WTR – What The ruckus on Instagram
We’re back at it with our second instalment of the WTR (what the ruckus) series featuring this handy guide to Instagram. If you’ve wondered whether your brand should have an Instagram account or what level of effort it takes to run one – look no further. We’ve got stats, who’s doing it well and of course, our recommendation on whether Instagram is right for you.
Check it out
Posted by
Gary Edgar
on 20/01/2015
That time we won Boutique Agency of the Year!
The award comes amidst a pretty great streak including another IABC award of Excellence for our work with Husqvarna Canada, an IABC Silverleaf award and CPRS Ace award, all for our work in social strategy and content development.
While the award was definitely unexpected, I believe it reflects the dedication and strong work the ruckus team shows everyday and the passion we have for our clients.

This Week’s Ruckus Makers (Dec 14-18)
This Week’s Ruckus Makers (Dec 14-18)
About Us
We built ruckus to work with brands to find and tell their story through rich, compelling and relevant social content. Find out how we can help you make a ruckus.
© 2016 ruckus digital, all rights reserved
This Week’s Ruckus Makers (Oct 12 – 16)
This Week’s Ruckus Makers (Oct 12 – 16)
Ruckus Digital launches inaugural speaker series
Twitter Canada’s, Cam Gordon (@cam_gordon), will join us for our inaugural ruckus makers speaker series to discuss some of the recent twitter updates and best practices for brands.
Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to learn how you can best use Twitter for your brand and get your questions answered directly by Twitter.
WHEN: Thursday, October 22 2015 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM
WHERE: 365 Bloor St East, Suite 1700, Toronto, ON M4W 3L4
To RSVP, please email info@ruckusdigital.ca
If you would like to bring along a guest, they can RSVP to the above email to attend.
We look forward to seeing you on October 22nd!
Crabbie’s Launches on Twitter



This week’s ruckus makers (June 8 – 12)
This week’s ruckus makers (June 8 – 12)
- Big news at Twitter headquarters this week as Dick Costolo leaves his post as the CEO. What’s next for the platform and what do agencies want to see next?
- Interesting stats coming this week regarding restaurants using Instagram to boost reservations.
- U.S. digital ad spend continues to rise, with similar trends in Canada.
- Publishers who are looking to diversify are finally taking notice of eSports.
- How one company utilized the Chinese version of Google Street view to help with promotions during fashion week.
- Moe Arora joins the ruckus team as Senior Digital Strategist. Check him out on Twitter @moearora.
This Week’s Ruckus Makers (Nov 23-27)
This Week’s Ruckus Makers (Nov 23-27)
Truth in Content Matters. When in doubt, disclose!
Have you ever trusted a recommendation or an opinion of a friend only to find out later that they were offered an incentive or they were paid to provide that reco? It can leave you feeling exploited and stupid. Over the last few years social media has played a role of uncovering these individuals, bloggers or brands and their bad choices. Many of which could have been forgiven if they just were open about their biases. Don’t be a brand that misleads consumers and doesn’t follow these unspoken guidelines.
In the U.S., however, it’s not unspoken. It’s the law. Advocating for consumers, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), regulates and fines marketers when they do not adhere to their regulations. Since 2010, the FTC has been on the forefront of misleading social media advertising and endorsements and has held many brands accountable for their deceptive behaviour. For example, the FTC recently fined Cole Haan for a Pinterest contest they hosted which required consumers to create their own pin boards of Cole Haan products with the hashtag “#WanderingSole”. The FTC argued that the pins were incentivized by the opportunity to win a prize and it wasn’t clear to the average Pinterest user that this content was being shared for a chance to win a prize.
But what about Canada? Right now we don’t have an equivalent to the FTC. The closest organization might be the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, which is a self-regulated organization. The most relevant policy they have is the clause of authenticity and disclosure that states “no advertisement shall be presented in a format or style that conceals its commercial intent.” Because of this lack of a Canadian legal direction, many Canadian brands and lawyers don’t adhere to the FTC’s guidelines.
Whether you’re working contest for your Facebook page or writing your own cooking blog, it’s just as important to disclose any bias or payment you might have received. And if you’re not willing to disclose or admit the relationship, you might be crossing a line.
When creating content as a brand or with a partner, consider the following:
Influencers:
- If a product or service is provided, or an exchange of payment is made, ensure that that relationship is disclosed. If the influencer is tweeting about your brand have them use the hashtag #sponsored or #ad. If they’re creating a video to promote your brand, ensure that disclosure is provided within the video as well as the video description.
Contests:
- If you’re asking a consumer to create and share their own content in exchange for an entry for a contest, be sure that content is tagged with a #Contest hashtag. To ensure that the consumer uses this hashtag it’s best to include it the full hashtag. For example with Polysporin, we hosted a contest where we encouraged users to share a picture of their most painful shoes and tag it with the hashtag #SavetheShoesContest.

Character Limits:
- Just because Twitter has a 140 character limit does not mean you can’t disclose. In these situations #ad is the easiest and shortest option.
Employees/Clients:
- Encouraging your employees to share great news, or sharing great news about a client is a great way to spread awareness among an engaged audience. Before you do so, inquire if your company has a social media policy – how much are you allowed to share as a company? Is there a process that you need to follow beforehand?
- If you’re allowed to speak publicly on social media about your company’s products or services, ensure that you’re disclosing the relationship within your social profile, but also the individual post or tweet.
All in all, Canadians aren’t regulated in the same way as the U.S., however by following these guidelines, you might be able to build a stronger and more trusting relationship with your consumers, and maybe even avoid a social media shaming from any missteps.
Posted by
Katie Boland
on 18/09/2015