Who: Canadian Tire, with Publicis’ Toronto and Montreal offices handling creative; Ethnicity Matters for multicultural; #paid for influencer; Touché and the retailer's own digital investment team for media.
What: “Canada’s Winter Store,” a new multicultural campaign that tells the story of a newcomer family from India who are getting their first taste of Canadian winter, and discovering the things they love the most about it.
What: “Canada’s Winter Store,” a new multicultural campaign that tells the story of a newcomer family from India who are getting their first taste of Canadian winter, and discovering the things they love the most about it.
When & Where: The campaign launched on Jan. 8 and is running through to Feb. 11. It's anchored by a 30-second TV and OLV spot in English, French, and Hindi, with targeted in-language buys on both Omni TV and YouTube. Supporting the TV and OLV buy are social media ads on YouTube, store exterior displays, and a TikTok influencer program.
Why: Though the retailer has featured newcomer stories in previous marketing efforts, Natalya Lukie, associate vice-president of strategic marketing at Canadian Tire Corporation, said that “this is the first time we’ve created a story from this lens.”
In fact, this campaign intentionally courts those growing demographics to expand the company’s customer base and cement the brand’s self-proclaimed position as “Canada’s Store.”
“While we are fortunate to operate in 504 communities across the country and help equip many Canadians of all ages, we don’t take that opportunity for granted,” Lukie added. “With the growth of immigration and hundreds of thousands of new Canadians arriving annually who have little to no connection to any Canadian retailers, we believe there is an opportunity to help them navigate life in Canada with more ease, equipping them for its unique landscape, seasons and recreational pastimes.”
How: In the 30-second spot, the featured family tries a number of typical winter activities, from exciting outings snowshoeing and sledding, to more mundane tasks like shovelling snow. Throughout the experience, the family’s daughter continuously struggles, clearly enjoying the activities less than her family. That is, until she sinks into an outdoor hot tub on a cold day.
Through the brand’s own research, it discovered that while some newcomers find this time of year to be daunting, they also have a “deep appreciation” for the uniqueness of the season. “Their dominant emotion around the season tends to be curiosity and excitement—this insight was the foundation of our campaign,” said Lukie.
The moment a person discovers something to love about the season is a “universal truth” shared by newcomers and longtime Canadians alike, said Lukie.
“We wanted to show how much fun it is to find your winter thing, whether you’ve lived here your whole life, or this is your first Canadian winter,” said Vini Dalvi, chief creative officer at Publicis Canada. “As a newcomer, I could really see myself in this story, embracing the excitement of trying different activities and exploring the season.”
And we quote: “The messaging in this campaign marries our in-depth understanding of life in Canada with our brand association of celebrating firsts. We’re committed to making life in Canada better by helping our customers make the most out of the season.” — Natalya Lukie, associate vice-president, strategic marketing, Canadian Tire Corporation
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