Noise Expands to Toronto

Vancouver, BC; March 3, 2009 – Vancouver-based digital advertising agency Noise Digital announced today its expansion to Toronto. The agency is bucking current economic trends by adding resources to service its growing client base.

“Our business is expanding exponentially,” says Trevor Carr, President & CEO, Noise Digital. “We are seeing a fundamental change in the agency model. Our clients are tasking us, not just with digital execution, but with overall campaign strategy. And to meet these growing needs we are delighted to now have a fixed presence in Ontario.”

The company has hired Peter Pinfold as VP Client Services to open Noise Toronto. Pinfold was a former Noise client at Unilever and worked with the agency on the award-winning Degree Fashionista Challenge, which was awarded Best in Show at the 2006 W³ Awards.

In the newly created role of VP Client Services, Pinfold will be responsible for business development and account direction. While Noise’s creative resources will still be housed in Vancouver, Pinfold will work closely with key accounts including adidas and Sony PlayStation.

“Peter was the natural choice to be our anchor in Toronto,” adds Carr. “He brings more than ten years of marketing and sales experience on both the client and agency sides.”

Pinfold has worked on a portfolio of CPG brands and has won numerous national and international awards for media innovation and brand activation, including Best of Show at the 2006 and 2007 Promo Awards. While at Unilever, Peter and the extended Dove team were recognized by Strategy Magazine as marketers of the year in 2004. In 2005, Peter led the much talked about Degree Poker Championship and the lauded Dove documentary, Beauty Quest.

“Digital brand experiences are increasingly becoming an indispensable part of the marketing mix. A shared brand building philosophy and a passion for innovation is what first attracted me to Noise, ” says Pinfold. “This is a great opportunity to take my experience and help build engaging programs for our clients as well as contribute to the depth of marketing know-how at Noise”.

Noise Zombifies Online Dating

Vancouver, BC; February 17, 2009 – For those who haven’t been able to find love the traditional way, Noise Digital has created Zombie Singles. The zombie-themed online dating site was designed to promote Resident Evil: Degeneration, the recently released title for Nokia’s mobile gaming platform, N-Gage.

Through Zombie Singles users can interact by creating a pseudo-dating profile in hopes of finding their zombie match. They can also collect friends, or “fiends”, and rate other pictures based on their “Bore or Gore” factor. The site leverages the The Zombifier, a custom flash application that allows users to “zombify” themselves, transforming an ordinary picture into a zombie-style avatar with wounds, incisions, blood spots, and more.

The site incorporates facets of standard social media and dating sites with specialized interactive elements for zombie fans. For example, Zombie Singles users can ‘bite’ other zombies if they want more attention. Throughout the site, users are exposed to promotions and ads for the latest Resident Evil/N-Gage title and can opt-in to the N-Gage Community.

“Resident Evil is already a highly successful media franchise. Our goal was to harness users’ interest in the franchise, capture their attention, and build an online community,” says Mark Nishiguchi, Managing Partner, Noise Digital. “To make our marketing efforts more engaging, we used Easter eggs to link to N-Gage and Resident Evil contests and promotions around the site. Users either answer trivia questions or hunt around the site for clues in order to win prizes.”

Site users are automatically entered to win a trip for two to Japan, exclusive passes to the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, a meeting with Resident Evil game designers from Capcom Japan, and two Nokia N96 devices. The contest will be judged by N-Gage and Capcom officials and the winner will be chosen based on their “Bore or Gore” rating, the quality of their photo, and the number of fiends that they accumulate.

“We had to overcome a number of challenges with this campaign, including the fact that we had no media support,” continues Nishiguchi. “As a result, we leveraged a compelling contest prize and are drawing traffic from other sources such as Resident Evil, zombie, and horror fan forum communities. We are also tying into existing social media such as Facebook, Digg, and Delicious to allow users to download and share their profile pictures.”

Perfect Pairing Unveiled at Joeys Bentall

Vancouver, BC; January 9, 2009 – Joeys Restaurants officially announced today the launch of its newest location at Bentall One tower. With two separate spaces under one roof – the Wine Room and the Long Bar – Joeys Bentall is both the latest evolution for Joeys and something different for the Downtown Vancouver business district.

At Joeys Bentall, guests have the choice of either enjoying the classic Joeys Lounge experience, or relaxing in a space dedicated to the exploration of the world of wine. The two distinct spaces each have their own entrance. The Wine Room is accessible from Pender Street, while the entrance to the Long Bar is on the Burrard Street side of Bentall One.

In the Wine Room, the focus is on experiencing the world of wine. The space features the Enomatic, a state-of-the-art wine serving system that enables Joeys to offer wine lovers an extensive list of more than 60 wines by the taster or glass. The leading edge system allows bottles of wine to be opened and protected from oxidation, preserving the wine as if bottle has just been opened. The expansive wine list is complemented by a bistro-style menu, which features items such as flatbreads that pair especially well with wine.

Knowledgeable servers are on hand in the Wine Room to help facilitate wine discovery with guests. In the semi-private Mezzanine level, groups of 8-10 can take part in Joeys wine tasting events during which guests can interact with wine industry specialists.

“The vibe of the Wine Room is definitely relaxed,” says Geoff Boyd, Joeys Sommelier. “Our goal is to encourage our customers to discover new tastes and flavours, but we also want to have fun at the same time. We think that the city is ready for a wine experience like this.”

In the Long Bar, guests can meet for business lunches or get-togethers with friends and colleagues over dinner and cocktails. Especially for this room, Joeys has created a drink menu that takes cocktails into the culinary realm. The Essential, for example, is made from fresh muddled roma tomato, peach and lime. This combination is then shaken with gin, plum sake and a press of apricot juice. Guests in the Long Bar can enjoy a cocktail and order from the full Joeys menu.

“In the Long Bar and the Wine Room, our guests will find the full Joeys menu that they’ve come to know and love, but we’ve also had fun with creating a selection of new items that pair perfectly with wine,” says Joeys Executive Chef Chris Mills. “The Nova Scotia Lobster and Brie Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a great choice with a glass of wine. Or if you want to do some sharing, the warm Baked Brie wrapped in phyllo and served with a toasted cranberry crostini makes a great choice.”

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Aussie Tim Tam biscuits slam into Canada

by Adam McDowell

Aussie expatriates rejoice: No need to smuggle Tim Tams in your luggage anymore, as the chocolate treats from Down Under have arrived on Canadian shores. Now it’s time to spread your disgusting delicious biscuit-slurping habits in a new country.

Tim Tams, according to the press release, consist of “two layers of chocolate malted biscuit separated by light cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.” They come in three flavours: Original, Chewy Caramel and Classic Dark Chocolate. Australians evidently consume said cookies employing a technique known as the Tim Tam Slam, the company’s description of which reads like an advanced course in dunking.

Based on YouTube evidence, there is indeed an established order of things. Natalie Imbruglia once showed ever-entertaining Irish-British talk show host Graham Norton how to do it. Here’s how to eat a Tim Tam like a platinum-selling recording artist:

1. Prepare a warm drink (e.g. tea, coffee or hot chocolate; tea seems to be traditional)
2. Nibble off the corners of the biscuit
3. Use your Tim Tam as a straw, sucking the drink through it (“This is the part where it gets orgasmic,” says Imbruglia)
4. Just when you start to taste the drink, flip the cookie around and slam it into your mouth (quickly — Natalie Imbruglia warns us that the Tim Tam will be melting by this time)
5. Repeat as above

Whether or not you consider buying a package of Tim Tams and trying this for yourself at home, one thing’s for certain: Dipping chocolate cookies in tea will taste much better than dunking them in Vegemite.

Noise Turns up the Heat at Nokia With Sauna Talk

Vancouver, BC; November 4, 2008 – Noise Digital announced today the launch of Sauna Talk, a global B2B campaign for Nokia. The campaign was created to connect with game developers and raise industry awareness and understanding of N-Gage, Nokia’s global gaming software platform.

“Ultimately we needed to find a way to communicate with the game developer community to discuss a wide range of topics, some of which can be quite technical,” says Mark Nishiguchi, Managing Partner, Noise Digital. “We felt that we could use humour to both engage and inform our target audience. The result was Sauna Talk.”

Sauna Talk is a cheeky, multi-faceted campaign that plays off Nokia’s Finnish heritage. It spoofs a tech talk show and features light, yet informative and specific topics with humorous elements that generally make fun of the ‘not so technical’ host: Arnold Faber.

The campaign includes a microsite and video interview segments designed to leverage social networks, fan pages and content-sharing platforms such as Ovi and Facebook to help spread awareness of the brand and N-Gage platform. The campaign is housed online at www.insider.n-gage.com/saunatalk/.

The campaign also features the “Sauna Talk Trivia Challenge”, a contest which is hosted on gamasutra.com, a key industry web site. Through the contest, entrants can win Sauna Talk merchandise by answering skill-testing questions about the platform. The contest is a way for Nokia to further inform its target audience.

“This campaign has given us a platform to communicate in a new way with our audience,” says Nick Malaperiman, Head of Global Publisher and Industry Marketing. “One of its best features is its flexibility - over time it will allow us to discuss a broad range of topics.”

The campaign was previewed in August in Leipzig, Germany at the GCDC (GC Developers Conference) where pilot videos played throughout the N-Gage booth and conference hall. The videos starred actual Nokia employees and discussed topics such as: community gaming, the N-Gage platform and the Nokia Research partners.

“We were overwhelmed by the initial response to the campaign,” continues Nishiguchi. “We created a lot of industry chatter and people really responded to the tongue-in-cheek interview format. They also appreciated that we were using actual Nokia employees.”

Sauna Talk is the latest campaign that has arisen from Noise’s long-standing relationship Nokia. Noise has been responsible for game branding, interactive strategy, international title marketing, design and development, and other unique global projects for N-Gage since 2002.

The Great Trash Tip Launches Waste Reduction Pilot Project

West Vancouver, BC; October 23, 2008 –Metro Vancouver and Park Royal Shopping Centre today launched a waste reduction pilot project with an event called The Great Trash Tip. During the event, two massive garbage compactors full of waste and recycling were tipped into the Park Royal’s parking lot and examined by garbage inspectors. The event coincided with Canada’s Waste Reduction Week.

The event officially launched Park Royal and Metro Vancouver’s waste reduction pilot project, which began in September when the shopping centre’s garbage was first inspected at the North Shore Transfer Station. Following the inspections, Metro Vancouver will provide Park Royal with a report that inventories the contents of the centre’s garbage containers.

“The best way to reduce garbage is to not have garbage in the first place,” said Metro Vancouver Director Marvin Hunt who is chair of the region’s Waste Management Committee. “We are very pleased that Park Royal is demonstrating the necessary leadership in the business community to help us achieve our goal of Zero Waste.”

“Park Royal is committed to reducing waste,” says Cindy Papa, Director of Marketing & Sustainability for the Centre. “We are proud to be a part of this initiative and look forward to sharing the results with others to ultimately reduce unnecessary waste being sent to the landfill.”

The current inventory of Park Royal’s garbage will serve as a benchmark, and both the Region and the Shopping Centre hope to see a significant reduction in the amount of waste when it is inspected again several months down the road.

“Our hope is that the Park Royal waste reduction project becomes a model that we can apply at shopping centres right across the Metro Vancouver area,” continued Hunt.

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The Wait is Over: Tim Tams Finally Arrive In Canada

Vancouver, BC; October 23, 2008– Ex-pat Australians and Canadian chocolate lovers are rejoicing at the news that Arnott’s renowned Tim Tam biscuits have arrived in Canada. Concord Sales Ltd./Concord National Inc., a leading Canadian food distributor, has secured the rights to import Tim Tams from Australia. Starting this month, the biscuits (a.k.a. cookies) will be available in major Canadian grocery and drug stores.

“In my long career as Australian Senior Trade Commissioner in six countries, I and the Australian expatriate community have depended on parcels from home to supply us with survival supplies of iconic Aussie foods, like Tim Tams,” says Stefan Trofimovs, Australian Senior Trade Commissioner and Consul General Toronto. “Our life is so much easier having global distribution of these brands. I know Aussies in Canada will give thanks to Concord for now supplying this country and I am certain that discerning Canadian consumers will quickly appreciate what we have known for decades about the qualities of Tim Tams.”

Australia’s favourite biscuit is made from two layers of chocolate malted biscuit separated by a light cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. The indulgent chocolate, created from a secret recipe, cradles a delicate cream centre of vanilla, butter and chocolate. Tim Tams are available in three flavours: Original, Chewy Caramel and Classic Dark Chocolate.

Tim Tams were first launched in 1963 and are made by Arnott’s Biscuits, the venerable Australian biscuit company that has been in operation since 1865. The biscuit is so popular, that Australians annually consume nearly 35 million packs.

“The biscuits are not simply a way to satisfy chocolate cravings, they are an experience, complete with their own ritual,” says Tina Ryan of Concord Sales Ltd./Concord National Inc. “Tim Tam enthusiasts take their love of the biscuits to the next level, even sharing online videos on how to best enjoy them.”

The Tim Tam Slam is the preferred consumption method of the true Tim Tam aficionado. The technique involves biting off opposite corners of a Tim Tam and using it as a straw to sip a hot beverage such as coffee or tea. As soon as the biscuit lover tastes the hot liquid through the cookie, it must be swiftly flipped around and ‘slammed’ into the their mouth before it falls apart.

Cookie lovers will find videos on YouTube that feature celebrities such as Natalie Imbruglia and Jennifer Love Hewitt demonstrating the proper Slam technique. However, enthusiasm for the biscuits does not stop there. Fans of Tim Tams have dreamt up many ways to enjoy their favourite cookie including the Tim Tam Martini and the Tim Tam Chocolate Sundae.

After a long wait, Canadians can finally join the Tim Tam movement. The biscuits are now available at Save-on-Foods, Overwaitea Foods, PriceSmart Foods, London Drugs, IGA, Sobeys, Federated Co-Op and Buy-Low-Foods.