A Vegas-style fight night, a "Va Va Vintage"-themed ball, and presentations from speakers like Gene Simmons and Justin Trudeau are among the highlights of the third annual Advertising Week, set to take place in six cities across the country from January 24 to 28. "It's going to be a really great week this year," said sponsorship and event manager Stacey Farber. "We try to make it more of a celebration than an academic event. This year we definitely have a great lineup."
Created by the Institute of Communication Agencies to celebrate the industry and encourage young people to join the profession, Advertising Week takes place in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
Simmons, this year's keynote speaker, will share the marketing story behind the band Kiss during an event sponsored by The Toronto Star at the Sony Centre on January 25. "He has a really great story and obviously the band Kiss is huge," Farber said. "He's a marketing guru." (Past keynotes have included Richard Branson and Arianna Huffington.)
On January 26, 20 men and women from the advertising community will battle it out in the ring at Arcadian Court during a new addition to Advertising Week—a boxing event dubbed Agency Wars. Participants, recruited in September, have spent three months training with professional coaches in preparation for the event, which is being broadcast by the Fight Network and held in support of Ronald McDonald House Toronto and the National Advertising Benevolent Society.
The second annual Ad Ball—featuring a vintage-themed fashion show from Preloved and Gotstyle Menswear—is set for January 27 at Maison Mercer. Other activities include an invitation-only launch breakfast at the Design Exchange, documentary screenings, student mentorship initiatives, the Cassies (which honour the best in Canadian advertising), and panel discussions with senior executives from Yahoo!, Google, AOL, and MDC Partners.
