SPRINT CANADA CONSOLIDATES ACCOUNT WITH VICKERS & BENSON ARNOLD, BREAKS CORPORATE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
By Adnews Staff
Toronto-based Sprint Canada has consolidated its account with Vickers & Benson Arnold Inc., making the agency its national integrated advertising and communications partner. Vickers & Benson Arnold has handled Sprint Canada's English and French advertising, direct response efforts, Web development and online marketing since April 2000. As of June 1, the agency is also handling media planning and buying, previoulsy done by Genesis Media of Toronto. The media duties will be passed to MaxxMedia, one of Vickers & Benson Arnold's six operating divisions. Also working on the Sprint Canada account are Vickers & Benson Direct + Interactive, which handles direct and online marketing, and Wideframe, which handles Web development. Vickers & Benson Arnold will also work with Can-Asian Advertising on Chinese-language marketing.
Also, Sprint Canada wrapped the cover of yesterday's National Post with an ad pitching itself as an Internet, data and voice provider. The wrap, which Sprint Canada has exclusively bought through September, is the start of a new campaign intended to tell Sprint Canada's small, medium and large business customers that the company is: "a strong and viable alternative for integrated communications in Canada across all lines of business, for Internet, data and voice," said Philip Hartling, Sprint Canada's vice-president of marketing for small business and consumer services. The ads use the tagline, "How will you choose to communicate today?" The campaign will consist of three waves of National Post "wraps" in the Greater Toronto Area in addition to national full page ads and island ads in the paper, animated billboards on network and specialty television, street promotions, sampling, Post-It notes on National Post home circulation newspapers and outdoor billboards and radio advertising in the Toronto area.