OUR STORY
NS Advisory Council on the Status of Women
Writing the Guide for Girls! for the Status of Women was a great opportunity for Quantum. Our first challenge was making sure we were talking to our audience — teenage girls from across the province — in words they could relate to and format they'd enjoy.
We started by listening. We held focus groups and noted what teens told us. Make the book interactive, they said. Leave room for us to write in it. We weren't surprised. Please call us girls, they said, and not young women. We were surprised by that.
The book that resulted is a lively mix of text, quotes, questions, and resources to help girls make better-informed decisions about their futures, and providing them with inspiration on everything from body image to bank balances, from careers to sexual orientation to how to make (each in her own way) a difference in the world.
The book won top prize in its category in the Gemstone public relations awards — and that's nice too. We like winning awards. But we'd rather help a girl become a strong woman, any day.
Cellar Door Productions
Chef at Large went behind the scenes in the kitchens of the world. Quantum went behind the scenes for Chef at Large. During three years with the show, we helped generate ideas, refine them, and flesh them out. We did the research so the TV crew could focus on the action. Chef Michael Smith’s curiosity and taste buds took him and his viewers on once-in-a-lifetime journeys.
Ratings were high when we joined Chef at Large in its third season, but the pressure was on to raise the bar. Cellar Door Productions explained that the show had to keep evolving to maintain audience interest. In other words? Get us into more difficult, intriguing places — starting now.
We rose to the challenge and landed Michael Smith at the cast party for the Mamas and Papas Off-Broadway show hosted by Pamela Wallin at the Canadian Consulate in New York and at Cirque du Soleil — to name just a few.
At Quantum, we develop a unique approach for every client. Our secret ingredient for Chef at Large: Be nice. But be persistent.
Government and related
Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre
Canada Post
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Human Resources Development Canada
National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health
New Brunswick Department of Health
Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women
Nova Scotia Association of School Boards
Nova Scotia Department of Community Services
Nova Scotia Department of Health
Nova Scotia Department of Health Promotion and Protection
Nova Scotia Department of Justice
Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation
Nova Scotia Museum
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Tourism Halifax
Vermont Department for Children and Families
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia
Non-profit organizations
Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's Health
Atlantic PATH
Canadian MedicAlert Foundation
Canadian Wildlife Federation
Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation
Ecology Action Centre
Family Military Resource Centres
Halifax International Airport Authority
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia
Heart Health Nova Scotia
Leave A Legacy
Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Nutrition Council
QEII Foundation
Sierra Club, Atlantic Canada Chapter
World Health Organization
Private sector
Abbott Laboratories
Aliant
Cellar Door Productions
Deloitte & Touche
Emera
Halifax Global
High Liner Foods
McInnes Cooper
Ocean Nutrition Canada
PSA Halifax
Professional associations
Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association
BioNova
Greater Halifax Partnership
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia
Life Sciences Development Association
Nova Scotia Barristers Society
Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia
Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
Union of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq
University and related
Cape Breton Wellness Centre
Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development
Dalhousie University College of Pharmacy
Dalhousie University Masters of Health Informatics
Dalhousie University Neuroscience Institute
Dalhousie University School of External Graduate Programs
Dalhousie University School of Nursing
Dalhousie University School of Physiotherapy
Mount Saint Vincent University Department of Public Relations
Saint Mary’s University Executive and Professional Development
Saint Mary’s University MBA Program
Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work
Quantum Communications prepared the first comprehensive communications plan for the council and assisted with its implementation. The results were so positive they hired a marketing communications person on a part-time basis to handle media demand, communications infrastructure growth, and related needs.
NS Health Research Foundation
Quantum prepared the foundation's first communications plan, which increased program response by over 20 percent in less than 12 months. We continued to build on this success for the organization – and won a Gemstone Award from the Canadian Public Relations Society – Nova Scotia for the external communications plan.
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia
It was a challenge. But luckily we thrive on challenges. How to get youth off the couch, away from the screen, and walking their way to better health.
Our client, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia, knows all too well that young Nova Scotians are at growing risk because of sedentary lifestyles, and the project at hand was to get teens involved in a video contest about the benefits of walking. The battle would be fought via YouTube, and those entrants whose videos got the most votes would receive an array of prizes. They'd also become part of the Youth Action Team, helping the Foundation design a walking program to raise kids' awareness and improve their long-term health.
Quantum's task was to reach out to teens — and that meant social media. We used Facebook as one of our key tools to get the word out. We emphasized the contest's "take us walkin' in your town" aspect in all the materials we created, including a website and our own YouTube short. Routes through communities have everything from neon lights to railroad tracks, helpful for incorporating a "street" look.
We also created an animated mascot: a walking stick figure so cool (if we do say) that he appealed to kids and adults too. This was a critical point, since we were also designing distinct but complementary materials for parents, teachers and others who could help us reach teen audiences.
Over the month-long course of the contest there were over 1,000 views, with many comments and votes — the first steps in a walk that's only just beginning.