News

Karo Group, in collaboration with lead consultant Open Road Communications, has been chosen to redevelop and redesign ICBC.com, The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia’s public website.

Newalta, Canada’s leading industrial waste management and environmental service company, wanted to change people’s perception of waste management. They wanted people to start thinking of waste as a valuable resource instead of something to discard— or to find ways to eliminate it entirely. Environmental regulations are constantly evolving, and Newalta is committed to staying on top of changes and helping their clients to do the same. They asked Karo to help them reposition their company in the market, while engineering a change in perception about waste across the industry.
Karo expressed Newalta’s new brand position in an Annual Report, which was accompanied by a redesigned website and a video offering an interactive “Newalta story.” The website and video were launched in March 2008. Newalta’s reaction? “Karo completely understands us, and as a result they made it easy for us to explain to our clients and to the general public how we’re redefining the concept of waste.”

We at Karo Group are pleased to announce that we have been engaged by Misión La Serena and Gravity Destination Properties to create the marketing campaign for the luxury resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, called Misión La Serena.

Misión La Serena offers 75 two and three-bedroom residences on pristine beachfront within the master planned development of Puerto Los Cabos on the Baja California peninsula. It is close to a new marina, two golf courses, an international airport and the charming Spanish colonial town of San José.

Karo’s campaign will include branding, advertising, web site, presentation centres and print collateral.

Freshwater fishing licences have long been sold in paper format from outdoor shops. The BC Ministry of Environment, Fish & Wildlife decided it was time to make these licences more accessible. Karo was asked to develop a system that allowed fishing enthusiasts to buy their licences online.

Karo devised a user-friendly, simple system where a licence could be ordered, paid for and printed from the user’s personal computer. The system provides a digital copy of the licence to avoid having to repurchase a lost licence. Once the angler’s account is set up, licence renewals are quick and easy and the angler can also add family members under their account. As well, the angler’s personal info can be easily accessed by a ranger via a QR barcode that is generated electronically when the licence is issued. The long-term benefits for the client entail an ability to learn more about angler preferences (now that this information is gathered electronically) and an increased impact on fishing tourism in BC.

With the “soft launch” of the web site at the start of September 2007, and without much media coverage surrounding the system, the numbers were surprising–over 1,000 anglers registered and over $11,000 of purchases took place by the end of September. Most anglers appeared to be from outside BC. Many European purchases took place from as far away as Romania and Rome.

 

 

The Calgary Stampede 2007 10-day campaign has brought Karo more awards—this time internationally.

The IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Brass Ring Awards is an annual competition recognizing excellence in marketing for amusement facilities worldwide. On Monday, November 12th in Orlando, Florida, it was announced that the Calgary Stampede won in five of the ten categories presented in their division—the most wins in any division. The categories were:

• Integrated Marketing Campaign—the campaign as a whole (TV, radio, direct mail, guerrilla, print)
• Outdoor Signage
• Media Kit
• PR Campaign
• Web Site
  

The most exciting win for Karo is certainly the Integrated Marketing category. It is a new category this year and was created with the intent to show the creative use of media and breadth of work included in an agency’s campaign.

The international competition consisted of a vast variety of American parks, most notably the Six Flags amusement parks and the San Diego Zoo, as well as parks from Mexico, Germany, Norway, Singapore and Hong Kong.

 

Canada Post has launched a real store on the virtual 3-D world of Second Life, demonstrating the sorts of opportunities that exist on the hugely popular website. Now, online shoppers can shop for real merchandise with Canada Post’s retail partners at Second Life.

Buyers and sellers have E-Bay and Pay Pal, and in the last couple of years sites like Zopa and Prosper bring together borrowers and lenders on the internet. The idea is borrowers pay less interest than they would at the bank and lenders make more than if they were saving at the bank.

In conjunction with lead consultant OpenRoad Communcations, Karo has been awarded a major project to redesign the Vancouver Public Library web site. "It is a privilege to be involved with a cornerstone of our community in learning and literacy.", says Anson Lee, Director of Customer Experience Strategy. "With rapidly evolving and emergent internet technologies, understanding patron expectations is key to success." The project is underway with user research and concerning both online and physical branch usage.

Early in 2007, a group of 24 corporate, community and government leaders in Calgary came together committed to developing a ten year plan to end the growing homelessness problem in the city.

Karo has become engaged with major US resort developer, Star Resorts, to lead a marketing campaign for the Mount Superior Residence Club at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort in Utah.

Over the Fall, Karo launched various websites for the University for Calgary including a site for the Research Services Office, the International Centre, and a website for the Vice-President of the Research and International Centre.

Karo has been evolving the brand for BlueCircle Insurance, a Calgary-based brokerage firm that markets a range of personal and commercial insurance, mortgage, and financial products to the Alberta consumer.