2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

The Quebec Maple Syrup Producers federation represents more than 11,300 maple syrup producers, and contributes to over 70% of the world's maple syrup production. The federation promotes maple syrup under the Maple from Canada brand.

The federation has dedicated ongoing commercial efforts in the United States, its largest and most promising export market, for the past decade.

However, this market remains challenging to penetrate due to deeply rooted consumer habits, where corn syrup is king. Despite having a local maple syrup industry of their own (in Vermont), nearly half of Americans still struggle to distinguish table syrup from maple syrup on the shelves.

This lack of familiarity obviously hinders consideration and purchase of pure maple syrup, especially given its higher price point.

The objectives of the campaign were to remind Americans that there’s a difference between table and maple syrup, and elevate the perceived value of the latter; stimulate trial and consumption and earn media coverage in the US.

The challenge was to break through in a huge and crowded market, with very modest means and a brand that’s virtually unknown. The budget was around 300 000$, a microscopic fraction of what big American corn syrup brands (Pearl Mining Company, Mrs. Butterworth, Log Cabin, etc.) spend each year.

Diners are the perfect spot to enjoy indulging breakfasts, but why would you pay extra for maple syrup over corn syrup (i.e. the default option) when you barely know the difference?

Turn any and every restaurant into a sampling counter: invite Americans to ask for pure maple syrup with their breakfast restaurant orders, even if it costs extra – and Canada will pay for it.

This promotion would not only eliminate any barrier to trial and consumption, but it would also help make for a good media story: Canadian niceness strikes again: Canada will pick up (part of) your tab if you get
maple syrup.

Given QMSP’s limited resources, the deployment plan would mostly rely on PR and earned media. However, to lend credibility to the initiative, the brand needed to go beyond a press release and a digital landing page. The campaign would also need a few premium, high-impact touchpoints.

These paid placement would then accompany the press release in order to make the campaign feel bigger and substantial.

“Bill the Maple” was launched on December 4 2023. The four-week campaign consisted of a full-page ad in the New York Times on Sunday, December 3, that was framed as an open apology letter to Americans for the extra cost of maple syrup at restaurants. A billboard over an iconic New York diner with the caption “Ask for pure maple syrup. Canada will pay you back”.

An online video that was deployed across the brand's ecosystem. A website (billthemaple.com) on which to claim a refund (with a receipt) and a massive PR outreach efforts (earned media only), targeting journalists and columnists from various media, from daily newspapers, TV channels, morning shows and bloggers. $5 or $10 prepaid credit card was then sent to all Americans who claimed a refund.

In terms of visibility and "conversational capital", the “Bill the Maple” initiative was undoubtedly the most impactful in the history of QMSP in the U.S. market. Less than a week after its launch,
the offensive got 132 hits, including Bloomberg Morning Markets, across Fox News’ Network, The U.S. Sun, PIX11 Morning News WPIX and more – representing a potential of nearly 100 million impressions.

Nearly 10,000 visits were made to the BilltheMaple.com site (4X more than usual on the main site), and a few hundreds claims were made.

Since the federation does not sell maple syrup directly to retailers or consumers (but rather to wholesalers and distributors), it is often difficult to precisely evaluate the precise impact of their marketing efforts on sales and consumption habits. However, a granular analysis carried out in 625 points of sale revealed a sales increase of 4.4% at Kroger and 3.8% at Winn-Dixie. This represents market share gains of 2.1% and 0.9% for these retailers in the syrup category (for the campaign-running period).

The campaign's success in terms of coverage, visibility and positive sentiment prompted maple syrup producers to plan an increase in promotional budget in 2024, in order to be even more present and visible in the United States.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick, Daniel Lobatón
Chief Strategy Officer: Sean McDonald
Executive Creative Director: Xavier Blais
Writer : Nicolas Dubois, Nicolas Labbé
Art Director : Claudia Barbiero
Head of Strategy: Pascal Routhier
Strategist: Anastasia Mojaïsky
Public Relations Director: Kristel Dupont
Public Relations Coordinator: Mégane Landry
Director of Integrated Content - Print/Studio: AJ Merrick
Associate Director of Integrated Production: Kate A. Spencer
Senior Integrated Producer: Terri Winter
Studio Manager: Todd Bennett
Studio Artist: Steph Sherwood, Justin Chan
Studio Retoucher: Todd Bennett, Kostas Loukopoulos
Head of Accounts: Mélanie Châteauneuf
Account Director: Victor Brunton
Account Manager: Adriana Marquis-Duzink, Geneviève Rioux
Content Photographer/Cinematographer:
Denis Gutiérrez-Ogrinc
Editor/Online / VFX / Motion Graphics: Thomas Mckeen (R+D Post)
Audio Engineer: Ed Zych
R+D Post Production Supervisor: Shannon Ing
Digital Team (landing page): Ken Malley, Alex Fleming, Dustin Gamble.
Director - Market Development and Promotion: David Marino
Project Manager - Communication and Promotion: Noémie Durand
Media Agency: CROSSMEDIA
Director, Investment Publishing and OOH: Deborah Small-Augi
Group Account Director: Jennifer Dolan
Account Director: Emily Andrews
Incentive Parter: Incentive Insights
Director of Operations: Shawn Phillips

Client: David Marino