Tag: Mercedes-Benz Canada

Last week, I spoke to the Custom Content Council at their pre-Pearl Awards gathering in New York. (For the record, Spafax won 5 Pearl Awards for our work for Air Canada’s enRoute, enRoute online, Air Canada’s OnAir and Mercedes Benz Canada.) Speaking about in-flight magazines and our long-standing partnership with Air Canada, I then conducted a Q&A with Air Canada’s Senior Director, Product Design Louise McKenven. We spoke about our long-standing partnership, how enRoute media enahnces Air Canada’s brand, how enRoute allows Air Canada a different level of communication with their customers, about earned media, and about the compelling brand story we (Spafax) can offer advertisers on Air Canada’s behalf.

The audience was fascinated. One, because the perception of in-flight media in the US is so different than it is in Canada (and in many other parts of the world). Two, because the story itself, of a brand leveraging the talents of its content agency to tell quality stories to a highly mobile audience – and then commercializing that conversation – is an amazing story in and of itself. Three, the audience (composed of other custom content providers) tried to figure out how to apply the in-flight model to their own customers.

At Spafax, we have taken the knowledge and experience we’ve built up with the airline and travel industry, and come to some basic truths. The people who travel, an amazing mobile and global audience, is, in fact, the customer base that all brands crave. The audiences our clients reach on the in-flight/IFE side of things and the custom media side are, basically, one and the same. And so it makes sense for Spafax to include the likes of Turismo Chile, Bombardier Business Aircraft, and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in a client base that also includes the likes of British Airways, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, to name a few.

We have long been about content, curating brand stories for a mobile – and highly coveted – audience. What the gathering in New York learned is that the richness of the experience we have created with Air Canada is applicable to “terrestrial” brands as well. Because telling brand stories, and telling them well, is universal.

 

TORONTO – May 14, 2009 – Spafax, one of the world’s leading providers of custom media, today announced a new partnership with Mercedes-Benz Canada that will see it assume responsibility for the production and editorial content of the automaker’s customer publication, Mercedesmagazine. The magazine will be published in separate English and French editions.

Produced biannually, Mercedesmagazine celebrates one of the world’s premium automotive brands with style. Its bold, engaging editorial features the most intriguing design, technology, travel and, of course, Mercedes-Benz vehicles, maintaining the emotional connection between the automaker and its customers across the country. Published in over 40 languages around the world, the Canadian edition of Mercedesmagazine is delivered to Mercedes-Benz owners across Canada and is also available at all Mercedes-Benz dealerships.

“Mercedes-Benz is focused on providing an outstanding ownership experience at every level. For 55 years, Mercedesmagazine has allowed us the opportunity to keep in touch with our valued customers and provide them with relevant and engaging content that piques their interest and suits their lifestyle,” said Marc Boderke, Director of Marketing at Mercedes-Benz Canada. “Spafax has an excellent reputation, and after a thorough review process, we are very pleased with our decision and confident that our partnership will help us to continue to publish a high-quality magazine.”

“Mercedes-Benz is one of the world’s leading brands,” said Spafax Canada’s managing director and publisher, Katrin Kopvillem. “We are thrilled to partner with a company that has made such a strong commitment to produce an exceptional magazine for its Canadian customers.”

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About Spafax
Spafax is one of Canada’s leading custom media companies and one of the world’s largest inflight entertainment providers. Clients include Air Canada, Bain Ultra, the Canadian Tourism Commission, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and more. Spafax is a part of the specialist communications division of WPP.

About Mercedes-Benz Canada
Mercedes-Benz Canada is responsible for the sales, marketing and service of the four brands within the Mercedes Car Group in Canada: Mercedes-Benz, smart, AMG and Maybach. Headquartered in Toronto, Mercedes-Benz Canada employs approximately 1,050 people in 19 locations across Canada. Through a nationwide network of 14 Mercedes-Benz-owned retail operations and 36 authorized dealerships, Mercedes-Benz Canada sold 24,117 vehicles in 2008, the best year ever reported for Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.

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For more information, please contact:
Brandon Kirk, Director of Sales
Spafax Canada Inc.
416.350.2429
bkirk@spafax.com