BAM Receives 10 Nominations For The 2013 BILD Awards

15 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Awards, News

I was thrilled this morning to learn that BAM received 10 nominations for the 2013 BILD Awards, including Project of the Year for Empire Communities’ Victory.

Covering a wide range of expertise areas (from email marketing and logos to sales office design and web), these nominations prove we’re a one-stop shop that not only covers every possible need a client may have — we excel at it.

In particular, I was proud to learn that out of five social media finalists, three are ours. Having won the social media award last year for our Triumph social media campaign, this news only attest to our commitment to digital marketing. Our eBAM department has proved again to be ahead of the curve, providing our clients with the latest online initiatives and inbound marketing.

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The social media campaign for Victory revolves around the concept of a life full of personal victories — victories like shaping the design of your dream home….

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 …while that of Treetops is centered around the idea of living beyond your backyard.

Given that we also just won the CHBA Marketing Excellence Award, and it’s easy to see why we’re so excited at BAM.

Our nominations are:

  • PROJECT OF THE YEAR – LOW-RISE
    Empire Communities, Victory
  • BEST E-MAIL MARKETING PIECE
    Empire Communities, Victory
  • BEST NEWSPAPER AD
    Empire Communities, Victory
  • BEST PROJECT LOGO
    Empire Communities, Victory
  • BEST PROJECT SIGNAGE
    Empire Communities, Victory
  • BEST LOW-RISE SALES OFFICE
    Empire Communities, Victory
  • BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
    Brookfield Homes and Orchard Ridge Homes, Treetops
    Eden Oak Homes, Weaver’s Mill
    Empire Communities, Victory
  • BEST WEBSITE
    Empire Communities, Victory

Thanks to all our clients, and Empire Communities and Brookfield Homes in particular, for letting us wear your tattoo — we’re proud to do so!

Go, BAM, go!

BAM Wins CHBA Marketing Excellence Award

12 Mar 2013 2 Comments

by John Amardeil in Awards, In The Media, News

Last Friday, I was honoured to watch BAM’s efforts receive a highly regarded recognition, when our long-time client Brookfield Homes (Ontario) won the CHBA Marketing Excellence Award for its project Pathways in Caledon East.

As most readers of this blog know, this important award goes to the CHBA builder member whose single project combines the best overall achievements in marketing. The award is based on the cumulative results attained in at least four Marketing Award categories.

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To differentiate Pathways as an exceptional new community that would appeal to families, we divided the community into six unique neighbourhoods and designed a map showing several pathways winding their way through the community. We produced gorgeous renderings of the two parks that the community will feature, as well as a stunning streetscape rendering. We also developed additional benefits for the community to offer, such as Brookfield’s Save Green program.

What’s better than winning the CHBA Marketing Excellence Award? Skiing at Lake Louise with the boys from Curb Signs and winning the CHBA.

What’s better than winning the CHBA Marketing Excellence Award? Skiing at Lake Louise with the boys from Curb Signs and winning the CHBA.

The results? A best-selling, award-winning community that homebuyers quickly identified as ideal for strolling, walking, enjoying nature and interacting with neighbours.

Congratulation to Brookfield Homes and our team at BAM!

P.S.: Pathways campaign elements can be found in our portfolio section, including video, eblast, social media campaign, logo, print ad, and more.

This simple organization trick can have a positive impact on your working day

08 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Strategies

When you run a company called BAM, which aims to create a positive, dramatic impact on our client’s lives, it pays to have in your arsenal a priority management tool that’s as effective as it is simple and quick to implement.

In today’s hectic workplace, this has become a huge topic — a Google search for key words like “task prioritization” and “time management tools” literally pulls up millions of results.

Consider, for example, Dave Allen’s “Getting Things Done” framework, whose adepts seem to be everywhere, and who heap lavish praise on the method. Or how about all the software that promises to help you organize your day and make life easy and effortless?

Yet for all the hype, I find most of these methods too cumbersome to apply to daily life, and certainly to our fast-paced work environment. In particular, I take issue with the amount of time they require to implement, which makes them, at least to my mind, a poor match to BAM’s philosophy (of course, I do realize they may work well for some people).

So how do I organize myself? Which method do I suggest to our employees?

As you might predict, it’s simple and plain and cheap and fast. It’s also, in my opinion, extremely effective.

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Whether you use an electronic version, a print-out, or (as is often my case) pen and paper, this chart allows you to tackle the important and urgent tasks first. Just put any jobs you have on your plate into the appropriate box and attack the list from the top-right to the bottom-left.

Simple, plain, cheap, and fast. Call me old-fashioned, but this beats fancy software and methodologies any day of the week.

How do you deal with concurrent tasks? How do you manage your daily schedule?

Looking For Another Social Media and Marketing Intern

01 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in News

As I wrote last  November, we were looking for our first social media intern. Luckily, we found a great candidate, a student soon to graduate from Guelph Humber’s Media Studies program. Good luck, Olivia — hope you learned lots!

Our experience was so good, we’re now looking for another intern, one who would begin work for our award-winning eBAM department from early May until August, 2013.

If you know someone, please forward this post to them — it contains all the information they need.

Please direct comments or enquiries to alain@callbam.net.

 Start building your future with BAM’s Internship Program

About BAM

We are a dynamic, hands-on marketing and advertising agency with a focus on the new homes industry. Our knowledge and experience allow us to integrate our turnkey approach with clients’ current and future objectives, executing every aspect of their marketing, from initial strategy development to completion.

eBAM, our in-house digital marketing department, leads our clients’ online efforts, encompassing everything from Google Ads to Facebook pages, blogs and Twitter accounts. This is where you will work.

About You

  • Solid copywriting / writing skills and strong written online communications skills
  • Personal and professional passion for social media and marketing is a must. In other words, you have top-notch social skills and a strong awareness of utilizing multiple channels (ideally also those outside of Twitter and Facebook)
  • Education in marketing, communications, business, journalism or similar
  • Able to work with our team to do creative and quality work while meeting deadlines
  • A strong desire to learn, grow and be part of a great team of digital marketers
  • Willing to take an idea and run with it without micro-managing
  • Enthusiasm!

Compensation & School Credit

This is an unpaid internship position that lasts 4 months (May 2013 – August 2013, with the possibility of an extension). BAM is pleased to support internships as credit for completion of post-secondary education. Candidates for internship where school credit is needed must make their own arrangements regarding requirements for credit known at time of application.

Why You Should Do Your Internship With eBAM

  • Great work environment — fast-paced, yet fun, this is real-world advertising/marketing at its best
  • Real learning opportunity – work directly with experts and decision makers
  • TTC Monthly Metropass
  • Walking distance from subway and next to 401 highway
  • BAM team lunch 1x week
  • Great coffee machine + free candies + free pop
  • A cash reward proportional to your great (or super great) work!

Intern Tasks & Activities

  • Support the tactical execution of client Social Media programs and campaigns (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Foursquare, etc.)
  • Copywriting for Social Media, Blogging, etc
  • Search Engine Marketing (SEO) activities
  • Social Media Monitoring
  • Social Media Advocacy and PR
  • Participate in brainstorm activities
  • Ongoing research and competitive analysis
  • Daily time tracking
  • Other related duties as required
  • Learn while having a good time is a must ;-)

Ready to Apply?

Please submit your application by email to alain@callbam.net, including:

  • Your cover letter and résumé
  • Links to your anything online that you find relevant to this position, such as work samples, social media profiles, websites, blog, etc.

Next Steps

  • We appreciate the time you have taken to apply. In the interest of saving time, we can only contact those candidates who qualify for an interview.
  • As part of the selection process, we may ask that you take a writing skills test following your interview at BAM.

Good luck!

What Toronto Can Learn From Paris

21 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by John Amardeil in Thoughts

Much is said about Toronto’s so-called status as a world-class city. But having just returned from a weekend in Paris, I can attest we still have a long way to go.

True, real estate is much more expensive in the French capital. Consider the loft below — this is what $1,200 per square foot looks like in Paris.

,200 per square foot loft in Paris

Now contrast this exorbitant price with Toronto’s, where the average cost per square foot is just shy of $600.

The truth, however, is that Parisians don’t seem to mind. Sure, they may complain about rising prices. And they may not necessarily enjoy living packed together (Paris being about 6 times more dense than Toronto, most apartments there are small and cramped).

But their city and its amenities are built to help them make the  most of it.  Parisians don’t do big screen TVs — they go outside and enjoy the city:

Public skating, Paris-style.

Public skating, Paris-style.

An elevated walkway above street. Parisians walk everywhere, although….

An elevated walkway above street. Parisians walk everywhere, although….

…Paris has been made even easier to navigate with electric car sharing service Autolib', a follow-up to the city’s successful bicycle sharing system, Velib’, which is the second-most extensive system of its kind in the world.

…Paris has been made even easier to navigate with electric car sharing service Autolib‘, a follow-up to the city’s successful bicycle sharing system, Velib’, which is the second-most extensive system of its kind in the world.

In Paris, there’s a subway station every 400 metres or so, yet their Métro is cheaper than our TTC.

In Paris, there’s a subway station every 400 metres or so, yet their Métro is cheaper than our TTC.

People even live on boats in Paris.

People even live on boats in Paris.

Parisians enjoy going out to galleries, museums, and art exhibits.

Parisians enjoy going out to galleries, museums, and art exhibits.

My point? We’re fortunate to live in relatively affordable city, but we still have much to learn in terms of making our streets and our city truly enjoyable. Better public transit will play a key role, as will the current high-rise condo boom.

Have you been to Paris? Which trait did you find yourself wishing we had back here?

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