In November 2008, Canada’s Marketing Magazine and its predecessors will have been in publication for 100 years.

Chris Loudon, the newly minted Publisher and Editor in Chief of Marketing, sat down with me following a meeting with the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms to talk about the plans for the 2008 anniversary.

The anniversary celebrations will be reflected in the magazine’s editorial content, but also in planned industry gatherings and events.

In January 2008, Marketing will begin a series of 20 articles covering the history of marketing, advertising and media in Canada. The series will culminate in November with a special 100th anniversary issue in which 100 of Canada’s marketing movers and shakers will be asked to look ahead at where they see our industry going in the future.

The anniversary will also bring Canadian marketers together in Toronto for the inaugural Marketing Week. For three days in November, the marketing industry will be invited to participate in a conference featuring a program of Canada’s best marketing speakers, panels and workshops. The centrepiece of the Week will be an event combining the Digital Media Awards, the Marketing Innovation Awards, and the Marque Awards along with a party to celebrate Marketing Mag’s 100 year history.

These celebrations come on the heels of the revitalization in 2007 of Marketing Magazine. This year, the mag has switched to a biweekly magazine format from it’s previous weekly tabloid format. The editorial content has been refocused to provide a more balanced perspective on agencies, marketing and media, with a conscious effort to provide a national perspective by including voices from the east, the west and Quebec as well as Toronto.

Good news as well for PR practitioners. Loudon, who once worked in a public relations role at Canada’s Stratford Festival, signalled during his meeting with the CCPRF members that Marketing will provide more coverage to public relations as part of the marketing mix. This is timely, as advertising and public relations perspectives converge in the new online social media and their application to community building and marketing.

During our conversation, Loudon also told me that Marketing will be revamping their online presence, with a new Website in 2008 and by launching an afternoon edition of Marketing Daily email newsletter in addition to the morning edition, which has proven to be hugely popular.

You can watch Chris Loudon’s interview with me here. It runs about 5 minutes.

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