Buying in the Hot Toronto Condo Market

 

Is it a good time to buy a condo?  More and more people are asking themselves this, looking to break into one of Canada’s hottest housing markets, or to downsize their empty-nest homes.

And the answer is frequently yes.

These days a condo makes sense from an investment point of view – even when housing prices dip in the city, condominium values tend to remain strong and even increase. And the condo-building boom in Toronto continues.

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The Man Who Would Be King

Who says print is dead? While it has definitely taken a backseat to digital media, it still has specialty uses for when marketers want something tactile, with value, that they can put into people’s hands as important keepsake and selling tool.

A case in point is the magazine-style publication I helped to create with branding agency 52 Pick-up for Bianca, a condominium being developed by Tridel in Toronto’s New Dupont district. The magazine serves as a city guide for prospective buyers, showing them the kind of the lifestyle they would enjoy here, with outstanding cultural, culinary and shopping attractions.

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Minding Broken Hearts

UHN cardiologist Dr. Heather Ross says cardiac patients using technology to monitor their own conditions are less likely to be readmitted to hospital. PHOTO By THOMAS BOLLMANN

Mobile technologies allow high-risk cardiac patients to look after themselves at home

Patients at high risk of cardiac arrest can now be closely monitored at home through a smartphone app that transmits vital signs to their health-care team. An increase in weight, for example, may prompt an intervention call from the doctor’s office, says Dr. Heather Ross, a cardiologist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at University Health Network, which is implementing the mobile technology.

“We find out the patient had dim sum or pizza – something that is notoriously high in salt content. His weight goes up as a result,” notes Dr. Ross. “It becomes a teachable moment for the patient.”

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Creating a Campaign With Legs

24 Harmony on the Roof

Great milestones shouldn’t be allowed to tiptoe by. I worked with Rita Sasges and her team at Sasges Inc., the dynamic Calgary design and branding studio, to create a campaign with legs for 40th anniversary of the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre (CTCC).

The marketing effort leveraged Sasges Inc.’s 2012 Be Part of the Energy rebrand for Calgary as the robust platform to celebrate CTCC’s  four decades as the city’s premier meeting and conference destination. It attracts some 250,000 visitors a year, helping to keep the downtown vital.

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All the Brand News That’s Fit to Click

Image by Llangwitches.

Image by Langwitches.

Journalism is dead. Long live journalists.

OK, the industry isn’t really dead; it’s in transition. Its underbelly, tabloid journalism, already lives online quite nicely, thank you very much, with its slavering focus on sex, sensationalism and celebrities. But fewer readers and greater costs mean that “serious” journalism is in flux – it’s not yet certain whether it will continue to be offered by traditional media companies trying to reinvent themselves or fall completely under the sway of new Net entities.

Even though traditional media numbers are dwindling, there is an increasing demand to tell good stories online, especially on behalf of brands.

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Serenity After Trial

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“I thought the process was going to be hideous, humiliating and shameful,” Karen recalls of her bankruptcy more than a decade ago. “I was terrified when I went to see Richard Killen. I was in tears as I walked into his office.”

Karen’s story of battling debt is a familiar one. She had decided to make a brave midlife career change from working as a bartender. Finding employment in a Toronto health food store, she made the decision to go back to school to get certified as holistic nutritionist. . . . Read the blog post I wrote for Richard Killen & Associates, showing how their trustee services helped a woman cope with one of the most difficult trials of her life.

Four Ways to Experience Provence

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I am writing series of weekly marketing e-blasts for LaCure, the luxury villa company, targeting different market segments. These would direct clients, repeat clients, travel agents, partners such as American Express, Andrew Harper and Home Away. The following is aimed at Andrew Harper agents, promoting Provence and its summer festivals to its client base.

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Annual Reports Aren’t Dead

Left: Scott Thornley + Company’s annual report for the University of Toronto Scarborough. Right: The Works Design’s annual report for Corby Distilleries.

Left: Scott Thornley + Company’s annual report for the University of Toronto Scarborough. Right: The Works Design’s annual report for Corby Distilleries.

After working 15-hour days for a month to meet deadlines for two annual reports, I can say that the market for ARs isn’t dead, though I may be.

I had heard from many designers that AR work had dried up with diminished budgets as the reports went online, reducing print runs dramatically. What once had been a design stable with eye-popping budgets had become a pain in the ass no longer worth the nail-biting deadline pressure.

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