The importance of collaboration

In the current issue of Advertising Age (March 8, 2010), Totem client Sylvie Bourget sums up quite nicely one of the essential elements necessary for custom media to perform to its maximum potential.

In talking about the success of the integrated print and digital program Totem designed for Aeroplan, Senior VP of Marketing and e-Business Sylvie Bourget talks about the importance of tailoring the content of Aeroplan Arrival (magazine and web) to “the lifestyle and interests of our readers.”

Then she hones right in on how we worked together to get it right.

“We share our member and business objectives with Totem, which develops the content for the magazine and Web,” Bourget says. “Both streams work in parallel, and the relationship is very collaborative.”

Collaborative—such an easy word to throw around in the agency-client dynamic. And yet it rarely describes the whole story. Relationships that seem collaborative — and are even described as such by the participants — aren’t always a blissful union.

This is not the case with Aeroplan and its working arrangement with Totem. As soon as we won the business, we set up a series of planning sessions to develop content strategy, with several meetings at Totem’s offices in Toronto and at Aeroplan’s offices in Montreal. From the very beginning, Aeroplan approached the process in the spirit of a true partnership. This was not only refreshing, but extremely productive.

By sharing and seeking our insight into Aeroplan’s competitive set, customer segmentation and ambitious business plans, Aeroplan enabled us to tailor every piece of content to perform a very specific task. In most cases, this strategic underpinning was completely invisible to the member or reader. For example, the “task” of a particular piece of content may be as basic as to provide entertainment and inspiration to Aeroplan’s members — just what you would expect from a lifestyle and travel magazine. But by equipping our marketing journalists with deep background and strategies, Aeroplan enabled our staff to craft very focused articles designed to resonate with defined member segments. Calls to action could be tactically implemented to initiate specific behaviours, be they to seek more information about a trip, visit Aeroplan online to redeem for a reward, or to engage more deeply with their own customer profile (therefore enriching their brand experience).

Bourget cites the positive results of this approach: “Research has proven the magazine to be a strong lever in building positive perceptions of all brand drivers among the target group, so our formula works.”

True teamwork. True success.

Mar 12 2010 • Dick Snyder • press • No Comment • ShareShare this

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