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By Kieran Miles, SVP, Strategy, Mediacom Canada

Marketers are missing the only point that matters: if you’re in the business of young adults, business is about to get tough.

Millennials. Sigh. Over it.

Yes, after a decade of obsession, our marketer’s eye, ever on the look out for the new, has wandered. Millennials are growing up and our attention has been caught by something new and exciting, namely Gen Z.

The big clue to this change? It’s impossible to move for marketing blogs detailing this shift in generations. All of our LinkedIn feeds are stuffed with social posts and cute infographics setting Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, and Gen Z, the 1997 to 2012 crowd, against each other. Each filled with its own searing insight telling us this generation is more progressive, that generation prizes authenticity, this generation are dog people.

Whatever.

Much of it, as deep down we all know, is garbage. There are few truths and insights to be had by drawing broad attitudinal conclusions from the random clustering of people by birth year. Certainly there are no more truths to be had than clustering people by income, education, or even a shared passion for ironing.

It’s particularly pointless when, from what I’ve seen, the single biggest, business affecting, generational difference there is, isn’t being talked about.

At least not in the open-mouthed, ohmygodthatcan’tbereal tones that I think we should be talking.

And it’s this.

If you’re in the business of young adults, your audience in Canada, over the next 10-15 years is going to shrink by 20%.

I’ll type that again to let it sink in. 20%.

Today in Canada there are 1.5 million more people aged 20-34, than there are aged 5-19.

It’s not a gap that has anything to do with Gen Z or Millennials. The sharpest of you will have noticed those ages are nothing to do with ‘official’ boundaries for the two generations. No, I cherry-picked the data to highlight by the simplest comparison, the starkest gap, the widest chasm, the biggest, scariest, business-destroying, impending generational shift.

This is a genuine demographic time-bomb.

This is not a gap that’s closing.

There are no more 10 year olds being born today. (Of course!)

Now, yes, immigration, will hopefully close some of that gap. But it’s far from a given. And with an average immigration age of around 28, it’ll only go some way to addressing this particular situation.

Some of you maybe thinking, “the next 15 years, I can wait.” But this is something that can’t be ignored. Every five-year period, for the next 15 years, the Canadian population of young adults will shrink by around half a million people – a 6% decline in population. EVERY. FIVE. YEARS. This change will be felt in the career lifetimes of all of us.

If your business is focused on servicing the needs and wants of Canada’s young adults, now is the time to start serious planning for your business’ future growth.

Imagine your business with 20% fewer potential customers: 20% fewer buyers for your condos, 20% fewer buyers for your takeout, 20% fewer buyers for your clothes, 20% fewer buyers for your drinks.

Where will your business find growth? Maybe you’ll need to pivot. To give up the focus on young adults, to instead chase that big, older generation. They’ve already started to move to the burbs as they get older and have kids, that’ll mean rethinking sales distribution and media strategies.

How will you beat competitors to this shrinking pool? You might start with your brand. Ask yourself, how strong is it really? Is it truly distinctive and recognizable, compared to your competitors? This will be a long-term view. How will you stand out? What changes, what steps will you need to take?

Will you need a new product strategy? This isn’t a generation that’ll have to take what they can get. They’ll have the pick of everything – there just won’t be the competition for the condo, the great table in the restaurant. So how does what you’re selling really stack up? No, really stack up?

Whatever the answer, it’ll be unique for your business, your products, your brands. But the important thing to recognize is not to wait. To start now, to get ahead of the problem.

It’s there, it’s in full view, there’s no point pretending it’s not going to happen. It will hit. The days of feast are over. When it comes to young adults it’s famine for the next 15 years at least. This will affect your business, it will affect your consumers, it will affect your career. The only question remaining is whether the answer is positive or not?

Mediacom Canada is a member of the Institute of Communication Agencies. Report on Marketing is where leading Canadian agencies showcase their insights, cutting-edge research and client successes. The Report on Marketing provides a valuable source of thought leadership for Canadian marketers to draw inspiration from. Find more articles like this at the Report on Marketing.

The ICA’s new series, You Will Never, is designed to offer encouragement and inspiration in the face of criticism or adversity in or out of the workplace. In the latest article, JP Holecka, the CEO and founder of POWERSHiFTER, co-founder of e-commerce search engine luxxee, and an ICA board member, opens up about the lasting impact of being written off by his 7^th grade teacher while facing the challenge of disarming his ADHD, dyslexia and depression to become a successful creative and business leader. 

I’m currently the CEO of two businesses, one of which is an agency I launched 13 years ago, the other a start-up, a search engine for luxury ecommerce. Both are growing and keep me very busy. From the outside looking in, then, you could say that this 53-year-old is enjoying a successful and fulfilling career.

But cut back to 1979, and I was struggling in school with undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia. I was in the 7^th grade and finding it pretty stressful. I was put in what they called a “special class,” which was the last place you wanted to be as a young person, because you were ostracized and considered an outsider.

Then came the time for high school, going off to a new world and the next adventure. And it was here that I experienced my “you will never” moment. At the final parent/teacher interview with my 7^th grade teacher, who was shipping me off to high school, I was also present. And the teacher said to my parents, who’d often been at the school defending me, helping me, just being very supportive parents, right in front of me he told them: “I really don’t see a bright future for Jean-Paul, I really don’t have much hope for him moving forward.”

It’s hard to underestimate the long-term negative impact this has had on me. I don’t think I fully understood at the time but I did feel the weight. I went onto high school and continued to be undiagnosed with both ADHD and dyslexia. Despite this, I made my way through and found art and design, something I was great at, and continued to plough into it.

But despite winning a scholarship, when I went to college I had this feeling I wasn’t good enough, that I couldn’t keep up. So, I quit design within six months. I didn’t feel I could keep the pace, and I went into film instead. I chose a path that wasn’t creative but at least I was in a creative business. Then, when I reached 28 and had a big crash with depression, I started deep cognitive therapy, which helps you find those deeply buried memories. That’s when the “you will never” moment with my 7^th grade teacher surfaced. I went to my mum for confirmation, and she said “yes, that happened.”

But it was still a long journey, because I had to build on top of that realization. It was a few years later, and I’d reached the top of my game in commercials. I was a first assistant director in large-budget action-adventure type commercials for the likes of Ridley Scott’s commercial company Black Dog     . I was doing really well, working on some amazing projects, but from a co-ordinating, production-led, perspective. After a year of marriage, I said to my wife, who I’d worked with for many years, “I want to change careers, I want to go back to design.” Luckily, we didn’t have a lot of expenses, and she was working really well in the film business, so we said “let’s do it.”

I called one of my closest friends and said I was thinking of going back to design school, and he said “you don’t need to go to school, just learn the business of agencies.” That was the beginning of the flip, and when I started to realize that I could really do this. He taught me the business of the agency, and within three years I’d moved to a larger agency, and in another two years became a creative director. It was the best three years of my life up until that moment, I’d go home every day and say to my wife that it was a joy that I could get paid to be creative, that I could do things that I’d always imagined. But that imposter syndrome was still there.

Then I started my own agency in 2008, and we grew over the years. But it was just a couple of years ago that I was finally able to recognize that I really am creative, that since grade seven there have been some rough patches, but what I’d achieved was a future that many would dream for. And then I finally managed to unpack the remaining impact of that 7^th grade moment just a few weeks ago. I went to a workshop for three days, “Speaking with Confidence.” On day one they strip you back to “you can’t speak in front of people and you’re nervous, what’s the reason?” I realized that the 7^th grade moment was still there, that most of the time I felt confident but that there was this mental block if I was meeting a CEO or someone at a high level.

On day one of the workshop, we lifted these huge, weighted chains and walked around the room to help identify the figurative chains in our life that are holding us back. Then we threw them down. It was theatrical for sure but, at the end of the class, we were given a symbolic piece of broken chain, and I decided to write something down, put my experience into words, because I’d clearly identified this moment in time – that 7^th grade teacher’s supposed words of wisdom – as the chain that had restricted me. I wrote: “This chain represents that I have broken my self-doubt and sense of not being “smart enough” around those I hold in high regard, and will use my knowledge and intelligence to empower myself, and that there are no limits to what I can do.”

It took that moment in time to realize I don’t have to worry about it anymore. My advice to others facing similar barriers, or challenges around learning and mental health, is to disarm it. Flip it to understand what your powers are. For instance, there are ways in which ADHD and dyslexia help me to see things differently, in ways that others don’t, and I just had to learn to tap into that. Then, if you flip things the right way and talk about your experience with others, you’ll find a way to connect with people as opposed to feeling ostracized.

And my experience has totally affected the way I lead, and positively set our business apart from the others to the point where I’m sitting with other leaders who would like to learn from this. Those qualities that may not have been valuable to that 7^th grade teacher – curiosity, empathy and transparency – are real assets in leadership. The results are there to be seen. Our client satisfaction is through the roof, we have one of the lowest attrition rates within the industry, and we have employee net promoter scores between eight and nine.

I’ve also seen, since the pandemic has surfaced, a sense of greater empathy from other agency leaders. Not because they wanted to behave in this way but because COVID landed in their lap, and there were no levers left in the tool box that were going to work. The barriers came down, people were asking for help at a scale of magnitude never seen before. This gave industry leaders an opportunity, and I’m hoping that the last vestiges of the Mad Men style, which is still very prevalent, will be shown the door.

As for me, I’m receiving requests to advise agencies on a more empathetic approach, and if I can make a dent beyond the client work, in some small way, by helping agencies be better, more empathetic places to work, that would be a positive impact that I could make over the long-term. I’m proud to be a leader, I’ve got an amazing team, I’m blessed to have skills. Those abilities don’t fit the mould of the way people in 1979 saw the potential to succeed but, finally, I’m OK with that.

You will never have a bright future…JP has disarmed his ADHD and dyslexia, embraced his ability to see things differently and uses his curiosity, empathy and transparency to run two successful businesses.

POWERSHiFTER is a member of the Institute of Communication Agencies. Report on Marketing is where leading Canadian agencies showcase their insights, cutting-edge research and client successes. The Report on Marketing provides a valuable source of thought leadership for Canadian marketers to draw inspiration from. Find more articles like this at the Report on Marketing.

The ICA’s new series, You Will Never, is designed to offer encouragement and inspiration in the face of criticism or adversity in or out of the workplace. In the first article, Melody MacPherson, the President of independent agency LPi Group and an ICA board member, talks candidly about the time when she was diagnosed, 20 years ago, with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and told she only had four months to live. She also provides insight and advice for those facing issues with COVID and other scenarios.

My diagnosis was a moment of, “you will never live out your life the way that you’d thought.” There was the reality of, “if you don’t do something now, you will be dead in four months.”

In that moment, hearing the words “you have cancer,” one of my first thoughts was to release my partner from this battle and I encouraged him to go find a healthy woman he could marry, have children with and live “happily ever after.” We’d been dating for a couple of years, and he wouldn’t leave. I had no choice but to get better.

We became aware of my illness in early December. From there, I was off work for five weeks to go through all the testing, and assessments to determine my diagnosis and treatment protocol. I was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. My disease was initially managed with oral chemotherapy, and I returned to work. But within 18 months, more toxic and invasive treatments were required. I got married and returned from our honeymoon to start intense chemotherapy in preparation for a stem cell transplant. 

My husband, our families and my workplace were incredibly supportive. Having a support system… even if it is just someone to talk to, to be yourself with, is critical. At the time of diagnosis, I’d been working at Coca-Cola for two years, and they were incredible. In total, I worked there for 13 years, and I always felt completely supported in that environment. The importance of an empathetic leadership team and benefits in place to help me, as the employee, through this unexpected ordeal was truly appreciated. As a young person, I didn’t fully understand the concept of short-term and long-term disability. And it isn’t something you think you’ll ever need … until you need it. And I hope no one reading this ever does. But it is an insurance policy that delivers peace of mind.

Unfortunately, soon after the stem cell transplant, we got the call that it hadn’t worked, and that we would now move forward with a bone marrow transplant.

I believe in the power of positive thinking and visualization. Being told that the stem cell transplant hadn’t worked was discouraging. I had been eating extremely healthy foods, doing yoga and anything else I could to prevent the disease from thriving. Starting over again with even more toxic chemotherapy, radiation, bone marrow aspirates and biopsies, nausea, social isolation … it was distressing, and truthfully made me wonder what would be different this time because I had worked so hard to get better. 

I’ve been called stubborn, or persistent, and in this case, it was a benefit. When you are faced with a difficult situation you rise, you focus your efforts, and you prepare mentally and physically for battle. My alternative was quite literally death; so I chose the resources I needed, eliminated the negative influences in my life and focused 100 per cent on getting better. 

I was very fortunate that my youngest brother was a “perfect” match and was my bone marrow donor. A transplant completely wipes out your system – white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. In essence, I would have my brother’s system. And, for the same reason he isn’t sick, I wouldn’t be either.

The treatment protocol and healing journey was extreme. I had severe graft versus host disease. In addition to an allergic reaction to the anti-rejection drug that induced seizures, every healthy cell was killed. I was unrecognizable and looked like an extra from a sci-fi film.

The overwhelming nature of my illness made it necessary to focus on one day at a time, and I journaled for the first time in my life. I kept track of how I felt each day to be aware of changes, and improvements, regardless of how minor. Very rarely in the past had I taken the time to focus on me, and it was now mandatory to do so. Looking back, you realize how far you’ve come. And even though there may still be many challenges ahead, it gives you the belief that you can do it.

In business, we build a plan and execute it. Without realizing it, that was my approach. My desired outcome was to heal and be cancer free. It was a process. There was a treatment protocol, a plan. One day at a time. Small actions every day that would have a cumulative impact and ideally lead to a positive outcome.

My family was amazing, but equally important was feeling supported by my employer. I could focus on my personal healing without having to worry about finances, whether I would have a job to return to, or stigmatization.

We took pictures of me when I was at my lowest, and when I did return to work, I kept those photos in my planner to remind me of what I went through. In our business, in marketing, there are many “Type A” personalities.  I’m wired the way I am. And soon enough, even with the pictures to remind me of what I’d been through, I was right back to where I was before – happily taking on everything.

There was a point when I felt defined by cancer. My identity had been “Melody from Coke.” And then it became “Melody with Cancer.” Maybe that was in my head, but cancer did become a big part of who I was. I was very open about my illness and willing to speak to anyone who was struggling or going through a similar challenge. Advocating for myself during my illness gave me a sense of control; and being of assistance to others gave me a sense of purpose.

I sometimes have “survivor guilt” because there are so many people out there who didn’t win the lottery I did – who embraced the positivity, science, and nutrition, who did everything I did – but for some reason, their stories have different endings.

After spending three straight months in Princess Margaret Hospital – after having my “hard drive” erased with chemo, waiting for the bone marrow transplant to take, and my brother’s immune system to take over – I was finally released and allowed to go home. Three days after my release, I had to go back to PMH as my bi-weekly assessments began.

That day was Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, I was in the clinic waiting room full of other people fighting to live, watching the horrors unfold on TV. When we all woke up that morning – the cancer patients and all those poor people in the planes and buildings that were attacked that day – no one would have traded places with me.

What happened to the thousands of innocent people and their families on 9/11 wasn’t fair. And even though I wasn’t supposed to still be here – because of a hard fight and commitment from myself, the doctors, nurses, and my family…miraculously I am.

After all these years, I’ve forgotten a lot of the tough times. I think it’s a human defence mechanism not to linger on painful thoughts. But there are a few moments and lessons that I’ll always remember.

One of them is to live for today. We’ve all been in hospitals – for ourselves or with our loved ones. Every day you get to drive by a hospital, and not turn into it, is a good day. Enjoy them, as we’ll all be back there again at some point.

Another is that nothing is pre-determined and there’s no such thing as “fair.” You try your best, gather your strength, and fight your hardest to give yourself the best possible chance to succeed. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don’t.

Be your own advocate.  Bringing this up to the present day, COVID is an illness that has impacted all of us. We are all fighting this battle of social isolation, of social malnutrition. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, because if you say, “I’m great, everything’s good,” then people don’t know that you need support or even just someone to chat with. Most companies provide support through employee assistance programs, but EAPs are the most underutilized employee benefit. Don’t be afraid to contact them, understand that they’re confidential and you don’t have to face things alone. 

The importance of balance. I try to schedule time in my day to get outside, to eat healthy, or even to indulge because I deserve it. Admittedly this doesn’t always happen, but if you don’t intentionally try, then your chances of making it happen are virtually zero.

My ”You will never…” experience has given me perspective on what is important.

Yet even with everything I went through, it is easy to fall back into the routine of go, go, go, and not take the time to recharge and take care of my personal health. When things feel overwhelming, I try to look at one thing at a time, break it down, and make a plan.

You will never get married, you will never have children, you will never live out the year unless you begin chemotherapy … Melody has her happily ever after, recently celebrating 21 years of marriage, she has a 17-year old daughter and is leading a successful agency.

LPi Group is a member of the Institute of Communication Agencies. Report on Marketing is where leading Canadian agencies showcase their insights, cutting-edge research and client successes. The Report on Marketing provides a valuable source of thought leadership for Canadian marketers to draw inspiration from. Find more articles like this at the Report on Marketing.

By Mark Harrison, Founder, T1 Agency

I am in a race to end racism in the workplace. 

Sadly it took George Floyd’s murder to get me to the start line of this race in 2020. It took that horrifying video and his painful cries for his mother to inspire me to find my voice. Remarkably pitiful on my part.

Have you ever heard the expression of building a plane while flying it? Well, that is how I feel right now. I am running very hard, with thousands, but I am not sure I always know what direction to run in. Is this the way to my North Star, or is it that way? 

I don’t know what lies around the corner. I don’t have a map to tell me the distance I need to go. I sometimes get questioned by my fellow runners if we are even making progress. How on earth do we know?

What I do know is that where we began wasn’t fair. The starting line for Black people is much farther back than it is for White people. The minute we are born, we are identified differently, treated differently and slotted differently. 

Why am I described as coloured and you’re not? Why is White not a colour?

Why am I a Minority, automatically making you the Majority?

Why am I a Black Canadian, and you are 100% Canadian?

I am a Black person, in case that point has not been made clear yet. I will be Black for the rest of my life. But, like all of my Black sisters and brothers, my colour will never wash off, and I do not want to wash it off.

But what I do want is to understand where the Finish Line is. The line in the ground that will tell me we have conquered racism in the workplace. What I do know is that we are nowhere close. 

Today we are surrounded by racism, prejudice, bigotry, and unfortunately, even hate.

There is a particular reason I use the word racism. Allow me to explain why. 

When I walk into a smoothie shop, the cashier tells me that the “food delivery drivers” use a different door, which is prejudice. For the record, that has happened to me twice this year alone. In the past, I have had people ask me to check their coats, fetch their cars from valets, or tell me that I could not come into a building to pick up my children. Why? Because I am Black.

When people I meet immediately ask me if I am American, I wonder if they think Drake is American. People often ask me right away if I played basketball or football in university. Really? I am 5’9″ and overweight? And now people like to immediately launch into how great an ally they are at work to their BIPOC colleagues.

Bigotry, as you know, is at an entire other level. I want you to imagine for a moment that due to your skin colour, your facial structure, or your clothing that you are called horrible names, threatened with violence, or physically accosted. The bigot is the person with prejudice mixed with anger. Many Black people have suppressed the most painful memories of such occurrences, as a coping mechanism.

I doubt along my life’s journey I have been able to influence the bigot’s mind, nor re-educate the prejudiced. Remarkably the circumstances of those incidents do not make me nearly as angry as racism. Racism in schools, workplaces, community groups, and playing fields is structural, systemic, and institutionalized. These are the historical, legal, and political conditions which deny Black people their fair access to advancement. Structural Racism is the real enemy we must fight.

I have met hundreds of people over the past year who tell me the same story. Their company talks about diversity and yet has no Black LT or Board members. Before George Floyd’s murder, they would have to remove their photos from their LinkedIn pages to get interviews. Now they are constantly asked to lead the DEI efforts at their companies. 

Underemployed Black people can’t get interviews because of job postings in primarily exclusive outlets or schools. In addition, they lack the requirements, such as a degree, to even get through the screening software. Job postings, even those at my own company, reinforce systemic racism with their language of exclusion.

It goes on and on. Why do large companies feel it is okay to mandate Black talent in their advertising but do not make the same mandates for supply chains, venture investments or strategic partners.

Why do companies want to talk about Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion but not mend the damage done to the Black community? 

What is so wrong with expediting change in your organization as a way to acknowledge that we are the descendants of African slaves, children of people evicted from their Canadian property, and heirs of people not allowed to vote in this country.

As I continue to sweat and pound on this journey, I do want you to join me. But only if you can see that it’s not enough to be along for the ride to promote acronyms or change the faces in your advertising. You need to look at every corner of your company and tackle racism of all sorts. You need to swing the pendulum far past the barometer marker for equality and squarely land in the redemption zone. 

You need to demand that the only way to ensure justice for Black people is by levelling the playing field, adjusting the start-finish lines, and letting those of us that so badly need to catch their breath, to breathe. 

Mark Harrison is the Founder of the MH3 Group, a collective of ventures focused on Passion-Profit-Purpose which includes the Black Talent Initiative, Park Street Education, Humanity Agency, SponsorshipX, and T1. 

The T1 Agency is a member of the Institute of Communication Agencies. Report on Marketing is where leading Canadian agencies showcase their insights, cutting-edge research and client successes. The Report on Marketing provides a valuable source of thought leadership for Canadian marketers to draw inspiration from. Find more articles like this at the Report on Marketing.

By Darian Kovacs, Founding Partner, Jelly Digital Marketing & PR

Brands spent close to $8.5 billion on digital marketing in Canada last year. That’s a hefty sum but the barrier to entry in managing this investment on behalf of businesses remains very low. While the characters in Toronto-filmed Suits strived for years to pass the bar and become fully-qualified lawyers, there’s no such requirement for marketers working in the digital space who can simply describe themselves as “gurus” and “ninjas” with no accreditation.

The need for this to change has become urgent due to three major shake-ups in Canada. First, one of the nation’s largest digital media schools, RED Academy, closed its doors in 2020. Co-inciding with this, we’ve seen the massive rise of ecommerce – businesses and agencies are looking for professional experts at unprecedented levels. And, finally, the third shake-up was that the established two to four-year programs producing digital marketers all went online, through Zoom and other video platforms. The social aspects of going to a university or college were cancelled, leaving people simply needing a degree or certificate to get a job but without all the extra cost and time associated with traditional learning models.

This means that employers and students have to think differently and seriously consider attaining a universally accepted certificate. And the major tech companies have a solution in the shape of their own certifications – Facebook offers Blueprint, Google has a range of six qualifications, and Hootsuite also has a program in place. Every business and brand knows them in Canada, and they’re recognized around the world

The bar is relatively low financially. Google’s are all free, Facebook’s costs $150 US. Yes, you might pay for support through the schools or academies – at Jelly Academy we spend six weeks with people to help them attain their certificates by the end of that time – but the Canadian government is covering 60 to 100 per cent of the cost right now. 

There’s a diversity and inclusion point too – especially for those caring financially for their family or who can’t afford to go full-time into school. These part-time, micro-credentialing schools that focus on universally recognized certificates are more crucial than ever in terms of maturing our industry and proving that we work in an area populated by professionals as opposed to mavericks, and to help those hiring by providing universally accepted certificates for students.

Certain provinces are trying to get more BIPOC people into tech but their solution is incentivising employers by throwing money at them. But what if we said instead “let’s train up a great bunch of BIPOC people with micro-credentials part-time?” Then, when we release them into the workforce, they’re the best in the market and employers want to hire them for that reason. Otherwise, in my view,  we’ll continue identifying BIPOC candidates as discounted employees and make the issue of racism worse. Investing in all people and their training doesn’t take years, and tens of thousands of dollars, it can be done for much less and in only six weeks.

So, let’s work on raising that bar, which will have significant benefits for both agencies and brands looking to hire talent. Currently, it’s a struggle to decipher between recruits who know their stuff, and those who don’t, and these certificates provide that qualifying qualifier. Agencies and brands aren’t looking for degrees any longer – they’re looking for certificates. 

Of course, there are barriers. Right now, some universities and colleges say it’s too hard to implement these certificates into their existing degrees and don’t want to pay the costs. There’s a huge need for change here because the likes of Facebook and Google have set up these certificates to be integrated into a curriculum as modules.

And this has to happen urgently. Nobody meets a lawyer or a doctor and just thinks “I can do that with no qualification” but that’s not the case when you say you’re a professional digital marketer. To receive respect for that would be really powerful and the certifications offered by the tech companies provide a strong, accessible route towards this.

Jelly Digital Marketing & PR  is a member of the Institute of Communication Agencies. Report on Marketing is where leading Canadian agencies showcase their insights, cutting-edge research and client successes. The Report on Marketing provides a valuable source of thought leadership for Canadian marketers to draw inspiration from. Find more articles like this at the Report on Marketing.