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MSL Canada Launches Living Better in Response to New Consumer Priorities

Toronto, July 19, 2011:MSLGROUP, the Publicis Groupe's flagship PR and events company, announced today the launch of its newest competitive offering, Living Better housed within MSL Canada. Living Better is an offering dedicated to connecting brands with consumers who are looking for a new approach to living well. The Living Better team will use fresh insights to reveal opportunities to connect with Canadians who are on the right path to living better.

"Health and wellness are status symbols for Canadians and mean more than just physical and mental health," says Paul Keable, Deputy Managing Director, MSL Canada.  "But living well is more difficult today than ever before, and means managing an increasingly complex list of ingredients. Our research (1) has shown that Canadians wish they had a plan or recipe for living better and with the launch of Living Better, MSL Canada is well positioned to help companies make their products and brands the key ingredient in that recipe."

Proprietary research (1) conducted on behalf of MSL Canada revealed that 83% of Canadians believe that living better requires a plan, rather than seeing it as something that just happens.  And, nearly seven in 10 (69%) Canadians agree that living better is more difficult today than ever before with two-thirds wishing they had a plan or recipe for living better.

MSL Canada Living Better Survey Highlights:

Living Better is About Friends Over Funds - More than two-thirds (68%) of Canadians say "having a lot of friends" describes what Living Better means to them personally, compared to about one-third (32%) who say "having a lot of money" describes what living better means to them

Naturally Well - By a margin of nearly 3:1 Canadians consider using more natural products and things found in nature to feel healthy and well part of their definition of Living Better over using all modern science has to offer to feel healthy and well.

Living Better Is an Inside Game --  Nine in 10 Canadians say "doing things to feel their best on the inside" best represents what Living Better means to them personally versus 10% who say "doing things to look their best on the outside" best describes what Living Better means to them.

Living Better Is Future Focused -- Six in 10 (59%) Canadians say "making the world a better place for future generations" best represents what Living Better means to them personally versus  41% who say "making their life better today" best describes what Living Better means to them.

Living Better Means New Priorities - for Canadians living well is more than just physical and mental health (two in three (66%) Canadians 'agree' (16% strongly/ 50% somewhat) - it's defined more holistically today than ever before.

"The response to date has completely confirmed our decision to launch Living Better," says Keable.  "We've shared our research with a number of companies and the feedback has been proof positive that we have the right ingredients for the new Canadian marketplace."

The Living Better offering will be comprised of team members with backgrounds in food, nutrition, pharmaceutical and lifestyle - providing a fulsome approach to clients' needs and a range of specialized services and capabilities to help clients achieve their business and marketing objectives, including:

Food, nutrition and healthcare specialists

Lifestyle marketing expertise

Traditional and social media relations

Digital communications

Earned product placement

Influencer and celebrity seeding

Canadian and US trend leaders in food, health and wellness

Proprietary influencer and stakeholder mapping and outreach tools

Specialized graphic design for food, nutrition and healthcare

Culinary & Nutrition Centre

Nutrition Marketing Research Institute

Companies interested in a full presentation of the Living Better survey can contact Paul Keable at 416.847.1307 or paul.keable@mslgroup.com.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted January 14 and 18, on behalf of MSL Canada. For this survey, a sample of 1,042 adults from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in Canada been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

(1)  MSL Canada and Ipso Reid - Living Better Survey, 2011