The latest highlights in our monthly editor's newsletter of new content on warc.com include our new 2012 Toolkit to help you with the challenges of the year ahead, winning case studies from the Canadian CASSIES and analysis of the most recent IPA Effectiveness Awards. And there's an update on the Warc and Admap Prizes.

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Marketing toolkit for 2012

Marketers face an undoubtedly tough and turbulent year ahead, but help is at hand. Our 2012 Toolkit, published today, highlights the key challenges of the year ahead and how major brands are responding.

In the Toolkit, you will find the latest thinking and best practice for ten topics, including: targeting the new middle classes, 'Glocal-plus' brand management, orchestrated communications, brand journalism, social media measurement and much more. Get Warc's 2012 Toolkit.

Not a subscriber to warc.com? Download a summary version.

CASSIES case studies: winning against the odds

The winners of the latest Canadian CASSIES represent campaign effectiveness at its best, with many brands battling strong headwinds from the global economic crisis.

The Grand-Prix-winning Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism is a case in point: its 'Find Yourself' campaign shrugged off a 7% annual contraction in the travel market by targeting pre- and empty-nesters in search of an 'experience'.

And despite new legislation making James Ready's 'buck-a-beer' positioning unsustainable, the discount brand reinforced its value positioning with a campaign focused on saving its customers money.

Health and wellness was another noticeable trend among some of the food and drink brands, particularly McCain: the 'It's All Good' campaign majored on the natural ingredients in its Superfries and pizza ranges.

And iced-tea concentrate Tetley Infusions similarly promoted its pure, additive-free credentials, which it enhanced with tongue-in-cheek creative that drew comparisons with powder-based alternatives.

Browse the winners of the 2012 CASSIES.

Insights from the IPA Effectiveness Awards

Analysis accompanying the publication of the 2011 IPA Effectiveness Awards is now online for the first time, in which the judges discuss the key themes and learnings from of the latest generation of case studies.

Harnessing 'people power' asks whether participation-led campaigns can have any significant impact beyond a brand's existing fanbase. In a similar vein, Tell them and they'll forget looks at the growing popularity of experiential marketing and the difficulty of measuring its ROI.

There's also Media planning in the digital age which considers the challenge posed by the proliferation of media channels. And Social by design focuses on the most popular new channel of all – social media – and the importance of understanding its human dimension than its technological one.

Browse all the new analysis papers.

Warc and Admap Prizes

The official deadline for entries to the 2012 Warc Prize for Innovation has now passed. But if you have yet to submit your entry, don't worry – due to many requests for more time, we will be announcing a new extended deadline later this week.

And we can confirm that the deadline for submissions to the Admap Prize has now been extended until 20 February. So there's still plenty of time to prepare your ideas on the future of planning in brand communications.