FILA TO REFOCUS ADVERTISING
By Adnews Staff
Now that FILA Canada of Richmond Hill, Ont. is familiar with the Canadian market, the sports apparel company plans to put more of a focus on its advertising more, vice-president and general manager Michael Giese told Adnews in a recent interview. FILA has been promoting its wares using TV, outdoor and a lot of sponsorships. Beginning next spring, the company will continue to use TV and outdoor, but will limit its TV buy on such stations as MuchMusic and The Sports Network. Until now, TV buys have not been as focuses. The outdoor buys will be focused on bus boards. The goal of this move is to go after FILA's main target market, girls and boys aged 12 to 19. The company's target market for its high-end tennis products are men and women aged 22 to 40.
Recently, FILA hired a new agency because it wanted a smaller agency that could offer the company more personal service. MacPhee Jesson of Toronto was hired for the job. "Our main reason for selecting MacPhee Jesson was their creative talent and creative thinking," says Giese. "The agency was able to demonstrate brash, out-of-the-box thinking that will deliver maximum impact in the market while carving out a unique, competitive position for the FILA brand." The incumbent on the business was FCB Canada of Toronto, which mainly handled media planning and buying. The majority of the creative would come from FILA USA's agency, but the U.S. company has been slowing down on its advertising, so FILA has to rely more on Canadian creative. FILA chose a new agency because it wanted to get away from a large agency, says Giese. "We felt we weren't getting the attention we deserved." The annual ad budget for FILA is $2.4 million.
FILA has been operating in Canada for three years. Prior to this time, its products were distributed through a Canadian distributor based in Vancouver. FILA, whose world headquarters is in Italy, couldn't figure out why the U.S. market was booming in 1995 but the Canadian distributor wasn't doing much business. FILA decided to put a greater emphasis on the Canadian market so it formed a Canadian subsidiary. The company mainly distributes its products directly to retail clients across Canada, but it also established two FILA factory outlets in Quebec and two FILA boutiques in Vancouver. The company plans to open four more stores in 1999, but hasn't decided where they will be located.