After 83 successful years in business, B.C.’s oldest and most iconic restaurant chain, White Spot was recently honoured as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. Sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post and Queen’s School of Business, this prestigious award recognizes Canadian organizations for their success in developing world-class management strategies and protecting the value of their business.

To help capture media attention and spread the good news, White Spot brought High Road on board for a media relations campaign targeting the food industry and business community. With 49 other companies also being recognized, White Spot and High Road had to take it beyond an award announcement and show just how much of an icon the company truly is.

The proof points of success were numerous—from ongoing growth in B.C. and Alberta, to the opening of a new 1,500 square-foot state-of-the-art culinary centre. However, one milestone stood out above all the rest: the fact that 87 per cent of British Columbians had dined at White Spot in 2010. Given that the province was still climbing its way out of the recession at that time, much like the rest of the country, this statistic spoke volumes about the loyalty of White Spot patrons and strength of the brand. The media thought so too.

From a full page article in the Vancouver Sun’s business section featuring two colour photos of White Spot’s CEO, Warren Erhart to more than 20 unique articles in industry publications such as Foodservice World and Pacific Restaurant News and a variety of community newspapers throughout B.C., the coverage put the company in the spotlight for its dedication to customer service, growth and delicious food.   

And for those of you that have ever dined at a White Spot, we bet you’re pining for a Triple O burger.

Santa isn’t the only one that needs to check it twice this holiday season.  With counterfeit goods on the rise, Canadians are finding it harder to tell the real products from the fake.

To help shed light on this issue, Microsoft Canada invited media out last week to hear a panel of experts at this year’s 15th Annual Anti-Counterfeiting Conference. Lorne Lipkus, Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus LLP and Co-Chair of the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network lead the discussion, where speakers from the RCMP, Microsoft Canada, Canada Goose, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition and the Canadian Intellectual Property Council discussed:

• Canadians’ views on holiday shopping, online deals and counterfeit goods
• The new risks that Internet counterfeiting poses to Canadian consumers and businesses and the difficulties in investigating and stopping counterfeiters online
• The growth and magnitude of counterfeit goods available online
• Tips on what consumers can do to protect themselves online
• New survey results revealing online shopping habits leading up to the holidays

They also had the rare chance to observe a wide range of counterfeit products taken directly from the shelves of GTA retailers over the last few weeks.

Overall, the event was a great success with stories airing on CTV News, CHCH News, CTV Webmania, and an early morning segment on Canada AM where Lorne showcased a variety of counterfeit goods including Microsoft software and Canada Goose apparel. Hopefully consumers are now prepared to shop with confidence this holiday season, whether in busy malls or when browsing for gifts online.

To spread the word about Bing.ca’s new Shopping feature, the Bing team in Canada hosted lifestyle, shopping and personal finance influencers and media at Sassafraz Restaurant in Toronto for an evening of ‘Bing’-tini’s, manicures from The Ten Spot and online shopping tips from Kimberley Clancy, Canada’s Frugal Shopper on the eve of Black Friday.

Bing Shopping offers Canadian consumers the opportunity to comparison shop online leveraging bargain-hunting tools including price history tracking, a cross-border pricing tool and visual store shipping policies in search results.

Throughout the night, attendees also had the opportunity for 1:1 demos of Bing Shopping with Anthony Wolf product manager for Bing in Canada. From designer hand bags to the latest digital cameras, ladies not only left the event with prim and polished nails, but also armed with new online shopping intel. Check out the conversation that is still going on Twitter – hastag: #bingshopping.

 Canadian media also  had online shopping on the mind and a number of major Canadian outlets spoke with Anthony Wolf and Kimberley Clancy to learn about how to leverage online shopping tools on Cyber Monday and how to identify the top deals online.