2017 Winner
OTMPC
Where Am I?
FCB TORONTO
SilverGame Changer
BronzeCreative Catalyst
BronzeTurnaround Strategy
When something is familiar, it’s only natural to take it for granted. Ontario is no different. It conjures up images of Niagara Falls, the CN Tower, trees and lakes.
For Canadians it all seems too familiar, too much like home, with nothing new or intriguing. So they tune out communications from the province.
Research revealed that when it comes to travel, people are looking for the unfamiliar, seeking experiences that are new and different from where they live and what they know.
This contradicted the conventional approach to marketing within the tourism category of focusing on well-known landmarks.
The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Commission (OTMPC) realized that to break through and change Canadians perceptions of Ontario, it needed to take the counter-intuitive approach and focus on all the people, places and experiences in Ontario that people don’t know about.
Working with FCB, the brand created a campaign that didn’t reveal that the creative was from Ontario but instead challenged Ontarians to answer the question: “Where am I?”
Using the power of intrigue, on June 22 the team launched a ten-day teaser phase to the campaign using 60-second TV, video and social media. Intriguing, unfamiliar yet desirable content were crafted in the form of riddles, and challenged people to answer the question of “Where Am I?” without revealing the answer.
The campaign drove people to a microsite to take a guess. A built in geo-guesser using Google Maps API created a virtual game of “hot and cold” in kilometers.
The team then revealed a new clue each day and on July 2, they revealed that the incredible places and experiences were actually in Ontario. People could find more details by visiting Ontariotravel.net and exploring more of what Ontario has to offer.
Participation and engagement with the campaign was extraordinary, with one in 309 Canadians from 480 cities participating in the online guessing game (only 13% guessed correctly).
After the big reveal, travel to and within the province increased dramatically, with overnight visits tripling, summer trips nearly doubling and the campaign returning $7.23 cents for every dollar spent. It has also now been launched across the U.S. and the U.K.
Credits
Brand: Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Commission
Agency: FCB
VP, chief strategy officer/senior planner: Shelley Brown
VP, planning director: Heather Segal
Senior strategist: Anastasia Tubanos
Lead user experience: Kristy Pleckaitis
Digital strategist: Shelagh Hartford
CCO: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Jeff Hilts, Jon Flannery
Senior AD: Jeff Hilts, Rob Dean
AD: Cody Sabatine
Senior CW: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
Senior CW: Dave Delibato
CW: Joseph Vernuccio
VP, Management director: Sunil Sekhar
VP, business director: Sarah Banks
Account supervisor: Violet Karbalaei
Account coordinator: Skye Gandy
Producer: Rea Kelly, Sumit Ajwani
Senior project manager: Michelle Simpson
Project coordinator: Emily Watkin, Carly Roy
Production company: OPC
Executive producer: Liz Dussault, Harland Weiss, Donovan Boden
Line producer: Karen Harnisch, Marc Swenker
Director: Andrew Cividino
Photographer: Joey Panetta
DOP: James Klopko
Editing house: Rooster House
Production editor: Marc Langley
Assistant editor: Eric Dubois
Transfer facility: Alter Ego
Colourist: Eric Whipp
Online facility: Fort York
VFX online artist: Ernie Mordak
Online assistant: Melissa Vasiliev
Music: Silent Joe
Music track director: Jody Colero
Executive producer: Jane Heath
Composer: Bruce Peninsula (arranged by Todor Kobakov)
Sound engineer: Vlad Nikolic
For partnership inquiries, please contact Neil Ewen at newen@brunico.com.