2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Air Canada had their name on the Air Canada Centre, the Toronto Raptors' home stadium, for over 19 years, making itself synonymous with basketball for almost two decades. But when they no longer had arena naming rights, the connection between Canada’s national airline and Canada’s national team was lost.

So when the Raptors were retiring their first jersey ever — for the one and only Vince “Air Canada” Carter — they knew they had an opportunity to get basketball fans talking about Air Canada again, and a chance to honour his legacy and embolden theirs.

The campaign’s objectives were to reignite Air Canada’s association with the Raptors, drive engagement, and create a positive brand halo for Air Canada.

When Vince “Air Canada” Carter was retiring, the brand had an opportunity to say congratulations — from one Air Canada to another.

While most retired players have their numbers raised to the rafters, the agency took Carter’s even higher, creating the world’s highest retirement ceremony for the league’s highest flyer.

They made a custom aircraft styled after the banner that would be raised in the Raptor’s arena, complete with Carter’s number, signature, and iconic dunking silhouette. Then, they put the plane into regular rotation in the Air Canada fleet, allowing number 15 to take off in Toronto again and ensuring its number would be raised to the skies, across the country, with every flight.

And when it came time to reveal the plane, guess who showed up? The man himself. Carter joined fans, influencers, and media members who came to see the plane unveiled and witness the inaugural flight.

The unofficial retirement ceremony took over the city with OOH covering Yonge & Dundas Square, one of Toronto’s most iconic, high-traffic public spaces, as well as a stadium takeover at the retirement game to further honour Vince’s legacy, along with Air Canada’s.

Air Canada became the talk of his retirement, reclaiming their connection to the Raptors.

As a basketball fan, when the news of Vince’s Retirement Ceremony broke, Air Canada’s senior planner flew into action. Validating her initial idea through social listening, they solidified the ongoing connection between Vince’s nickname and the Air Canada brand.

With timing of the essence, the strategy shared the idea with the Air Canada creative leads, turned a brief around in less than 24 hours, and the team had creative ready and presented it to the client in a few days.

Strategic planning also helped inform the campaign channels and ecosystem to ensure the brand connected with fans in the right places and at the right time.

With over 600 cross-country flights for the VinceCarter plane to date and thousands more to come, “Born to Fly” successfully made Air Canada synonymous with the Raptors again by reigniting Air Canada’s association with the Raptors.

The campaign garnered more hashtag mentions of #aircanada than #vincecarter. There was $55.8M in earned media with $0 in celebrity endorsements, including stories on TSN, Sportsnet, Boardroom, the Globe & Mail, TrendHunter, and NBA.com, among others.

Social achieved an engagement rate twice the average performance for Air Canada, creating a strong positive brand halo for the company. This momentum also drove a 334% increase in positive mentions.

And, we made one NBA Hall of Famer cry.

Proving that while some numbers belong in the rafters, others deserve to fly.

Credits

Client: Air Canada
VP, Brand: Andrew Shibata
Director, Sponsorship Marketing: Martine Boulerice
Manager, Sponsorship Marketing: Kim Desrochers
Director, Customer Comms: Madeline Long-Duke
Director, Brand Strategy and Content Marketing: John Xydous
Sr Manager, Content Marketing: Pascale St-Amand
Content Marketing Manager: Alexia Quilez
Sr Manager, Content Production: Bailey Stead
Photography: Celian Genier
Videographer & editor: Lucca Carvalho De Lima Silva, Mike Chantaj
Manager, Social Media: Jenifer Yu
Manager, Social Media Ops: Samantha Etane
Social Content and Community Manager: Jenna Hum
CD: Dzeneta Zunic
Creative Studio Lead: Bettina Carating
Sr Manager, Creative Studio Ops & Dsgn: Lucinda Hancock
Graphic Designers: Dan Colosimo, Rachel Solakis, Anastasiia Sheciakova
Manager, Brand & Corp Events: Benjamin Trattner
Agency: FCB
CCO: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
ECD: Jeremiah McNama
ACD: Coleman Mallery
Sr Art Director: Sanna Kula
Copywriter: Coleman Mallery
Designer: Manjo Gabor
IP: Stephanie Springett
Retoucher: Carly Bright & Marcell Faucher
VP, Content Lead: Ravi Singh
GAD: Rose Noble
Account Supervisor: Joe Aparna & Tyler Huntley-Doherty
CSO: Shelley Brown
VP Strategy: Shelagh Hartford
Strategy Director: Allison Lochhead
MLSE
SVP, Global Partnerships: Jordan Vader
Director, Global Partnerships: Dave Sheedy
Account Manager, Global Partnerships: Sehaj Bhachu
Digital Strategist, Global Partnerships: Daniel Meneley
Manager, Media and Project Management: Graham Latchford
Sr Director, Partnership Marketing: Kimberlee Welch
Director, Commercial Strategy: Morgan Todd
Manager, Strategy, Commercial Marketing: Nick Ardito
SVP, Communications: Dave Haggith
Manager, Corporate Communications: Victoria Malisani
Sr Director, Strategy & Growth Marketing: Terri Mattuci
Sr Manager, Strategy & Growth Marketing: Taylor Mansillo
Digital Strategy Manager: Gabriella Cook
Digital Content Manager, Toronto Raptors: Samantha Skeen
PR: Weber Shandwick
Offline Media: Initiative
Online Media: ACMD