Cineplex faced a fundamental challenge: the entertainment company had strong functional awareness, but they were surprisingly weak on brand affinity. Cineplex needed to build an emotional connection with consumers and stand for something beyond its utility as a movie screen company.

All the stress that comes from keeping up with the demands of life leaves little room for fun. With that in mind, Cineplex set out to remind Canadians of the joy that comes from watching a movie.

The brand and Zulu Alpha set out to help Canadians rediscover the importance of pleasure. The agency used the power of storytelling to create a short film that was as entertaining as the films that Cineplex plays on its screens. "Lily and the Snowman" is an animated, two-­minute film about a young woman and her magical snowman.

Cineplex released online trailers and in-­theatre movie posters prior to its release. A blogger outreach program helped seed the film via editorial, curated blog posts and organic peer-­to-­peer sharing.

The film's in-theatre debut was timed to coincide with the much-anticipated new Star Wars film, playing before the feature presentation. In addition, the film and a "making of" video were shared on social media.

In the first 12 days, with an online media budget of only $150,000, the video received 21.8 million views and over 300,000 shares on Facebook and YouTube, while also surpassing objectives for visits to Cineplex.com by over 300%.

The film has surpassed 30 million views driven by a 9:1 ratio of organic to paid views, and exceeding the brand's video views objective by over 1,300%. It's been shared 620,000 times and has 98% positive sentiment. What's more, Cineplex's brand tracking shows a 37.5% increase in brand affinity.

The film's success contributed to making December a record month for Cineplex, with a 24.7% increase in ticket sales. Cineplex.com visits were up 51%, Facebook followers increased by 31% and Twitter followers were also up 26% vs. last year.