Bell Media Partnering with Yellow Pages to support local merchants

Bell Media Mix has partnered with Yellow Pages to help encourage Canadians to support their neighbourhood merchants by purchasing locally on Saturday, Nov. 29, it was announced today. Shop The Neighbourhood, a local shopping movement, is a corporate social responsibility initiative of Yellow Pages and encourages Canadians to make a local purchase and take advantage of exclusive event day deals offered by the businesses in their neighbourhoods.

To spread the word and encourage Canadians to reflect on the importance of local businesses and drive them to Shop The Neighbourhood, Yellow Pages and Bell Media Mix have created an extensive multiplatform campaign deployed across the country in television, radio, out-of-home, and digital, leveraging Bell Media’s exceptional advertising reach. The campaign has been gaining momentum during the month of November with a phased rollout culminating on November 29, a special day when Canadians are encouraged to shop locally in their communities.

“Shop The Neighbourhood is an extension of Yellow Pages’ commitment to supporting small businesses and contributing to the creation of thriving neighbourhoods,” said André Leblanc, Director, Marketing Communications at Yellow Pages. “Bell Media’s unparalleled reach allows us to reach millions of Canadians and raise awareness on the importance of shopping locally.”

“With Bell Media’s sweeping portfolio, we have the ability to highlight local businesses within each market and leverage some of the most trusted voices in the communities we serve,” said Debbie Drutz, Vice-President, Bell Media Mix. “This partnership is perfectly aligned to our brands and is the largest multimedia partnership of its kind, touching all aspects of our portfolio. On November 29, we invite all Canadians to explore and shop their local neighbourhoods.”

To support the campaign, Bell Media’s CTV News stations in several Canadian markets have been airing throughout the month various content integrations showcasing local gems and interviewing consumers on why they believe it is important to shop locally. The most-watched Canadian daytime series The Social, The Marilyn Denis Show, and ETALK are also participating with hosts and personalities profiling their roots and neighbourhoods, while Bell Media brands Discovery, Bravo, Space, and The Comedy Network will broadcast closed captioning spots featuring the unique call to action.

Bell Media Radio will also contribute to the campaign by increasing awareness, with several stations including Toronto’s CHUM FM, NEWSTALK 1010 and Virgin Radio 999; Montréal’s Virgin Radio 96 and 107,3 Rouge fm; Vancouver’s The Beat 94.5, as well as Ottawa’s Majic 100.3, broadcasting creative spots featuring local merchants and live mentions on November 29.

Bell Media’s Astral Out-of-Home platform will also feature the campaign on transit shelters, street columns, and large-format digital faces throughout November in Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver.

Finally, Bell Media’s broad reaching digital properties will be activated against the campaign with roadblock dominations taking place on November 29 across the company’s impressive network of more than 200 websites.

The promotional strategy behind the Shop The Neighbourhood campaign was coordinated by Bell Media Mix – a one-stop shop that enables clients to execute innovative and effective multimedia campaigns across Bell Media platforms – with creative produced by a combination of Bell Media services and departments, including the Bell Media Agency, Bell Media Radio and Television Brand Partnerships, and the Astral Out-of-Home studio.