October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time to get everyone thinking about the most frequently diagnosed cancer in Canadian women. As it is a cause that is near and dear to TELUS, during the month, they’re donating $25 to The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation for every pink BlackBerry Curve 9360 sold.

But how to get word out of this great charitable initiative? Cue High Road to help design and execute the “TELUS Pink Network Weekend Getaway” campaign, a creative blogger challenge that rallied some of the most influential females online to get Canadians to “think pink.”

Over a one week period, High Road and TELUS challenged 20 top female bloggers to write posts detailing who their “pink networks” are (the females in their lives that matter most) and take to Twitter, sharing their stories with their communities. The person with the most retweets received an all-expenses paid trip for her and three members of her pink network to a relaxing weekend of wine-tasting at the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa, located in the heart of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.

The blogger challenge was a great success. The TELUS Go Pink initiative trended multiple times on Twitter throughout the week, and the bloggers shared some very touching stories of how breast cancer had impacted their lives, all the while helping spread word of TELUS’ commitment to help in the fight against breast cancer.

All in all, it was a great campaign, and one that High Road was tremendously proud to support.

Mark’s who? You might ask…

Over the past couple of years Mark’s has dropped the ‘Work Wearhouse’ from its name and begun a series of store renovations across the country. Why the change? Mark’s wants to better represent the variety of fashionable and innovative apparel that the brand offers up to Canadians for everyday living.

To get Canadians talking about the NEW Mark’s, the High Road team hung a clothesline in Calgary, grabbed Mark’s models to walk the runway in Toronto and took media on a behind-the-scenes tour of the newly renovated stores in Calgary.

Mark’s hosted an exclusive event on September 15 in Calgary to celebrate the recent reinventions of all 14 Calgary locations. Held at the flagship store, media were invited for a night of Mark’s festivities, which included a media styling challenge, a specially prepared Mark’s-tini cocktail and a tour of the stores latest innovations. Mark’s executives, including president Paul Wilson and vice-president of operations Wendy Bennison, were also on hand to talk with media about all recent changes at Mark’s and the vision for the brand.

During the event, media experienced several new features of the store including the highly anticipated walk-in freezer where customers can test out the Mark’s cold weather apparel like the T-Max vests. With over 15 media outlets in attendance, the event was a great success and gave Mark’s the opportunity to introduce the new Calgary stores in a fashionable and oh-so-fun way!

In Toronto, Mark’s brightened up Yonge and Dundas square on a cloudy September day by hosting three fashion shows featuring exclusive looks from the new fall/winter collection. Models walked the runway in Mark’s latest Perfect Fit underwear, Denver Hayes Soft lounge wear, yoga wear, business casual and winter looks, while host Lisa Rogers discussed the new innovative features and styles that define Mark’s clothing. Street teams stood at each corner of the square handing out 20 per cent off coupons for Mark’s in celebration of the newly renovated Eaton’s Centre location. The chance to win a $1,000 Mark’s fashion makeover got people stopping at the Mark’s tent and signing up for the contest while winning a free piece of T-Max socks in the process.

From outerwear to underwear the show had it all, and consumers flocked to the newly renovated Eaton’s Centre location to pick up the latest looks from Mark’s.

Finally, Mark’s returned home to Calgary on October 13 to set up a 150-ft. clothesline on Stephen Ave. with 350 pieces of FREE clothing up for grabs. The clothesline boasted a variety of Mark’s innovations including Perfectly Pressed shirts, T-Max vests and DH Soft sweaters for both men and women. Fashion host, BR Pirri was on hand to help Calgarians pull pieces of Mark’s clothing from the line to thank them for their loyalty and support of the Mark’s brand over the last 30 years. Within 35 minutes all of the clothing had been pulled from the line and Calgarians went home happy, with new clothing in hand.

Next up for Mark’s? Mark’s Winter Look book comes out just in time for the holiday season previewing styles for holiday parties, nights by the fireplace and outerwear to brave the Canadian winter. Stay tuned and happy shopping!

Last night High Road hosted 25 of Toronto’s top bloggers in our first ever #HRCNight Blog Lovin’ session, which was a great success! The High Road crew got to meet and greet a number of awesome bloggers we’ve worked with in the past or have wanted to work with for a long time.

Since our relationships with clients, media and bloggers are so important to us, we wanted to kick start the conversation and get some feedback about bloggers’ likes/dislikes of working with PR agencies, and what we can do to make our working relationships more efficient and enjoyable for both parties.

This event was like no other – complete with the ever so popular Dancing Heads video booth, tasty treats, speciality “Roadie” cocktails served by two impressive HRC bartenders, we got a great opportunity to have an insightful open forum discussion with some of our favourites from the Toronto blogger community.

We’re already looking forward to the next one!