OK&D TAKES A STEP BACK IN TIME
By Adnews Staff
The Renaissance Festival of Maryland is using its first Canadian agency. The company hired OK&D Marketing Communications of Hamilton, Ont. to handle advertising for the Ontario Renaissance Festival which will be held in Oakville, Ont. beginning in July. The Ontario festival is a medieval theme park which runs for six consecutive weekends. It is entering its second season. In its first year, Renaissance's U.S. agency to handle Canadian advertising. The company decided to hire a Canadian agency because it needs someone who knows the Canadian media, agency spokesperson Jon DeForest told Adnews this week. Things are done differently here than they are in the U.S., he says. The agency won the business after Renaissance spoke to a few other agencies. The budget for the account is over $250,000. Advertising for the Ontario festival will use radio, print, TV and collateral materials. The festival features a royal castle with a medieval village inhabited by hundreds of entertainers, minstrels and magicians, as well as over 70 artisans and craft vendors. OK&D will launch a trade campaign in June for Montreal-based LaFarge Canada's pipe and pre-cast division. The ads will be supported by product brochures, catalogues and an interactive Web site. OK&D also handles advertising for LaFarge's construction materials division. LaFarge is a concrete manufacturer.