Canadian Marketing Association to Expand Blockchain Initiatives
Overview
Canadian marketing executives are looking into blockchain to offer opportunities in the marketing space.
New Appointment and Strategic Focus
The Canadian Marketing Association (MCA) is looking to expand its blockchain marketing space with the hiring of Joaquim Miro, a partner and chief marketing officer at global consulting and development firm MLG Blockchain, as a member of its Martech Council. According to a statement from the MCA, Miro would be specifically focused on creating blockchain opportunities in the market sector.
“As the blockchain marketing space continues to grow, an increasing amount of new marketing tools are available for professionals,” Miro commented on his appointment. “By remaining at the forefront of upcoming marketing technologies and trends, my goal is to help establish and bring forth the best practices within this fast-growing space.”
The Role of the MCA and the Martech Council
As the preeminent voice of the Canadian marketing profession, the MCA is tasked with promoting thought leadership in the domestic marketing space as well as fostering development and growth via a network of Thought Leadership Councils. These councils provide an avenue for CMA members to access vital tools and strategic insights.
Meanwhile, the Martech Council is in charge of supporting thought leadership and understanding to equip Canadian markets with the necessary information on conducting business with emerging distributed ledger technology. The council also serves as a significant source of data to explore emerging trends, forward-thinking leadership, and the human implications of these new technologies.
Additional Blockchain Developments in Canada
Canadian companies are taking the initiative with the use of blockchain technologies on several levels. Last week, the commercial bank National Bank of Canada (NBC) announced its partnership with IT consulting company CGI and blockchain startup Skuchain to pilot-test blockchain for operations involving guarantees and standby letters of credit. NBC is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada.
Under the pilot phase, NBC will conduct a trial project using CGI Trade 360 trade finance platform integrated with Skuchain Contract Builder, an application developed based on the startup’s blockchain platform called Brackets.
Over the weekend, Air Canada announced that it was working with Swiss-based startup Winding Tree to develop a blockchain-based travel distribution solution platform. To facilitate the program, Air Canada signed a letter of intent with Winding Tree to allow its customers to experience blockchain technology integrated into its services. If the plan is fully developed, the Canadian flag carrier will be the first partner of Winding Tree’s blockchain platform, alongside Air France-KLM.