CANADIAN TIRE DIRECT TO GROW BUSINESS AND INCREASE STAFF
By Adnews Staff
Canadian Tire Acceptance Ltd. of Welland, Ont. believes its business has the potential to grow leaps and bounds and has made some changes to try to help it. The company has moved its marketing department to Burlington, Ont. so it could be more accessible to marketing professionals living in the greater Toronto area. In addition, CTAL plans to hire another 30 individuals over the next six to 12 months to help deal with the growth. Currently, the marketing department employs 20 people. Spokesperson Marc Marrone says CTAL expects the credit card business to grow because the company has teamed up with U.S.-based Total Systems, which will provide CTAL with a credit card operating system. This will allow the company to process the same number of credit cards as major U.S. credit card users.
CTAL promotes its products and services using only direct marketing and plans to do so for some time. It has no immediate plans to add other media into the mix, Marrone says. The company recently consolidated its account with Grey Direct of Toronto to provide CTAL with a consistent image. It was also more economical for the company to use one agency. Previously, the account had been divided up between Wunderman, Cato, Johnson, Publicis Direct and Devon Direct, all of Toronto. CTAL markets credit cards, insurance products, the Canadian Tire Auto Club and a long distance telecom service. Its two main insurance products are credit balance protection and extended warranty. Under the credit balance protection product, if a customer becomes unemployed or unable to make monthly payments on their credit card, the insurance will make the payments for a certain period of time depending on the coverage. Under the extended warranty plan, CTAL doubles the manufacturers’ warranty on products. CTAL introduced its long distance service over two years ago and revamped it earlier this spring, offering a new pay structure and adding features. The Canadian Tire Auto Club has been operating for over 10 years.