The BC Medical Association, which represents BC’s doctors, recently selected Soya Marketing to develop a social media strategy. The goal of the strategy is to bring awareness to a hot-button issue in BC: the need for greater funding for addiction treatment.

Geraldine Vance is director of communications and public affairs for the association. She said, “The social media bandwagon is full of consultants and interested clients. Finding the people with real expertise and not just a passing knowledge or ability to use the buzz words is the challenge. We found the real goods when we decided to work with Soya.”

Soya Marketing takes a storytelling approach to social media. The agency’s founders, Deborah Collins and Jacqueline Voci ,each draw on their backgrounds working at some of Vancouver’s best-known agencies (like J. Walter Thompson and National PR) and some Vancouver-based brands (like Intrawest and Pivotal.)

Geraldine says, “Deborah and Jacqueline have a real understanding of this new world and how it can be used for PR purposes. They are solid PR practitioners of who do their homework.”

The BCMA is inviting people across BC to participate in a discussion on Facebook on the topic: ‘Is addiction a disease or a human failure?’ Let your voice be heard on this crucial issue.

Our client from Park Royal Shopping Centre, Cindy Papa, recently moved to gorgeous Kelowna. Prior to her move, Cindy led Park Royal’s marketing department for many years. Under her direction Park Royal was one of the first shopping centre’s in Canada to start using social media.

Here’s an interview with Cindy about the Park Royal strategy.

Q: Why did you start using social media as part of your marketing strategy at Park Royal?
A: We started to use social media to reach our back-to-school demographic. This is a difficult demographic to reach with traditional marketing. We are not moving away from traditional marketing – but we are adding social media into the mix. We want to see how the two work together.
Q: What would you say to someone who is hesitating to try social media marketing?
A: You can experiment with a whole new way to reach customers. We have not been working in social media for very long but the results we have seen to date are good. What you’re accomplishing is setting up dialogue and interactive communication. This is an excellent compliment to traditional media.

Q: Why did you choose Soya for your social media strategy?
A: Soya came recommended by our creative director. Upon meeting with Soya, I found them to be informed, respectful of our perspective and our position with our customers.

Q: What did you value most about working with Soya?
A: Very quick turnaround. They delivered on what they said they would and they were flexible to work with.

About Soya Marketing

Soya Marketing is a new kind of PR agency. Soya helps companies boost their brands on Google using social media story telling. Clients include: 2009 World Police & Fire Games, Blast Radius (a member of the Wunderman network), SmartDesign Group and the Dalai Lama Center for Peace & Education.