North of the 49th | Amway

It was a good weekend to be a fan of Canadian athletics AND Amway Canada's exclusive brands, Artistry and Nutrilite, thanks to a pair of marquee international events featuring both brands in action.

First off, we'll start with Canada's impressive five-medal haul at the weekend's Skate Canada International event, held in Kingston, ON. Almost 20,000 figure-skating fans walked through the gates at the K-Rock Centre to see some of the world's finest figure skaters compete — and they got the added benefit of seeing the Artistry brand in action.

Even the fact that some of Canada's elite skaters were out of action due to injuries couldn't dim the shine that five medal-winning performances provided. Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier (ice dance) and Patrick Chan (men's singles) took home gold medals, Kristin Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch (pairs) earned a silver medal, and Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers (pairs) and Amelie Lacoste (women's singles) all stepped up to the podium to receive bronze medals.

Best of all, in addition to the almost 20,000 attendees who watched the action live, countless more (literally countless at this time — TV ratings haven't come in) saw all the action unfold on the national broadcast network CBC, along with its subsidiary network bold and on-line at CBCSports.ca. And the Artistry brand was front and centre, both on the ice (rink board ads) and off (TV commercials, venue advertising, and a booth on the concourse offering free Artistry makeovers and an introduction to the on-line virtual makeover tool). Artistry is the proud skin care and cosmetics sponsor of Skate Canada.

The Nutrilite brand was also in action thanks to the stunning performance of the women's national soccer team. It's currently in Cancun, Mexico competing for a spot in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, and they've enjoyed a dominating start to the tournament. In two games, Canada sits atop the group standings with two wins: a 1-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 29th, and an 8-0 shellacking of Guyana last night — a dominating Hallowe'en performance that should put a scare into the club's future opponents.

The Canadian squad was led by Christine Sinclair, she of the Amway-sponsored FC Gold Pride of the WPS, who scored four goals in the win over Guyana. Team Canada faces off tomorrow against the host nation and while both squads have already qualified for the knockout round, a win or draw would send Canada into the next round as winners of the Group Stage. The knockout stage begins on Nov. 5th. If Canada draws or wins tomorrow, they'll face off against the second-place team in Group B — the loser of today's match between the U.S. and Costa Rica; a loss tomorrow pits them against the winner of that match. Nutrilite is a proud associate sponsor of both the Canadian men's and women's national team.

The best way to keep up with all of our sponsorships? Become a fan of our Facebook pages. Visit both the all-new Artistry Canada page and our Nutrilite Canadian Soccer page and 'like' them both for the latest news, updates, and exciting product and sponsorship information!

And if you've been inspired by the winning ways of our national figure skaters and soccer stars, we've got an exciting opportunity for you to do a little winning yourself! Visit the aforementioned Artistry Canada Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/artistrycanada) and scroll down to the post that states "Artistry Timeless Moments Sweepstakes". When you click on the Skate Canada image, you'll have an opportunity to enter your e-mail for a chance to win free Artistry skin care and cosmetics products for a year!

Enter today and share in the winning!

I'm looking at the temperature application on my desktop here and it's reading four degrees. Yeah, I guess it's safe to say winter's well on its way — and that's great news for Artistry fans across this great land of ours. And beyond!

Excluding hockey, if you had to rank the top Canadian winter sports, which would be at the top of the list? Basketball's growing in popularity, but it's not there yet. Curling has its advocates and they're very passionate about their game. Football? Well, the CFL does start in spring and the Grey Cup's in November so it doesn't count.

No, I think you could make a very strong argument that figure skating is one of the most popular winter spectator sports — and fans across Canada (and more!) will get to see Artistry in action all season long.

Kingston, ON is hosting the Skate Canada International event this weekend. It's one of the ISU's Grand Prix events — marquee tour competitions that are hosted around the world — and that means that in addition to receiving most of the world's top men's, women's, pairs, and ice dance skaters, Kingston will also be receiving the attention of the figure skating world throughout the globe.

If you're a fan of figure skating, this is the event to watch. If you watch, you're going to see the Artistry brand in action. Canadians get to see Amway and Artistry commercials on the CBC network broadcasts and in-house through venue advertising and scoreboard promos.

And some of that will spill over to potential customers outside the Canadian borders. IBOs from around the world will see the Artistry logo on the rink boards and we honestly believe that this increased exposure can help you get a foot — or a skate, as the case may be — in the door with new prospects.

Let's not forget about the Web. CBCSports.ca will be covering this event as well, but the most exciting addition to the Internet is the all-new Artistry Canada Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/ArtistryCanada). We've got a team of Amway Canada staffers on site in Kingston (where we'll be doing makeovers and demoing the virtual makeover tool on the concourse), and they'll be updating the Facebook page throughout the event.

Oh, and if you visit the FB page, you can also win a free year's worth of Artistry skin care and cosmetics. That's certainly something to 'like'.

Is Canadian figure skating at its peak in popularity yet? Probably not. We've yet to achieve the heady heights that we saw during the Orser/Stoyko/Browning/Manning years — but we're not far off. Last year, everything was glittered with gold. Fan interest in the sport is rising with a new crop of engaging, talented, and internationally competitive skaters in all disciplines. Winning breeds interest and, as the official skin care and cosmetics sponsor of Skate Canada, we're proud to be there every Salchow, Axel, and Toe Loop along the way.

Are you a fan of figure skating? What do you think of this sponsorship? And, if you're a customer or someone who has just stumbled upon this blog, how does Amway Canada and Artistry's affiliation with Skate Canada impact your perception of the company?

Check your local listings for broadcast times, become a fan of the Artistry Canada Facebook page, and make sure you see what happens when we put Artistry on ice at this weekend's Skate Canada International event in Kingston, ON.

Comments, as always, are open. All the best!

Jay