Hasta La Creative!

Google has partnered with ComScore to offer a real-time audience metric designed to help brand marketers easily measure campaigns across screens.

Those idea engineers at SapientNitro have welcomed a pair of execs to their Detroit area office who, from what we’ve been told, will help the agency’s Chrysler business. First up to bat is Craig Daitch, who’s joined the agency as VP/digital marketing strategy after spending the the past few years at Ford, where he last served as communications manager for the technology/research/innovation division. The second exec to join SapientNitro is Chris D’Alessandro, who has assumed the position of VP/client services. D’Alessandro, who joins Sapiient after a brief stint as global executive director/digital for  Omnicom’s Nissan United collective, has also worked at the likes of MRM, Carmichael Lynch and Organic during his career.

SapientNitro, if you recall, has been working with Chrysler since 2010.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

How Americans shop for health insurance changed forever on October 1, 2013. Whether or not one agrees with the goals of the Affordable HealthCare Act, marketers already have seen one change take place. There has been a huge increase in “brand awareness” for something called the Exchange Marketplace.

Consumers by the millions are experiencing a seismic shift in how to choose an insurance policy that is right for them. They are sharing detailed personal information about themselves in order to access an online marketplace that offers various plans from various insurance carriers. The new coverage game in town is played at a digital Marketplace Exchange hosted by the U.S. government or one of the states.

Nowhere does the need for quality leads have more relevance than in the insurance industry. A National Underwriter’s Independent Producer study recently found that 55% of responding carriers named prospecting as their top concern. Many other industries face the same challenge and are experimenting with their own response to the study. Exchanges have begun to generate quality leads at affordable cost in the assisted living category, the specialty education category, the new car buyers category, the home improvement category and others.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

BBDO Toronto has crafted a new spot for the Canadian Paralympic Committee in anticipation of the upcoming Sochi Paralympic Games, with the uplifting message/tagline “It’s not what’s missing, it’s what’s there.” The line describes the need to look past physical differences to the incredible talent of these athletes and all the hard work they put in to train for the games.

“When we look at Paralympic athletes, we can make the mistake of focusing on their disabilities, instead of their extraordinary abilities,” said Simon Craig and JP Gravina, Associate Creative Directors, BBDO Toronto. “This campaign forces the viewer to see all the amazing things that make these Paralympic athletes great. To catch them in the midst of competition is an awe-inspiring experience by any definition.”

To accomplish this, the 60 second spot employs a letterbox effect to focus in on a select portion of each athlete, only revealing their identities toward the end of each scene, and thereby highlighting their athletic prowess and impactful performances rather than their disabilities. It’s an interesting fusion of form and function that really underscores the message behind the campaign, even if it risks alienating some viewers who complain about such a small portion of the screen being used at the start of the spot.

The athletes featured  here are snowboarder Michelle Salt, sledge hockey players Tyler McGregor and Dominic Larocque, and cross country skier/biathlete Mark Arendz. Arendz called the campaign “an awesome opportunity to increase awareness and demonstrate what we as Paralympic athletes are capable of.”

Nomination for the Canadian Paralympic Team is still going, with the full team set to be officially announced at the end of the month. The 2014 Sochi Paralympic Winter Games will be held from March 7-16. Canada will send approximately 50 athletes to the games, competing in all six sports, with the goal of placing in the top three nations in the gold medal count. Credits after the jump. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.