News

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.

 

 

In an interview on CBC, prior to the unveiling of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Mascots, Karo’s Director of Customer Experience Strategy, Anson Lee, suggested that a good mascot ought to pass the “what exactly is that?” test and, in an uncomplicated way, reflect the kind of place the games are being held.

Karo Group has just added five new awards to its stable of excellence. We entered our Horse Racing Alberta campaign into the Canadian Agricultural Marketing Awards that took place in mid-November, 2007.

Karo was in competition with top agencies including Ad Farm and BBDO, the latter of which entered its Milk Campaign, well known across Canada. We came away with an Excellence in Television Series and Merits in Billboard Single, Billboard Series and Product Sales–Direct Marketing/Direct Response.

Leading these other wins was  our “Best in Show” for the Consumer Direct Category. This victory is a tribute to the Karo tradition of design excellence that arises from creative liberty, market experience and energetic teamwork.

The Vancouver office of Karo Group is very pleased to announce that it has been awarded the Wayfinding and Signage contract for West Vancouver’s new Community Centre Project. This is Karo Group’s first project with Hughes Condon Marler Architects and their project manager, Basil Davis.

In our proposal and subsequent interview about this project, we stressed that we are wayfinding strategists, not merely sign designers. We also expressed excitement in the many opportunities to create an assured visitor experience. We like to think this made the difference in our proposal, not the fact that we also had Vancouver’s mayor to our offices for tea!

Karo will apparently also get a separate contract for the community centre’s main tenant: The Vancouver Coastal Health Unit. We would like to express our thanks to all who worked hard to make this proposal a success, and look forward to transforming Karo’s design ethic into another exceptional human environment.

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.

 

For immediate release November 5, 2007: Western Canada’s only interdisciplinary creative agency, Karo Group, is offering the opportunity of $100,000 in pro bono work to help two community groups better achieve their goals through meaningful brand experiences.

Karo uses design strategy to create successful, integrated and focused customer brand experiences for a wide variety of clients, include ATB Financial, Calgary Stampede, Simon Fraser University, Syncrude, Enbridge, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Shaw, ENMAX, NovAtel, P.I. Financial, TransAlta, Concord Pacific, Alberta Securities Commission and First Calgary Savings.

“The not-for-profit landscape is as competitive as any private sector industry, with organizations on tight budgets vying for limited donation dollars and community volunteer capacity,” says Karo President, Chris Bedford. “We want to help out.”

Karo will apply $50,000 worth of design strategy and multidisciplinary creative to each of two not-for-profit organizations, one in Calgary and one in Vancouver. “We want to help two organizations develop meaningful brand experiences for their stakeholders and clients, which in turn will take them to the next level of attracting public support,” Bedford says.

Registered not-for-profits interested in receiving an application package can contact Karo at charity@karo.com.   An employee committee will create a short list and then employees from each office will vote on which two organizations will receive the $50,000 in Karo employee time.

The head of the Calgary committee and dedicated volunteer with Canadian Humanitarian, Kerry Worth, says “We’re thrilled to help charities develop a competitive edge the same way we help clients succeed in business.”  Natalie Clark, who is heading up the project in Vancouver, says “We are all really looking forward to this opportunity to help a worthy organization garner more support through a meaningful brand.”

This is the latest Karo initiative for giving back to the community. Every year, Karo provides more than $250,000 in pro bono work to groups such as  CANstruction, CKUA, Climate Central, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, One Yellow Rabbit Theatre Company and Brain Injury Group. Karo also provides time off to employees involved in volunteer pursuits and it will match an employee’s donation to a not-for-profit up to $500.

Karo succeeds because it respects its employees, clients and the community.

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.

For immediate release November 02, 2007: Western Canada's only interdisciplinary creative agency, Karo Group has been named one of Marketing Magazine's top ten agencies in Canada. Karo was the only agency west of Toronto to make the list.

The magazine selected ‘Canada's Top Agencies 2007' based on three criteria: strategic/creative innovation, financial success and leadership. Karo was chosen, in part, because if its unique business model that focuses on customer experiences, and the agency's substantial growth (35%) over the last 12 months.

"Karo was founded on the principle that we will succeed only if our clients and employees are happy, and our business model grew out of that" says Karo's president, Chris Bedford. "In the last year, we've substantially increased revenue, rapidly grown our client list and fostered an amazing culture and work environment."

Also in 2007, Karo was ranked fifth in Canadian Business magazine's "Best Workplaces in Canada." Karo was the only creative firm in the top ten.

"We are proud of the awards we've garnered this year," Bedford says. "They help show that our strategy to break away from the pack and develop our own integrated model to serve our clients is working."

Karo uses design strategy to create successful, integrated and focused customer brand experiences for a wide variety of clients including Trev Deeley Motorcycles, Calgary Stampede, Simon Fraser University, ATB Financial, Concord Pacific, Syncrude, P.I. Financial, Shaw, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Enbridge, Vancouver Aquarium, Ivanhoe Cambridge, ENMAX, Alberta Securities Commission, Mountain Equipment Coop, First Calgary Savings and OpenRoad Auto Group. Karo’s reach also extends beyond the Canadian market, including the U.S., Mexico, China and Argentina.

Marketing Magazine will honour Karo and the other shops named as Canada's Top Agencies 2007' at the second annual Marque Awards Nov. 29 in Toronto.

For more information, please contact Chris Bedford in Calgary at (403)266-4094 or Warren Baxter in Vancouver at (604) 255-6100 or visit our Contact Us page.