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Danny Kucharsky has been nominated for several writing awards. He’s won gold awards in three of the last four years, including the last two. This article by Danny won Gold in the Best Retail Article category at the Canadian Business Press’ 2007 Kenneth R. Wilson Memorial Awards:

Friendly Funerals: In a bid to pre-sell more of their services to baby boomers, funeral homes are trying to make death a user-friendly experience
Marketing Magazine, April 10, 2006

Shakespeare in the Park plays, gospel concerts, bird watching, tree hugging, historical walking tours, jogging and picnics are not the first things that spring to mind when you think of cemeteries and funerals. [read more]

See what the judges said about this article

 

This article by Danny won Gold in the Best Merchandising/Marketing Article at the Canadian Business Press’ 2006 Kenneth R. Wilson Memorial Awards:

A Vote For Bleue: Having rallied Quebeckers behind Labatt’s “fun” party, Jonathan Bleue is ready to take the stage again
Marketing Magazine, Quebec regional supplement, March 2005

A mandatory three-day weekend. Bars that stay open until 4 a.m. Better muzak and candy dispensers on elevators. No taxes on “essential” goods like CDs. And a life full of fun, fun, fun, along with the creation of a Gross National Fun Product. [read more]

 

This article by Danny won a Gold in 2004 from Canadian Business Press in the Best Profile of a Company category:

Pfizer Finds Its Ad Groove: An amusingly sunny Viagra spot, smart direct-to-consumer advertising, effective marketing across a long list of brands and innovative new products earned Pfizer Canada our honour as Marketer of the Year for 2002
Marketing Magazine, February 10, 2003

The old-fashioned musical-style TV ad was only supposed to run last spring. But then something happened. Radio DJs talked it up, people started singing the song and a smile would cross their faces every time they heard it, recalls Maxine Thomas, strategic planner at agency Taxi in Toronto. Aside from becoming part of the country’s pop culture, awareness scores for the ad were incredible. At its peak weekly measurement, the spot reached 90% of its target male market, making it the highest level ever tracked by Ipsos-Reid, according to Silvie Letendre, senior manager, corporate affairs at Pfizer Canada in Montreal. [read more]

 

As well, several of Danny’s articles have been finalists for Canadian Business Press awards:

Best Profile of a Company Nomination, 2005:

Convergence Redeemers: Critics can no longer discount Pierre Karl Peladeau’s ability to orchestrate Quebecor’s media properties into a financially successful model of convergence
Marketing Magazine, January 26, 2004

The great year Pierre Karl Peladeau had in 2003 can easily be seen in the contrasting business headlines published exactly one year apart:

-“The perils of Pierre Karl” (Report on Business magazine, December 2002).

 -“Peladeau: A year of redemption” (Financial Post, Dec. 23, 2003).

 It was that kind of year for Peladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor Media and Quebecor Inc. In 2002, he was one of the most vilified CEOs in Canada. The next year, he and his giant media empire are almost hailed as princes. [read more]

Best Profile of a Person Nomination, 2003:

The Barefoot Marketer: Why ex-P&G exec and Eureka! Ranch founder Doug Hall is putting his substantial credentials to work helping P.E.I. artisans buff up their marketing skills
Marketing Magazine, October 14, 2002

Doug Hall has been dubbed a sort of Robin Hood of business and marketing. Others quip that he’s – the barefoot enthusiast – Whatever his moniker, Hall is bringing practical marketing cheer free of charge to a host of small arts and craft businesses and cultural organizations in Prince Edward Island. [read more]

Best Regularly Featured Department or Column Nomination, 2003:

“Bee-mo” and Montreal: The Bank of Montreal/BMO’s complicated relationship with its hometown
Marketing Magazine, September 2, 2002

It looks like Montreal is not the bad two-times-four-letter word it used to be. The Montreal Expos may be leaving town at the end of the baseball season, but the Bank of Montreal has decided to keep Montreal in its name – sort of. [read more]

Can Quebec cut it at Cannes?: What it would take to make the province a winner at the Olympics of the ad business
Marketing Magazine, December 9, 2002

For years, Quebec creative work has struck out at the International Festival of Advertising in Cannes, the big enchilada of the ad award world. Zip, nada, zero have been the award totals for the province. [read more]

Redecorating Quebec’s creative bedrooms: To replace the twin-bed theory of advertising, agencies must prove they can compete globally
Marketing Magazine, February 11, 2002

Don’t you just hate it when this happens? You’ve got a stockpile of bed linens for your twin beds (your marriage is holding together, but it’s obviously on the shaky side). Then the wife or hubbie decides it’s high time to chuck the beds and linens and buy a king-size bed with matching duvet. The marriage hasn’t improved, but the mattresses are pretty darn lumpy and it’s time to redecorate the bedroom. After all, other areas of the house are in much better condition. [read more]

Best Single Article Nomination, 2002:

One Solitude: Leaders in Quebec’s marketing community are worried it is in danger of becoming a creative backwater in an increasingly global advertising world
Marketing Magazine, May 14, 2001

As advertising agency staff and marketers prepare to gather May 31 at Montreal’s Théâtre Saint-Denis to salute the best in Quebec advertising creative at the annual Coq d’or awards, there’s an intense debate within the marketing community over whether something is very wrong with much of the current product. [read more]

Best Regularly Featured Department or Column Nomination, 2002:

Black and Bleue: Labatt refuses to bend in the face of allegations that its Montreal jazz fest posters are racist
Marketing Magazine, August 13, 2001

So much for jazz festivals being mellow events. This year’s jazz festival in Montreal was not only beset by heavy rain showers, but began on a wrong note when one of its major sponsors, Labatt Brewery, was accused of racism. [read more]

The Magnificent Seven?: Publicis Montreal’s new M7 creative unit is promising big results fast. Not everyone is rooting for them
Marketing Magazine, October 22, 2001

 Too many cooks spoil the broth, as the expression goes. But the new M7 creative team at Publicis in Montreal insists that’s just not the case. [read more]

This ain’t Greenpeace: A Quebec play reveals advertising’s foibles and provides a tag line for the next referendum
Marketing Magazine, January 1, 2001

A receptionist greets the audience members, oops, make that clients, at the entrance. She hands each one a presentation brief, rather than a program, and they sit in rolling office chairs arranged helter-skelter throughout the open set. [read more]

 Best Profile of a Person Nomination, 2001:

Queen of Convergence: Sylvie Lalande has mastered content, networks, creativity and the Internet. Now she’s the brains behind Bell’s marketing strategy
Marketing Magazine, November 27, 2000

Sometimes-thankfully not often-you learn a lot about your employer when the lights go out. That’s exactly what happened to Sylvie Lalande. Just months after she joined Bell Canada in Montreal, the Quebec ice storm of 1998 plowed through, plunging much of the province into darkness and putting the giant telephone utility on a disaster footing. [read more]

Best Profile of a Company Nomination, 2000:

Buffing Up Birks: A high-end focus and revamped marketing strategy are providing this once-tarnished jeweller with a brighter-looking future
Marketing Magazine, October 25, 1999

Despite some tough times earlier this decade, there’s no need to consign the famous Birks blue box to the recycling bin. The venerable jewelry retailer has staged a turnaround and is polishing its image after its near-death experience of the early 1990s. [read more]