With five new teammates and an expanded workspace, our house of communications and public relations has gone through quite a growth spurt. So it’s a real pleasure for me to introduce the latest recruits:

Lynda Brault, director, marketing communications, is a consumer and technology product expert. Many of her accounts are cross-Canada in scope.


Mathieu Filion, director, corporate communications, is a new member of the corporate and public affairs team. He brings extensive knowledge of both provincial and federal politics to the job.


Magalie Laliberté, consultant, handles a panoply of marketing communications accounts. A real go-getter, she has a passion for developing winning strategies and campaigns.


Anaïs Lorenz, research and Web coordinator, brings her special mix of talent and perseverance to the important task of research, while also providing special help to clients on social media as a member of the Web team.


Frédérique D’Alo, executive assistant, is the dedicated and creative hand that teammates at CASACOM have come to value so much. She puts her administrative and graphic skills to daily use on behalf of the team and our clients.

Space-that we’re looking to fill!

Over the next year, we’ll be recruiting other remarkable individuals to fill every corner of our house. If you know experienced, ambitious people who love communications and public relations (Web, media relations, copywriting, etc.) and strive for success-for themselves and for others-be sure to send them our way! If that person is you, write to us today at rh@casacom.ca.

For a second year, CASACOM worked with the Chaire de l’UQAM and SQPRP to develop a survey on the use of social media by Quebec public relations professionals. A press release was issued, and all results are available at www.crpcm.uqam.ca.

Here are three facts I would like to bring to your attention:

• Good news! Social media is progressing on all fronts. Eighty (80) percent of public relations and communications professionals always, frequently, or occasionally incorporate it in their communication plans-great progress compared to last year’s result (56%).

• Emergency! Despite this progress, 57% of professionals say they lack training to properly advise their clients in this area. Social media training has become the issue of the day, and it is essential that professionals receive Web 2.0 training and updates.

• Challenge! Despite clients’ increasing openness to social media, many hesitate to integrate it in their communication plans. The two reasons cited are loss of communication control (39%) and insufficient resources (26%). This resistance is normal, since social media has truly revolutionized how information is organized and communicated. I am confident that resistance to social media will decrease as organizations learn to manage it and recognize the advantages.

To learn more about social media and Web 2.0, feel free to contact us or look at my presentations on the subject.

Where are you at with social media?

A new tradition was launched at CASACOM. We commissioned our latest recruit to convey our wishes for the New Year. This charming little task has befallen on Maria.

As CASACOM, Maria is young, talented, dynamic and, in addition, trilingual. Moreover, her life has deeply inspired our New Year message. On October 16th, Maria received a great demonstration of love. Her sweetheart, the lucky man who has been sharing her life for the past six years, proposed to her. Needless to say that her overwhelming joy and happiness were communicable the next day at the office…

So who better than Maria, whose laughter is contagious and so pretty, to convey our wishes? She kindly agreed to be our star of the day. As can be seen in the video, pictures and even in the bloopers, we had a lot of fun during the making of the 2010 wishes.
Through Maria, the CASACOM team wishes you and your loved ones, what will make 2010 an unforgettable year “Love, lots of love!”

A recent CASACOM campaign for Hyundai’s Clean Air Commitment definitely did not go unnoticed. After observing journalists’ clear interest for this news story, Influence Communication posted the following comments on Twitter:

Journalists who covered the news story the day before wanted to learn more. La Presse wrote : “According to the calculations of Influence Communication, Hyundai took up 1.06% of Quebec media coverage on Wednesday compared with 0.19% in Canada. If Hyundai had paid for this amount advertising, it would have spent $440,467.” [...] “For comparison purposes, one of the most lucrative campaigns over the past few years was the hiring of Céline Dion as spokesperson for Air Canada. The airline received 24 hours of media coverage worth about $175,000 in Quebec alone.”

This campaign was a resounding success with the Quebec media. All major daily newspapers, several radio stations and Web sites, as well as the daily news programs on Radio-Canada, RDI, CBC and CTV talked about the Clean Air Commitment program.

This example shows how Twitter can be a resource not only to relay pure information but also to effectively position experts with mass media.

CASACOM recently orchestrated the announcement of a major voice services agreement between Tata Communications and British Telecom (BT)-two of the world’s largest voice and IP service providers-together with the inhouse teams of its client Tata Communications.

BT telephone booth

The press release went around the world in just minutes. In addition to the hundreds of media mentions generated, the project was characterized by countless, stimulating discussions between contributors posted in London, Mumbai, New York, and Montreal. The announcement was made simultaneously to all target audiences of both companies. Our role consisted of getting the word out to all Tata Communications employees, suppliers, and partners, as well as to the business media and telecommunications trade publications.

Through the five-year agreement, Tata Communications will become BT’s primary supplier of International Direct Dial (IDD) and other voice termination services outside BT’s own footprint countries and BT will become Tata Communication’s main distribution channel for its IDD traffic into the UK, expanding into other markets across Europe as the relationship matures.

By providing each party with access to additional capacity and flexibility, the relationship will allow BT and Tata Communications to benefit from each others’ strengths as they develop and grow their businesses in their respective markets.

The resounding success of the effort can be measured by the hundreds of articles published around the world-including several in Montreal-and the sincere satisfaction expressed by our client.

The Wall Street Journal 06. 25. 2009

National Post 06. 26. 2009

The Gazette 06. 26. 2009

La Presse Affaires 06.26. 2009