Canadian custom publisher Redwood Communications has rebranded itself as Totem Communications Group. The company started the name search one year ago and the switch has been a gradual process.
“We didn’t want to lose any of the equity that comes from building up your brand and reputation so we have been doing the switchover gradually, first with Evolution Redwood. We’ve planned events and done press releases to keep the market informed about the change so the market knows the new name,” said Joseph Barbieri, SVP Marketing and Business Development at Totem in an interview with Wooden Horse.
The Toronto-based company produces custom publications and media programs for a number of national and international clients such as Procter & Gamble, The Home Depot, Canadian Automobile Association, Frito-Lay, Sears, Sobeys, Mazda International, and Aeroplan.
Totem Communications hopes to push the envelope with custom publishing by fostering “marketing journalistm” and “brand stories.”
“Brand stories are a chance for us to put the best practices of journalism with a marketing overlay. It’s still about the content but we are going to use those elements found in traditional journalism, such as fact-checking, interviews and telling a story, and combine them with a transparent marketing overlay. This is something not often found in traditional publishing and media, since the two are usually mixed. This is not critical journalism but more lifestyle journalism,” said Barbieri.
Totem also plans to use social media to engage their readers and encourage them to carry on more conversation about the products and people they have recently been introduced to. Barbieri also said digital magazine will have an important role to play.
In 2008, the company was bought by media mogul Transcontinental. For more information, contact Joseph Barbieri, joseph.barbieri@redwoodcc.com, Toronto: 416-847-8548, New York: 212-896-3849
Filed under: Branding, Magazine management, Publisher Tagged: | Advertising, Branding, Magazines, Publisher
