Solutions Research Group

by Kristen Vinakmens
Strategy Media
Oct 21, 2002

Since W Network rebranded itself last April, it has increased its audience by 500,000 viewers per week, and viewers in the 18-to-34 segment have more than doubled over the past year.

In research conducted by Toronto-based Solutions Research Group, viewers are saying they like what they see on the now Toronto-based national women's channel, which began as WTN in 1995. "They've said [W network] seems stronger, that it looks nicer and seems more in-tune with what they're looking for," says Susan Schaefer, VP of marketing for W Network's owner, Corus Entertainment.

Strong performers in the fall lineup, which also went through a makeover, include a Thursday night design block, including Decorating Challenge, and a Sunday night drama block. Schaefer can't say definitively how many advertisers have climbed aboard W since it refashioned itself, but says the overall outlook is positive, and their first quarter sales for this year were up 26% over last year.

"Part of our objective is to convince advertisers W is the place to come if you want to reach women," says Schaefer. W is doing ongoing research - a brand tracking study and focus groups throughout the year are planned.

Schaefer says W is now concentrating on reinforcing its image as an entertaining, yet insightful station for women, both young and old. Radio spots and on-air promos, as well as television guide ads - and most recently, 1.3 million TV guide inserts - highlight their program offerings and new look. Toronto agency Zig created the radio and print advertising, while the Corus in-house creative team worked with Elaine Cantwell of L.A. agency spark to create the on-air look.

"Our goal was to make it more fun and less earnest, but intelligent at the same time," says Schaefer. "Right now the demographic we're going after is 25 to 54. We definitely skewed closer to 50 before rebranding. [Now, W is as] appealing to a 30-year-old as a 50-year-old."by Lisa D'Innocenzo

"I want you in my pants."

With provocative slogans like this, Steven Debus has built his funky, five-year-old clothing brand into an underground empire.

Ever since he created his Modrobes line of fat, comfy lounge pants back in university, Debus - or "Saldebus," as he now prefers to be called - has remained steadfastly committed to grassroots marketing, selling directly to customers at skateboarding events, BMX races and rock concerts.

Today, Modrobes by Saldebus Lounge Clothing operates four free-standing retail stores: one in Vancouver and three in Toronto, including a location that opened on trendy Queen Street West in early December. (The new space has a funky vibe, angular walls, and a lounge area where a DJ spins tunes. "We wanted to be the coolest store in Toronto," Saldebus says.)

The company also has floor space for its product in some 445 retail outlets across Canada, including Athlete's World and Jean Machine stores. And Saldebus, who now designs a full apparel line, has ambitious plans to build Modrobes into a 20-store chain over the next five years.

It's a prospect that he admits makes him nervous. And so it should, some youth marketing experts say. For any hip brand that has built a reputation through street-level guerrilla tactics, it's always a challenge to grow bigger without alienating the trend-hopping kids who made it successful in the first place.

The teens who buy brands like Modrobes enjoy discovering obscure, underground stuff far from the bright lights of mainstream pop culture, says Kaan Yigit, a partner with Toronto-based Solutions Research Group. "The minute that obscure thing hits the cover of Newsweek, they move on."

Tania Koster, creative director of Ground Control Marketing, a Toronto-based promotional agency that works with such youth-oriented clients as Chupa Chups and Skechers Footwear, agrees.

Hip youth brands can lose teens when they shift their messaging in an effort to appeal to a mass audience, she says. When a youth-oriented label like Tommy Hilfiger begins sponsoring high-profile rock tours, for example, it risks being perceived as too slick.

"Modrobes has that, and it's a massive difference," he says. "And young people can smell it from miles away."

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