MADE|NOUS celebrates Canadian content, shining a spotlight on the country’s world class creators in television, film, and gaming. But for all the great content produced, there are still many stories waiting to be told; stories that represent the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour, of trans and LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized and underrepresented communities. MADE|NOUS, which represents the Canadian audiovisual industry, needs to be accountable for better representation on Canadian screens. This inspired the Seek More campaign.

When we Seek More, we learn about different cultures and perspectives which makes the world of storytelling and content creation richer and more diverse. Recognizing the industry as a whole needed to do a better job when it came to diversity, inclusion, and equity on screen, MADE|NOUS decided to create a campaign that would not only push for change, but also plan to inspire. The Seek More campaign turned the spotlight on a set of diverse content creators that could help represent the industry they work within.

MADE|NOUS used its brand platform to raise the awareness that the industry needs to change in real, measurable ways and that more equitable representation will make their content that much greater.

The campaign features six of Canada’s top creators, including Simu Liu, Shamier Anderson, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, Mélissa Bédard, Adib Alkhalidey, and Cynthia Wu-Maheux, telling their stories in their own words. With no topic off limits, each creator shared a vision of what a more inclusive industry and world might look like, and how we can all benefit from embracing perspectives different from our own.

For each talent, a docu-style two-minute video was produced, as well as 30s and 15s cut down versions of each spot for broadcast, social and digital placements. Above and beyond their 6 talent featured on broadcast, MADE|NOUS also engaged additional celebrity ambassadors to amplify the message through their own social presence, and additional earned media interviews. To further encourage Canadians to Seek More, supporting contextual ads offered Canadian content recommendations from the ambassadors.

So far, the campaign has seen exceptional results in paid and earned media. On broadcast, MADE|NOUS have been able to extend its presence through PSA status. The digital campaign has received over 6 million impressions with over 800,000 completed video views in its first week. In earned media, the campaign has been featured in both English and French news channels and publications such as ET Canada, CTV News National, etalk, Toronto Star, Ottawa Sun, Playback, Radio Canada, Tout le monde en parl, La Presse Plus, Le Devoir Grenier, Elle Quebec, Journal Metro, and Hollywood PQ to name a few. Earned reach captured more than 16 million impressions in the first week of launch alone.

A day before the campaign’s official launch date of April 14, Canada learned of MADE|NOUS’s campaign from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when he tweeted Simu Liu’s docu-video to his 5.6 million followers, in advance of Liu’s Kim’s Convenience finale. Given the importance of this message and the approval of PSA status of the campaign, CBC donated air time to feature the campaign at a time when all paid media opportunities were sold out.

To further amplify the message, the campaign was also shared on social by key parliamentarians: Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault; Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen; and MP for Hull-Aylmer and Chair of the Canadian Caucus of Black Parliamentarians, Greg Fergus. Other key partners included Cineplex, CTV, etalk, and a CBC Gem ‘Seek More’ collection on its platform. In addition, other members of the industry further helped amplify the campaign which included Marvel, eOne, Elevation Pictures, CBC, Radio Canada, TIFF, B.L.A.C.K., ImagineNATIVE, CMPA—to name a few—all amplifying the campaign on their own social channels.

The campaign exceeded planning goals, the message reaching all provinces and territories through a combination of broadcast on prime channels and targeted online campaigns. Seek More has influenced change beyond the scope of the campaign. By increasing pressure on the industry to rethink not only what content gets produced but also their funding models, the hope is that Seek More will open the doors for a wider range of submissions for new content and perspectives to be produced.