase of about 300 per cent from the previous year.

Free Press

To optimize Canada’s Largest Ribfest in the media, Greening Marketing undertook an extensive free press campaign that included liaising with local media, issuing press releases about the event, scheduling interviews, and following up on story ideas. The result was 20 published newspaper articles, more than a dozen radio interviews, mentions on a variety of websites and extensive television coverage.

Greening Marketing focused on Ribfest’s key newsworthy items, specifically, that it draws more than 100,000 people annually, its entertainment line up, and that the festival is one of the most environmentally sustainable in the country.

Canada’s Largest Ribfest was created by the Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore to raise money to support local, national and international charities. Started in 1995, through its first 14 years, the festival had raised more than $2.1 million in support its community initiatives. In addition to its charitable mandate, Canada’s Largest Ribfest is also one of the greenest festivals in the country, incorporating numerous environmental tactics, including a dedicated recycling and waste diversion program, the use of biodegradable utensils and drinking cups, and more.

In 2011, Festivals and Events Ontario awarded Canada’s Largest Ribfest the “Best Greening of a Festival or Event” award for its efforts.

In 2010, Canada’s Largest Ribfest diverted, recycled and composted 46.57 tonnes of waste, including 9.5 tonnes of recyclables, 28.6 tonnes of biodegradables, and 8.47 tonnes of garbage. All told, Canada’s Largest Ribfest diverted 82 per cent of all waste generated at the festival. (This also includes items that were brought by on-site visitors). As a result of forward-thinking and proactive approach to environmental protection, Canada’s Largest Ribfest has become the model for festivals by the Recycling Council of Ontario.

To accomplish this goal means that ribbers, food vendors and support service providers have to comply with Ribfest’s guidelines. They must all ensure that any consumables they use must be biodegradable or recyclable. Ribfest also ensures that items such as containers and utensils meet the event’s criteria for recyclability and biodegradability. Below is a list of some of the products that help to make Ribfest one of Canada’s greenest festivals:

• Fibre-based food containers
• Wooden utensils
• Paper napkins
• Corn starch-based cups
• Fibre-based cups
• Paper bags
• Available in recyclable containers: bottled water and canned pop

Canada’s Largest Ribfest provides “Green Bin” (biodegradable) and “Blue Bin” (recycling) containers for the public to use. There are also several stations where people can take waste to be sorted.

Public education is also an integral part of Ribfest’s environmental mandate. Informing the public about what is suitable to place in the Green Bin: wooden utensils, food leftovers, corn-starch cups (even though they look like plastic!). Organizers work to inform people about the environmental initiatives of Canada’s Largest Ribfest through its website, digital newsletters, signage at the park during the festival, and with the help of media partners and Halton Region.

Ribfest also has a recycling staff on hand to help with any questions during the event and to sort through the containers after the event to make sure that everything was put in the correct container.

In 2010, the Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore commissioned Greening Marketing to develop a campaign that informed and enticed people to visit Canada’s Largest Ribfest. Greening enlisted the services of John Ellison, writer and original singer of the 1967 classic song “Some Kind of Wonderful,” to leverage the song’s popularity and provide a unique entertainment aspect to the event. The song was licensed to use in the festival’s marketing strategy, and “The Canada’s Largest Ribfest Some Kind of Wonderful 15th Anniversary Celebration” was born. The result of Greening’s efforts was a comprehensive marketing campaign that included:

• Print advertising
• Custom publishing
• Television commercials
• Radio commercials
• Contests
• Social media and web marketing
• Free press
• Live performances

More than 150 million media impressions and 150,000 lbs. of ribs later, and Greening chalks up another successful campaign in the win column. It was such a success that the Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore has commissioned Greening to continue Ribfest’s marketing campaign every year since and has taken over its sponsorship. Greening also helped organizers secure the “Best Greening of a Festival award from Festivals and Events Ontario for two consecutive years, in recognition of the event’s environmental mandates.

John Ellison works with Greening Marketing and its clients to deliver high-impact performance marketing. John licensed “Some Kind of Wonderful” for use in Ribfest’s marketing. By utilizing this incredibly well-known and immediately recognizable song, Greening was able increase the buzz around Ribfest, and generate additional media coverage. John Ellison was also the featured performer on the festival’s opening day. John and his band delivered a spirited set that literally had people dancing in the aisles. Interspersing his original songs with some well-crafted covers, at the conclusion of his set, John walked off the stage with the crowd chanting, “More, more, more…”

Using “Some Kind of Wonderful” at your event immediately connects you with one of the world’s most popular songs – an internationally recognized brand in itself. John has licensed the song to a variety of companies for their marketing initiatives. In recent history, Kraft and Toyota have both used the song for their respective marketing campaigns. Contact Greening Marketing for more information.

ABOUT | CHARITABLE | ADVERTISING | GALLERY

Greening Marketing created a brand standards guide for LAG and all of its dealerships. This included the creation of a new logo, print and broadcast creative, and a corporate history centred around its trademarked slogan: “You Can Always Count On Us.™” The brand standards guide provides a centralized and easy-to-reference document that helps to ensure continuity in the marketing of LAG and each of its dealerships.

Utilizing the brand standards guide, Greening Marketing has executed numerous advertising initiatives for LAG. Some of the mediums used include broadcast, print, direct mail, online, point-of-purchase displays, outdoor, public relations, and sponsorship. Where possible, multiple mediums are utilized to ensure that each dealership’s message reaches as broad an audience as possible.

Broadcast

For its radio and television creative, Greening Marketing devised templates for the Leggat Auto Group’s dealerships to follow. The template for radio includes a section where the announcer discusses a sale or event taking place at the dealership; a personal message from the general manager; and finally, each spot ends with the group’s “You Can Always Count on Us™” jingle.

With each Leggat dealership utilizing radio for their advertising, the combined effect of each dealership using this format helps to further branding and public awareness of the group as a whole.

For its broadcast creative, LAG retained the services of John Ellison, writer of the 1967 classic song “She’s Some Kind of Wonderful.” Ellison recorded a jingle that included a musical bed with a sing-out of LAG’s slogan. In addition to the slogan, all radio creative also includes a personal message from the general manager of the advertising dealership.

Television

In 2010, LAG utilized television advertising for the first time in its history. Championed by Greening Marketing, LAG created television spots that promoted a sales event at LAG’s used car dealership on Hamilton Mountain. Crossing into this medium provided the group with exposure it had not previously enjoyed, and helped contribute to a successful event.

Point-of-Purchase

Point-of-purchase advertising for LAG included the creation of seven-foot-tall posters for each dealership that detail the origins of LAG, and provide specific information about the founding of each dealership. These displays can be found at the entrances and service centres for each dealership, and provide customers with an informative and visually appealing medium that explains the evolution of the Leggat Auto Group.

Public Relations

A significant part of LAG’s new marketing direction is its public relations component. LAG and its dealerships have a history of innovation, acknowledgements from the automotive industry, and charitable contributions. Regular meetings are held with managers at each dealership to determine what events or initiatives are worthy of garnering media attention. Press releases are then written and distributed to media throughout southern Ontario, which to date have resulted in dozens of articles and appearances in broadcast media. The boiler plate for each press release includes a synopsis of LAG’s holdings and provides information about the company’s history.

In addition to marketing endeavours, Greening also outlined a strategy to centralize each dealership’s community support initiatives. Each Leggat dealership has an extensive history of charitable giving, and Greening, working with each dealership, devised plans to maximize the impact of LAG’s charitable mandates, and to utilize marketing materials to gain additional support for each dealership’s charitable partners.

The Leggat Auto Group and each of its dealerships have histories of contributing to community causes. Dealerships have sponsored sports teams, partnered with charitable organizations, and much more. Greening Marketing has helped the group forge new partnerships with charities that helped to support those in need in southern Ontario.

Greening proposed that LAG undertake charitable initiatives across the entire group. One of these initiatives was a fundraiser that sought to solicit contributions for World Vision in that organization’s rebuilding efforts for the people of Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake. John Ellison recorded a song using LAG’s slogan, and also did a small press tour to help raise awareness of the event. Each dealership also commissioned Greening to create point-of-purchase advertising to help raise awareness about the group’s initiative in support of Haiti.

Greening also partnered Leggat with the Canadian Cancer Society to be the luminary sponsor for the Ancaster-Dundas Relay for Life, which, in 2011, raised $158,000 for cancer research and programming. Financial funding from LAG and advertising through Leggat’s Ancaster Toyota/Scion store helped organizers raise awareness of the event, and raise additional funding. Ancaster Toyota/Scion also had a team of volunteers from the dealership take part in the event.

At the dealership level, Greening helped Leggat Kia of Burlington craft the Giving Car Contest. The contest takes place at Burlington Mall in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and requires participants to guess the number of toys packed into two cars. The winner receives a gift certificate for the mall, and all of the toys are donated to McMaster Children’s Hospital and Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. The Giving Car Contest was a great success, with many children at each hospital receiving toys over the holiday season.

Since 2009, Greening Marketing has worked with the Leggat Auto Group (LAG) and its family of dealerships to provide marketing solutions that increase the brand awareness of the entire group. By creating a cohesive and centralized marketing strategy, Greening helps the group and its individual dealerships create heightened profiles in southern Ontario’s automotive marketplace.

Greening’s emphasis on the use of multimedia campaigns has helped the group to reach new audiences, and to reinforce the messaging in the group’s other media. Greening works with LAG to produce creative for television, radio, print and online advertising, and also helps the group structure strategic partnerships with charitable and community organizations.

LAG is committed to utilizing its new branding strategy going forward. As new dealerships are added to the group, Greening Marketing is similarly committed to working with each new dealership – as well as existing dealerships – to ensure that the Leggat Auto Group remains one of the most trusted names among southern Ontario auto dealerships.

INTRO | LICENSING | PERFORMING | PUBLIC RELATIONS | CUSTOM RECORDINGS | GALLERY

As a musician who’s been playing for more than 50 years, John Ellison knows what sounds good. That’s why Greening Marketing works with John to produce customized jingles and commercials for a variety of clients. Click on the below links to hear examples of John’s work with Greening’s clients.

As writer of one of the most popular songs in history, John Ellison garners considerable media attention. Greening Marketing works with its clients and John Ellison to write and distribute press releases to help promote both John and its clients. John has appeared in all mediums, and is adept in giving interviews that help promote the event, product or client.

As an entertainer with more than five decades of experience, John Ellison is an accomplished performer able to bring any crowd to its feet. An exceptional singer and guitar player, in his career, John has shared the stage with musical heavyweights including James Brown, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle, Curtis Mayfield, Little Richard and more. John performs regularly throughout North America and Asia. In Europe, John is well known and performs often, particularly in France and Switzerland. In France, John is a regular at the Nice Jazz Festival and also at Le Méridien Nice, an upscale hotel in Nice, France.

In southern Ontario, John has performed regularly since the early 1970s. In recent years, John has taken the stage at numerous public and private events such as:

• Hamilton Olympic Flame Celebrations
• National Hockey League
• Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Junior Economic Development Summit
• Ministers Responsible for Seniors Social Event
• Hamilton Tourism
• St. Joseph’s Villa
• SuperCrawl
• EB Society of Canada
• Harvest Picnic
• Local Schools
• Ontario Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting

John Ellison retains the rights to Some Kind of Wonderful and licenses the song to companies and organizations all over the world. Using Some Kind of Wonderful in your marketing can link your company, product or service to an instantly recognizable piece of popular culture. Large companies, including Ford and Kraft, have used Some Kind of Wonderful to promote their offerings.

Greening Marketing branded the 2010 Canada’s Largest Ribfest as “A Some Kind of Wonderful 15th Anniversary Celebration.” The song was used as the official anthem for the event, and was featured prominently in the television and radio advertising. The “A Some Kind of Wonderful 15th Anniversary Celebration” wording was also used in all print and online marketing collateral.

During the lead-up to the event, John Ellison embarked on a promotional tour where he gave numerous interviews to television, radio and newspaper reporters. One week before Ribfest, John sang the national anthems at a Toronto Blue Jays-New York Yankees baseball game at Rogers Centre in Toronto, and also at a Rochester Red Wings baseball game in Rochester, New York. At both performances, John wore at specially created Canada’s Largest Ribfest baseball jersey, and each announcer made mention that John would perform at Canada’s Largest Ribfest later in the week.

One of Canada’s Largest Ribfest’s main draws is its entertainment line up. John Ellison was the featured performer on the opening night of the festival and has performed every year since. Some Kind of Wonderful was also broadcast through the park during the fireworks display – an additional feature for the 15th anniversary.

In 1967, John Ellison wrote what would become one of the most played and covered songs in the history of popular music – Some Kind of Wonderful. With its driving bass line, catchy guitar riff, timeless lyrics, and uncompromising hook, Some Kind of Wonderful is an instantly recognizable classic that has stood the test of time. In fact, Some Kind of Wonderful has sold more than 42 million copies worldwide, and has been covered by nearly 60 artists.

John Ellison works with Greening Marketing and its clients to craft marketing campaigns that employ John’s musical talents. Through the writing and recording of jingles, live performances, public appearances, and the licensing of Some Kind of Wonderful, Greening Marketing has successfully employed John’s talents to gain publicity for its clients, and link them to one of popular music’s most successful songs.