• Lowe and Partners Strengthens North American Presence as Montreal-Based Amuse Joins Network
• Deutsch Inc., Lowe and Partners’ North American Anchor, Assumes Management Oversight Under Leadership of Linda Sawyer

July 6, 2011 – As part of Lowe and Partners ongoing growth plans, it was announced today by Chairman Tony Wright that Monica Ruffo will succeed Geoffrey Roche as CEO of Lowe Roche and that Montreal-based creative boutique Amuse (www.atelieramuse.com) joins the global network’s North American anchor, Deutsch Inc., A Lowe and Partners Company. The Lowe and Partners North American network of offices is overseen by Linda Sawyer, CEO, North America, Deutsch Inc. and offices include: Deutsch New York, Deutsch Los Angeles, ICC Lowe, Lowe Roche Toronto, and now Amuse.

“Expanding our footprint in Canada creates a strong national offering and bolsters our ability in North America to attract new global clients,” said Wright. The Lowe Roche office in Toronto and Amuse office in Montreal will continue to operate independently under current management and retain their branding. Chairman Geoffrey Roche will transition duties to Monica Ruffo, currently President of Amuse, and on September 1st, she will become CEO overseeing both Lowe Roche and Amuse.

“Lowe Roche has long been one of the agencies in the network I am most proud of for its brave, uncompromising commitment to the work. And Geoffrey’s personal energy and brilliance has of course been integral to the journey. So passing the baton is a big moment. That is why Linda and I are so excited about Monica, who will be a major Canadian Agency leader in the most contemporary way,” said Wright.

Geoffrey Roche founded his Agency in 1991, and in 1996, Lowe acquired the Agency. Under Roche’s leadership, the Agency has been named Agency of the Year seven times, Agency of the Decade and International Agency of the Year by Advertising Age. The office provides integrated marketing efforts for clients including Audi, Nestle Purina, Miele, The Heart and Stroke Foundation, and Knorr. Upon Roche’s departure, he will be devoting his time to Poolhouse, a New Media Company that he co-founded with his son Alexandre. The Company’s properties include media darlings Dogbook and Catbook, the recently launched 44Shoes, and a soon to be announced lifestyle brand.

“This has been a dream job for me. I’ve been able to create my own company, hired, mentored, and worked with many truly talented people and helped clients ring their cash registers over and over. I’m a very lucky man in more ways than I can begin to count. And now to be able to hand over the reins to such a talented and entrepreneurial spirit like Monica is a real honour. I’m looking forward to seeing the Agency continuing to flourish and to my own exciting new adventure.”

“We are delighted to welcome the Amuse family into the Deutsch fold, which under Monica’s leadership in three short years has made its mark in Montreal by cultivating a roster of top-tier clients. Their entrepreneurial spirit, strong culture, and no-nonsense integrated brand-building capabilities are a great fit in our portfolio. Monica is super passionate, driven, and has the business savvy to take the agency to a new level in this next chapter,” said Sawyer.

Amuse, founded in 2008, works with prestige clients including Warner Bros films Canada, Couche-Tard, Speedware, ARTV, Ice Hotel, and the One Drop Foundation. The Agency has also been honoured with numerous awards including: Gold at the Canadian Digital Marketing Awards, several One Show Merit Awards and Canadian Media Innovation Awards as well as Grand Prix CREA.

“From the very beginning, the affinity with Deutsch was evident, even uncanny and very exciting. The marriage of Amuse with Deutsch and Lowe Roche creates a much broader offering with tremendous depth and breadth of resources for clients across Canada,” noted Ruffo. “Lowe Roche has a strong foundation and is fully integrated, which in today’s marketplace is key for successful marketing. I look forward to taking the brand to the next level.”

For additional information please contact:
Vonda LePage at 212.981.7680 or via email at Vonda.lepage@deutschinc.com

«ONE DROP travels»

Water water everywhere but not one drop to drink! Cirque de Soleil’s One Drop Foundation briefed Amuse on the tricky task of helping people understand the cycle of water around the world in order to educate them about usage and conservation. No small task as most people don’t fully graps the problem and issues.

One Drop required a completely “Plug and Play” mobile interactive installation that could travel around the world for use within Cirque du Soleil shows, in RBC local branchs (their corporate sponsor) and various other locations.

To help explain just how small our supply of fresh water is, we needed a fresh angle. Our strategy was based on the fact that the world has had the same amount of fresh water since the dinosaurs. The same water they drank, is the same fresh water you drink today – the only difference being that today, the demand on that same small supply (from population growth, industry and agriculture) is greater than ever.

By touching the screen, the installation recognized the form of your body and literally filled you up with water in front of your eyes.

Through a story, users were then able to transfer the water from themselves to another person or object to help explain how far that small amount of water must go. Plus, by showing the water directly enter a person’s body, the issue of pollution and purity became all the more personal and powerful.

Interactive technology : Realisations.net

AMUSE developed an enormous telescope — called the “ARTVscope” — and placed it outside soldout venues.
By simply pointing the ARTVscope towards any point on the building where a show was taking place, spectators could witness the action live, from outside, for free.

A computer inside the “telescope” and cameras inside the building made it possible to see the stage and even to zoom in, giving spectators the best seat in the house and complete control of their viewing experience. The ARTVscope was made possible thanks to interactive technologies created by Réalisations.net.
The ARTVscope gives concrete meaning to ARTV’s mission of bringing culture closer to people.

AMUSE is a completely agnostic marketing agency whose mission is to move people physically,
socially, and emotionally by making a significant contribution to their lives.

Media Contact: Monica Ruffo 514-844-0012 ext. 222
monica.ruffo@atelieramuse.com

«Queen Victoria and the city»
We all need a little glamour

With the theme of Sex and the city 2 being WE ALL NEED A LITTLE GLAMOUR, we chose a well-known, powerful, confident and assertive woman in Montreal to convey this message.

Nothing too unusual about that apart from the fact that the woman was Queen Victoria, and this was her special “Queen Victoria Day weekend”

We created our own spectacular media utilizing a larger than life historic statue in a high traffic area in the heart of downtown Montreal and gave Queen Victoria some much needed glamour to see how she might have dressed up for a night out with the girls in 2010.

Thousands of cars passed by the installation and thousands of women showed up to get their photo taken with Victoria spreading awareness of the movie and giving it its own local relevance and sex appeal.

With no media spend at all, and a total budget of less than 10,000$ Victoria successfully made it into Quebec’s fashion blogs as well as the fashion sections of The Gazette and La Presse. She along with the film Sex and the City 2 were also featured on the 6pm evening news.

Stylist : Joelle Eugenie

Video : Amber and Robert

«ARTVscope»

ARTV is a French cultural television channel in Quebec whose positioning is “bringing culture closer to people”.

Montreal is host to close to 20 music and arts festivals during the summer months and although many of these festivals have street events, the best shows are indoors and sold out months in advance.

We wanted to give all those people who couldn’t get tickets to the shows and people passing by the venues a chance to see what was going on inside.

We developed a huge x-ray interactive telescope called the ARTVscope and placed it outside the sold out venues. When you pointed it anywhere at the venue wall you were able to see the live action inside, all for free.

Interactive technology : Realisations.net

«Speed-date-a-dog»

Warner Bros wanted to create some media attention around their summer children’s movie CATS & DOGS 2, THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE.

But in Montreal, Quebec you aren’t allowed to advertise directly to children. So we had to find a clever way to involve children without breaking the rules.

So, based on the idea that children will fall in love with the movie, we gave families the chance to fall in love with a real dog and together with two local dog rescue charities, we created the event: SPEED-DATE-A-DOG.

20 volunteers from the charities brought along over 20 dogs of different ages and breeds.

Families could then take any dog for a 5 minute walk…and see if they fell in love! And for those who discovered love at first sight, adoption forms were filled out.

As we found a way to brand a family event without breaking the advertising regulations, The Speed-Date-A-Dog idea was able to be successfully adopted by the Quebec media making the headline of the prime time, 6pm evening news on Global and CTV not to mention CBC radio and countless blogs.

Video : La Fabrique d’Images

«The good conspiracy»

For Montreal’s Biennale we launched The Good Conspiracy, a city-wide event that invited citizens to share and receive positive thoughts, wishes, good news, compliments and moral support through a vast array of media and interactive devices.

This project delighted the press and public alike and served as a learning ground to help us understand how public participation works, which devices and tactics are most effective, how much content should be curated and other valuable practical and technical lessons.

Many generous souls conspired to create the Good Conspiracy; they are too numerous to name here but are all listed at the end of the presentation.

«Children Take flight in Montreal»

Warner Bros wanted to make a meaningful contribution to children’s lives with the launch of their animated owl movie Legends Of The Guardians in Quebec.

We had to find an idea that was in line with the core values of the film and do so by completely avoiding advertising directly to children – which is forbidden in Quebec.

In line with the movie tagline of: Take Flight…we thought, what child hasn’t ever dreamt of flying?
We teamed up with Sky Venture, the only indoor free-fall simulator in Canada and the Quebec Society of Disabled Children to give some kids the once in a lifetime experience of soaring through the air like an owl.

The event resulted in coverage on the 6pm prime time evening news.

So we ended up giving some very special children a very special experience whilst generating awareness of the Quebec Society of Disabled Children and creating awareness of Legends Of The Guardians without contravening Quebec’s child advertising regulations.

Video : La Fabrique d’Images

«Connecting man with his natural side…»

The newly renovated Montreal Nature Museums will be one of the largest nature museum complexes in the world uniting the Botanical Gardens, the Biodôme, the Planetarium and the Insectarium in the same park. We had the privilege of working on the initial vision of the project and more precisely, designing the initial concept for the esplanade that will unite all four museums and bring the museum experience outside the walls of the individual buildings. We imagined a community based space based on connectivity in which people could participate and contribute to the spirit but also to the content, creating a living symbol of the co-evolution of man and nature.

«Uniterra around the world»

Uniterra is the largest volonteer program to the southern hemisphere in Canada created by a collaboration between CECI and WUSC. We developed a brand identity and partnering guidelines than enabled them to empower the local usage of the brand and partner brands around the world in the simplest way possible over a broad range of potential material formats and media.