Astral Out of Home Launches Highly Anticipated 2015 Carte Blanche Competition

–     6^th edition of Carte Blanche advertising competition returns March 23 – April 21  –

 – Carte Blanche expands to agencies in Calgary and Edmonton for the first time this year –

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MONTREAL, March 17, 2015 /CNW/ - Astral Out of Home, a division of Bell Media, announced today the launch of the sixth annual Carte Blanche – a creative competition for Canadian advertising agencies with a trip to Cannes and a free out-of-home campaign up for grabs. Carte Blanche invites creative agencies to develop a brand new, killer, out-of-home idea for the client of their choice, to be judged by the creative community and a jury of their peers. The competition is open to advertising agencies in Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, and - for the first time ever - Calgary and Edmonton.

"Over the past six years, Carte Blanche has developed a serious reputation within the creative community, becoming an annual tradition in the agency world," said Nathalie Doré, Vice-President, Marketing and Innovation, Bell Media Sales, Quebec. "It's a privilege for Astral Out of Home to support creativity and innovation among Canadian advertising geniuses. And a little competition always makes things interesting."

Continuing its tradition of expanding its reach, Carte Blanche once again will increase the markets eligible to enter. Agencies in Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, and now Calgary and Edmonton, are all invited to submit entries for Carte Blanche.

"Fresh on the heels of the Astral Out of Home expansion into Alberta including our acquisition of Macdonald Outdoor in Edmonton and the launch of our new canvasses in Calgary, we are thrilled to expand Carte Blanche to include agencies in these markets," said Lucy Collin, Vice-President, Marketing and Innovation, Bell Media Sales, English Canada. "There is a huge amount of creative energy in these cities and we can't wait to see what they will come up with." 

**Media Note** – Photos of previous Carte Blanche submissions are available at BellMedia.ca/PR.

The Carte Blanche process begins with agencies creating and submitting a new, out-of-home ad for a client at www.carteblancheforcreatives.com. There is no creative brief and entrants are given "carte blanche" to develop a concept and there is no fee to enter. Ads are then open for voting from the creative community who will determine the Top 10 finalists in each market. A jury comprised of participating agencies are then brought together to determine the winning submissions. The winning campaign will be awarded a trip for two to the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and an Astral Out of Home campaign valued at $50,000.

Participants in the Carte Blanche competition must create a new ad for a client in a predetermined out-of-home format in each target market, as follows:

• Toronto transit shelter in English: (68 ¼"H x 47 ¼"L)
• Digital horizontal billboard for Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary: (10' H x 12' W)
• Montréal vertical billboard in French (16' H x 12' W)

Participants may submit their work between March 23 and April 21, 2015 on the competition website (http://www.carteblancheforcreatives.ca) for full rules and regulations are also available on the site.

Important dates:

• March 23 - April 21: Competition open for submissions
• April 23 to 31: Voting and commentary from the creative community
• May 4: Unveiling of the 10 finalists in each market
• May 4 to 7: Agency jury deliberations
• May 19, 20 and 28: Announcement of winners in each market

Toronto and Western Canada winners will be announced May 19 and 20, respectively. The Montreal winner will be announced May 28, 2015 at L'Arsenal during the closing day of the C2MTL conference.

Carte Blanche was conceived and developed by Astral Out of Home in 2010 to support and reward creativity within advertising agencies in Montréal and Toronto. Highly anticipated by the creative community every year, the competition has since grown to include Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. Carte Blanche is a accompanied by a strategic marketing campaign to solicit entries including a road show by Bell Media's Marketing and Creativity teams, promoting creativity within the agencies through a series of in-person presentations.

For more information, to register, to vote or to catch up on the latest news, visit the competition website or follow Carte Blanche on Facebook and Twitter.

About Astral Out of Home
Astral Out of Home, a division of Bell Media, is one of Canada's leading out-of-home advertising companies with over 9,500 advertising faces strategically located in the Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia markets. Driving innovation on one of the country's the most dynamic media platforms, Astral Out of Home is committed to staying at the forefront of the latest technological trends, offering advertisers the opportunity to deliver powerful messages that engage and connect with consumers. For more details, visit www.bellmedia.ca.

About Bell Media
With passion and an unrelenting commitment to excellence, Bell Media creates content and builds brands that entertain, inform, engage, and inspire audiences through the platforms of their choice. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. Bell Media owns 30 local television stations led by CTV, Canada's #1 television network; 35 specialty channels, including TSN and RDS, Canada's most-watched specialty channels in English and French; and four pay TV services, including The Movie Network and Super Écran. Bell Media is also Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 106 licensed radio stations in 54 markets across Canada. Bell Media owns Astral Out of Home, one of Canada's most dynamic and innovative out-of-home advertising companies with a network of more than 9,500 advertising faces in Québec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. Bell Media also operates more than 200 websites; delivers TV Everywhere with premium subscription on-demand streaming service CraveTV, as well as its innovative GO video streaming services including CTV GO, TMN GO, and TSN GO; holds an equity stake in digital startup Hubub; is partners in Cirque du Soleil Media, a joint venture with Cirque du Soleil; and owns Dome Productions Inc., a multi-platform production company. Bell Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. For more on Bell Media, please visit www.bellmedia.ca.

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