Canadian social media users spend an average of $924 per year buying clothes, electronics and toys on social platforms
Social media has become the new shopping mall in Canada as consumers turn to online shopping. Nearly half (47 per cent) of Canadian social media users are shopping on social, according to a report released Thursday by PayPal Canada. The Social Commerce Trend Study also found that almost 40 per cent plan to shop on…
Only half of small businesses in Canada survive their first five years. Digital tools are critical to their success
Social media levels the playing field for Canadian small businesses and unlocks economic growth, says new research revealed Tuesday by Facebook Canada. The report, Empowered In The Digital Age: Leveling the Playing Field For Canadian Small Business, said only half of small businesses in Canada survive their first five years and accessible digital tools are…
Abagail Vanmerlin of Brand Theory talks about why encapsulating the culture, values and long-range vision of a company is so important
Abagail Vanmerlin is owner at Brand Theory Inc. What is Brand Theory and what does it do? Vanmerlin: We are a full-service creative agency specializing in the strategic branding of mid-to-large business-to-business organizations. By full service, I mean that we offer a suite of brand deliverables which can be anything from interactive and responsive website…
Francesca Moi of Empowering Events talks about building your following and being active and consistent on social media
Francesca Moi is CEO/director of Empowering Events. You describe yourself as the Meetup Queen. What does that mean and what do you do? Moi: Five years ago I wanted to grow my life-coaching business and I couldn’t find a way to get clients until I started a Meetup group and a Facebook group. Within three…
Good advertising works to capture attention, elicit emotion and get responses, but most advertisers don't know how to go about achieving those goals
Advertising can stimulate desire. Not that any advertising I ever participated in when I was single resulted in crowds of female admirers. However, working in the health food industry, I would often strive to create in my customers a desire for better health. My ads would try to kindle a response that would generate traffic…
Democracy is not something that merely happens in the natural course of events. And it’s not an unsavoury meal you push away from
So begins the quadrennial Canadian season of sound with no substance, rhetoric with no relevance and promises with no perspective. In other words, dear reader, it’s election time. But wait, you cleverly elucidate, elections don’t manufacture vapid, gormless, pontificators; politicians are always with us, like potholes. Agreed: No, they don’t; and yes, they are. The…
Canada’s creative lobby may have turned its back on the world but that doesn’t mean Canadians are joining them in their quest to hide
Canada’s creative lobby may have turned its back on the world but that doesn’t mean Canadians are joining them in their quest to hide behind a big wall of regulations aimed at protecting them from foreigners. A recent study by Ryerson University’s Faculty of Communication and Design, entitled Watchtime Canada: How YouTube Connects Creators and…
Those who booed retiring Indianapolis Colt Andrew Luck should be ashamed of themselves. Athletes aren’t warriors created by central casting for our weekend enjoyment
Too many sports fans view athletes as robots designed to play games for their entertainment. They sit in the stands or on their sofas, a cold beer in their hands, and yell at injured players for being “too soft” and “not tough enough.” They think jocks should just “suck it up” and get on the…
If enough people band together, they can finance a new platform. This is a free and open market
Against the frenzy of inaccurate and manipulative information consistently roaring through social media sites, the companies that manage these sites – like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter – have been trying to combat misinformation. However, they always seem to be two steps behind. Initially, in an effort to keep up with the sheer volume of material,…
There’s nothing more fundamental to the democratic ideal than the freedom to speak one’s mind and sound as wise or foolish as that happens to sound
The news that environmental groups have been warned their speech will be regulated during the upcoming federal election campaign has finally drawn attention to the stifling impact of the nation’s most recent election legislation. This latest twist is due to People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier, who has expressed doubts about anthropogenic climate science.…
It’s worthwhile remembering that before the Internet, instant messaging, social media and meme merchandising, depending on where you lived, almost nothing was private
One morning in the late 1980s in the middle of Nowheresville, a young woman, prompted by a profound sense of neighbourliness, impressed a couple of city girls by introducing them to her new pony, all of 12 hands tall. At the sight of the hoofed beast loping down the stone path towards our family homestead,…
A new report by Simplii Financial shows just how much Canadians are attached to the digital world. The Deep Dive on Digital Trends in Canada report examined everything from the Canadian sharing economy, to app culture to online habits. It was released on Thursday, before National Simplicity Day on July 12. “Digital is unequivocally driving…
Why have millions of users decided to turn their backs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram?
Not long ago, before Big Brother fully ascended his throne behind the nanny cam that is the modern Internet, people wrote books in private for other people to read in private. The process worked this way: Think, type, edit, sell and hope some bibliophiles liked your words well enough to cover the cost of your…
Politicians and tech firms can co-opt legitimate concerns to restrict speech, stifle criticism and tilt public debates
On May 21, the federal government unveiled a lengthy “digital charter” with the noble goals of expanded Internet access and more trust online. If you peel back the feel-good 10 principles and stated justifications, however, you find a new weapon in the censor arsenal. “The platforms are failing their users, and they’re failing our citizens.…