For more information, contact:

Melody Badgett, 1% for the Planet

melody@onepercentfortheplanet.org

+1 (802) 496-5408

Xclamation Marketing Announces Partnership with 1% for the Planet

Montreal, Qc, September 26^th, 2011 – Xclamation Marketing joined 1% for the Planet (1%), pledging a portion of its revenues to support non-profit organizations focused on sustainability.

“Xclamation Marketing is a great addition to the network. By signing on to 1%, it shows they’re really walking the walk in their sustainability efforts,” says Terry Kellogg, 1% CEO. “They’re using generosity as a tool with which to build their business and enabling valuable environmental work along the way. We’re excited to welcome them to the 1% family.”

“We believe in change, progress and sustainable solutions. We believe in accountability, integrity, people and innovations that add to a greater whole.  We believe in Significance Marketing.  Joining 1% is a great way to get involved and bring a modest contribution.” – Mario P. Cloutier, Founder and President of Xclamation

Members of 1% for the Planet contribute one percent of revenues directly to any of the approved non-profit environmental organizations in 1%’s network.  Non-profits are chosen based on referrals, track record and environmental focus. Over 2,300 non-profits worldwide are included in the 1% program.

“We’ve been averaging at least one new business member a day, and have exceeded 1,350 members in 43 countries.  1% members have contributed over $70 million of critically needed funds into the hands of environmental non-profit groups to date,” comments Kellogg.  “We are thrilled by the support we have gained as it proves the environmental ethic is trickling upward to larger corporate entities. The shared belief that you can do well as a business by doing the right thing with respect to the environment is clearly apparent. There’s a paradigm shift happening here and it’s happening organically.”

About 1% for the Planet

Started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder and owner of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, 1% for the Planet is a growing global movement of over 1,350 member companies in 43 countries that donate one percent of their sales to environmental organizations worldwide. Each day, more than one new business joins the 1% for the Planet movement. As a network, the 1% community has become a frontrunner in funding the work of environmental groups around the world. To learn more about 1% go to: www.onepercentfortheplanet.org

About Xclamation

Xclamation Marketing is an award-winning agency specialized in meaningful integrated marketing strategies.  We believe in Significance Marketing. In a few words, we skillfully blend brilliance, performance and meaning. To get to know us better, visit www.xclamationmarketing.com.

One great example is the Chrysler 200 “Raise your standards” TV ad.  With a genius twist, they honestly acknowledged their “underdog” status without damaging their brand image.  In fact, the message gives a remarkable inspirational boost that resonates with Americans who have shared the ups and downs with Chrysler.  In this case, the brand talks with great honesty, providing a glimpse of its true personality, which consequently builds trust with its core audience.

Admitting to certain weaknesses is not reserved for brands that have been through a hard time.  Category leaders are also proving their ability to be transparent as it offers great engagement opportunities and improves overall brand image.  Miracle Whip admits that its product is not for everyone.  In this ad, they present different people who have different opinions on their product.  Some hate it and some love it.  It’s simply nonsense to think that everyone likes your brand and use a cookie-cutter approach, especially in a time where individuality is so highly promoted.

The deep and personal integration of brands in our daily lives is growing.  However, brands must be responsible for their role and influence for consumers to allow such a close relationship.  In the quest to create meaningful brand experiences and connections, companies should start with a complete introspection to identify their strengths and weaknesses in representing their real nature and showing their true colors.  They can then adopt better practices and redirect their communicational message towards a more inspiring and honest brand experience.  Transparency and accountability go a long way towards building trust and brand image.

Xclamation has recently conducted a quick environmental poll through social media to find out what people consider being the most important environmental issue.  The question was simple: “What environmental issue is most important to you?” with possible answers being Water Conservation, Climate Change, Energy, Land use and Resource Depletion.  Although the list of possible answers could have been much longer, the results are quite interesting.

In first place, with 37% of the votes, is Energy.  Although other environmental issues have had their share of exposure and debate, energy is clearly a major concern for North Americans.

It is followed by Resource Depletion at 22%.  As it is brilliantly presented by Jason Clay in his TED conference “How big brands can help save biodiversity”,  resource depletion not only affects farmers’ crops and forces the displacement of villages, it also threatens the production of many consumer products and has a dangerous influence on biodiversity.  Resource depletion, like many other environmental issues, has several repercussions that further need to be addressed.

In third place comes Water Conservation with 19% of the votes.  This issue is very important to Xclamation. North Americans often blindly waste an exaggerated amount of water every day.  The issue is so close to our hearts that we have put together an awareness and solution program called Aquanomy, which encourages residents to adopt water-saving practices . We are confident that Aquanomy will soon get a followership not only composed of residents but also of municipality representatives who wish to use the program to educate their residents.

Then comes the popular and often misunderstood Climate Change with 15% of the votes.  We’ve heard a lot about climate change through important voices such as David Suzuki and Al Gore.  With great reason, it is being addressed by many governments and organizations that seek to better understand it, foresee potential menacing outcomes and rewind our pollution effects.

Finally, 7% of votes went to Land Use.  Although land use is directly linked to biodiversity and resource depletion, it is not getting the most attention by media and therefore, it is not popularly discussed as an important environmental issue.

All in all, we are bound to our planet in many ways and consequently, we are all responsible for its state and its up keeping.  No matter what environmental issue is of most importance to you, adopting eco-friendly habits at home, at the office and outdoors, as well as supporting sustainable development is simply a must.  If you are a marketer, environmental issues provide tremendous opportunities to engage your audience and deliver lasting brand contributions.  Whether you choose to team up with your friends and followers through social media and⁄or events, the possibilities are endless and may become a brand’s game changer.

That said there’s no need to be a marketer to take action. We can all do simple things in our everyday lives which can bring positive outcomes. Things like taking a few minutes to fix that water leak, avoiding using plastic bags, considering using public transportation or starting an enviro-council at your workplace. The list just goes on… Think of what action you can adopt today.  Little actions add up to great outcomes.

Well, Xclamation Marketing turned 9 on March 12^th of this year. Far from me is the idea of drawing parallels between my manly worldview of the time and our agency. It’s true that experts say testosterone levels tend to grow exponentially in a boy’s body around his 10^th year but we certainly propel ourselves with a different fuel at Xclamation.  The fuel we use was extracted from the variety of work we’ve done and the values we now share as a team. It was also greatly influenced by the privilege of having interactions with our client’s audiences throughout the years.

So I must say that in recent months, we’ve gone into “soul searching” mode.  Challenging, questioning, reassessing.  By experience, I can now assure you that when you start engaging in an authentic “soul searching” exercise with your team, as a leader you not only have to be ready to listen. You also have to check your set of beliefs at the door, be willing to embrace new ones and act upon them.

We first established that we love to “wow” people. As a matter of fact, we earned a few stripes with our “wow” concepts since we started, so we made sure brilliance remained at the core of everything we do. Almost simultaneously we found out that we despise entitlement but we are all in complete alignment when it comes to accountability. Why not put that at the basis of our performance based model?  Going deeper in the exercise we searched for our common motivational trigger. Why are we in this together? Where is the juice? What is the juice? Turned out, significance is the juice and it immediately started blinking before our very eyes in bright colors.

The latter quickly lead us to develop internal programs, work with clients and partners on initiatives that are completely aligned with what we stand for. Such internal programs include giving away 1% of our billings towards local and international charities supporting the environment and general well being.  The team has also put in place a plan called the Xclamation Days. Those are days where we all collaborate to create and participate in a fundraising event for one of our preferred charities.  We recently held our first Xclamation Day, a spinothon, for the benefit of the LiveStrong Foundation. It was lots of fun!  Another initiative that we are very proud of is Aquanomy, a water conservation program. We also highlight other mandates of significance on our site, go check them out.

So are we wise beyond our years at Xclamation? I don’t think so because we still do a lot of silly things. I’m the best guy to judge being the Chief Silly Officer… However, I can strongly affirm that we have grown to get to a very different place these last nine years. A place driven by our beliefs. A place where brilliance meets performance and significance.  And today we are proudly unveiling it. Welcome to Significance Marketing.

Our XclaMotionData platform is discovering a world of new opportunities due to its automated profiling capabilities.  From mega-brands, to non-profit organizations, to public businesses, the need to interact with an audience and collect consumer profile data is undeniable. The obtained metrics help build solid marketing strategies that better engage the audience.

Collecting profile data is now made easy through mobile and web apps, however, few have the capability of properly aggregating, mining and analyzing the data.  Some businesses invest a lot of time and effort into organizing and understanding the collected data and unfortunately, fail at identifying important insights.  Things get worst when businesses struggle to make sense of data collected at multiple events or from various sources.

Evolutionary profiling has brought a new wind to our strategies.  The ability to rapidly and easily collect profile data, which is then automatically integrated to our XclaMotionData plateform, is a nice start.  Things get interesting when the collected data can evolve.  Individual consumer profiles grow with each interaction such as an opened email communication, a contribution to a blog, or response to a survey.  XclaMotionData helps our clients to effortlessly engage conversations with their audience, while keeping track of any interaction.  The result: detailed profiling, which sheds light on key metrics that make a real difference.

Evolutionary profiling helps brands identify their true advocates and reward them for their level of engagement.  By effect, it also gives real-time analysis of ongoing campaigns, making adjustments possible and getting the best out of each stab.

Knowing your audience is key.  Engaging them in a meaningful relationship is crucial.  Having the tools and know-how to put all that together and make it grow… that’s our thing.

We get it.

The 83rd Academy Awards was exceptionally well-executed once more.  We certainly keep the camera and spotlight on the nominees, beautifully dressed guests and the Oscar trophies.  And yet a few feet away, in the shadows, hide a multitude of hard-working individuals that make this globally-viewed, highly anticipated event go smoothly as hoped.  They work the strings so that every dropped napkin, unsecured floor-running cable, and un-held elevator door is swiftly attended.  They lurk behind curtains managing the in and outs, carefully manoeuvre equipment and orchestrate a beautiful mix of lights and camera shots.  Above all, they deliver an exceptional experience to both guests and viewers, regardless of the intimidating attention and notoriety of Oscar night.

It takes a team of dedicated workers to deliver a flawless event.  It therefore takes an army of talented individuals to produce the Academy Awards.  As an agency providing Event Marketing services, we understand the hidden challenges and appreciate the sweat and courage of these men and women.

We therefore would like to dress up with our fancy suits and dresses, open a sealed envelope and say: “And the Oscar goes to … the Event Management Team!”.

We see the Integrated Marketing Communications process as a blessing and we embrace it! When we work with “smaller” clients and are asked to drive the process, we approach IMC with the end result in mind. Kind of the way a good screenplay is written: we plan the happy ending from the start and assess in each scene which camera shots, backdrops, props, etc…, will be needed. Again. this is when we lead the IMC process and are responsible for creating 360-degree integrated marketing plans that help clients’ brands come to life with their constituencies in relevant and engaging ways.

Of course when working with “larger” clients there are many instances in which we are not driving the IMC process but are part of it, bringing a specific expertise to a campaign and working in collaboration with other partner agencies. Those experiences are also exhilarating for our teams as they can focus on one area and elevate their game on every occasion. Further, it gives us the feeling that we are suddenly a crucial part of a gigantic team, working with the same goal in mind, which is very cool. At the end of the day it’s always about creating cutting-edge integrated solutions and branded experiences that engage the targeted audiences.

We see many advantages in the Integrated Marketing Communications. Here are just a few:

1. Agencies with IMC capabilities can create a unified and amplified brand message/promise
2. Allows the integration of specialized agencies in various IMC areas capable of reaching audiences in unique ways
3. Greater control of the marketing process translates into more synergy among each of the communication program elements
4. Increased productivity and effectiveness in the coordination of all communication efforts
5. Faster executions to market when all resources are properly leveraged and channeled
6. Helps determine who are the star team players both internally and externally
7. Quickly identifies which tactics and strategies are working best

So is the Integrated Marketing Communications process perfect? Of course not! If it were many of us would be driving Ferraris while spending summers on the Amalfi Coast. One thing is for sure though; the model has delivered and continues to bring stunning results with countless brands all around the world. And they are easy to find. They are the ones we are driving to work, the white earphones we use to listen to music, the stuff we drink and eat, the clothes we wear, etc …

Xclamation Marketing will deploy several teams in selected transportation hubs to engage with OPUS card members.  An incentive is offered to participants of a quick survey.  The campaign will be operated from the months of October to December of 2010.

Xclamation Marketing’s Shopper Converter Squads are specifically trained for data acquisition while delivering dazzling brand interactions to the target audience.

At Xclamation Marketing, we work with our clients to help them elevate their business to a state of “Significance”.  We help brands become better positive influencers and raise their citizenship profile in their community.  This practice has proven successful for us both with causes that are local or national in scope.  Significance Marketing creates strong emotional bonds between the brand and their audience but more importantly it brings win-win opportunities to the equation.

Here are a few examples of successful large Significance Marketing campaigns.

Puma’s long-term vision is to become the most desirable and sustainable Sportlifestyle company.  In assessing that vision with their people, they soon realized that they were largely contributing to the countless shoeboxes produced each year globally. That production translates into millions of tons of waste. So they gathered resources from fuseproject, which they mandated to find the smartest shoebox ever.  After having reviewed 2000 ideas and more than 40 prototypes they came up with a solution that will, according to their estimates, reduce their carbon dioxide by 10,000 tons.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwRulz8hPKI

Let’s stick with the athletic footwear just a little more if you don’t mind. A few years back Nike joined forces with Lance Armstrong’s foundation to raise awareness about cancer, improve the lives of people fighting with the disease, support cancer survivors globally and … expand its sales.  Nike’s LIVESTRONG product line has been a smash hit from the start.  Since its launch, it has helped raise more than $80 million for LIVESTRONG in the fight against cancer. This month Nike is expanding the collection internationally, proving the effectiveness of their program.

In 2006, Pampers and UNICEF joined together in the One Pack = One Vaccine campaign. Initially started in the UK, Pampers’ One Pack = One Vaccine campaign to benefit UNICEF has since expanded to 100 countries. By donating the cost of one vaccine to UNICEF for every specially-marked pack of Pampers sold, Pampers has already raised enough money globally to help UNICEF provide over 230 million tetanus vaccines to help protect mothers and their newborns in less industrialized countries against this deadly disease. In 2008—with mother and acclaimed actress Salma Hayek as its spokesperson—in North America alone, the campaign provided funding for over 45 million tetanus vaccines.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAvjWVj12AU

Since today’s shoppers are much more interested in brands that make a difference, we strongly believe marketers have to embark on the route to significance. Not only because it makes sense from a marketing point of view, but also as it were so eloquently put by the great Pablo Picasso:

“It is your Work in life that is the ultimate seduction.”