Soon you'll be able to speak to consumers as they're trolling the aisles of Wal-Mart. When Canada's first supercentre locations open next month, they will accommodate a new in-store TV network that will broadcast advertising and company information. Read More

Toronto-based Lowe Roche has launched Talkingpets.ca as part of an interactive campaign geared towards getting pet lovers engaged with Nestlé Purina PetCare. Debuted last week, the site features viral purr and woof mail (messages to friends "through your four-legged friend") and a pet I.Q. test. A consumer-generated component allows people to post pics along with captions to guess at what's on the pet's mind.

The campaign also uses 60-second radio spots in the greater Toronto market in the form of Talking Pets game-show-like trivia, pushing listeners to get involved with the pet I.Q. trivia questions on the site. A contest component gives users the chance to win pet food for a year.

Nestlé Purina PetCare director of brand development Mary Siemiesz says the "interactive environment is both engaging and educational to visitors, highlighting Purina's pet expertise, while helping to build a stronger bond between pets and their owners."

When MiC got wind that Wal-Mart USA was taking its $570-mil account to Interpublic Group's DraftFCB and Aegis Group's Carat, we immediately got on the horn to Wal-Mart Canada's director of corporate affairs Kevin Groh.

Any such switcheroo being contemplated up here, we asked. Au contraire, he replied. "Marketing and advertising decisions are made independently from the US here (and) we've been pleased with the work of our agencies. So we don't have any plans for change." Which means that for the foreseeable future, Publicis will remain Wal-Mart Canada's AOR nationwide, and Allard Johnson for its French-language communications, while ZenithOptimedia will continue handling its media.

New free tool lets users build vertical search engines for their sites, plus earn a share of the ad revenue. Read More

Humongous hamburgers, gas pumps and coffee cups with an instant-win theme enhance the TV spots and push participants to BMO's online promotion. Read More

Orietta Minatel has been promoted from associate publisher to publisher of Flare, Canada's top-selling fashion/beauty magazine. She has worked in various positions at the magazine for more than 20 years. Current Flare publisher David Hamilton, who is also VP of Rogers Consumer Publishing, will remain associated with the magazine and with Rogers Publishing as a consultant into 2007.