2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Porch piracy is a $20 billion a year problem, with an average of 16 packages stolen every second in North America. That’s over 500 million packages taken from people’s porches in a single calendar year. But there is a solution: smart home doorbell cameras can reduce theft by up to 50%.

Ecobee is a leading smart home and doorbell camera brand. It helps people feel safe in their home and keeps an eye on their packages. Unfortunately, 1 in 5 ecobee packages are reported stolen, and those homeowners can’t protect themselves if the security cameras they ordered are stolen before they can be installed.

Ecobee wanted to tackle this problem head-on, decreasing the number of Ecobee packages stolen and increasing the number of Ecobee products sold.

The brand spoke to homeowners in Toronto and Montreal, finding people who had experienced porch theft in the past. They visited their homes and asked them to share their experience with porch theft and package deliveries. The research revealed an interesting behaviour. Thieves can’t resist a delivery package, but they completely ignore the everyday items that are often left on porches.

Armed with this insight, the agency challenged the creative team to come up with a solution to Ecobee’s stolen package problem.

Introducing the “I Loath Porch Pirates” package.

It robs porch pirates of their opportunity to steal by transforming standard brown ecobee shipping boxes into something nobody wants to steal: a blue recycling bin. The design camouflages the shipping box, making it less likely to attract the attention of porch pirates and hiding the package in plain sight.

The promise was simple: Get all the security you need in a box porch pirates can’t see.

They launched the campaign entirely on social media, targeting neighbourhoods with a higher incidence of reported theft. Using a combination of video, carousels, and paid posts, they advertised Ecobee’s whole home security solutions and promised to ship them in an “I Loath Porch Pirates” package.

To create the package, they transformed typical brown shipping boxes used for online purchases into what looked like a blue recycling bin, an item found on porches everywhere, but no one wants to steal.

To complete the disguise, they only placed shipping labels on the bottom of the box. When couriers left the package on doorsteps, there were no visible markings to indicate it was a delivery, making it even harder for potential thieves to recognize the package from a distance, and ensuring homeowners got their packages.

Strategic planning helped identify a behavioural insight that was hiding in plain sight. Through conversations with homeowners, the agency realized that while packages are quickly stolen, other items sit on porches undisturbed, such as recycling bins. This observation was the spark the creative team needed to find a game-changing solution.

The “I Loath Porch Pirates” package was very successful, delivering on its two objectives. First, it was reported that Ecobee package thefts dropped from 20% to 0% during the campaign period, meaning that for every Ecobee package shipped, a homeowner actually got their product. Second, Ecobee sales increased 170% during the 4-week campaign versus the previous period. The media budget was the same.

As it turns out, the “I Loathe Porch Pirates” package robs porch pirates of their opportunity to steal, proving that game-changing ideas can be hidden in plain sight.

Credits

Creative Agency: Leo Toronto
Ben Tarr: President
Steve Persico: Chief Creative Officer
Tahir Ahmad: Chief Strategy Officer
Natasha Dagenais: Managing Director, Account Services
Jerry Yang: Associate Creative Director, Art Director
Michael Carey: Senior Writer
Matt Baggley: Group Account Director
Gord Cathmoir: VP, Post and Print Production
Louis Duarte: Design Director
Donna Liu: Designer
Yar Kukhtin: 3D Designer
Robin Osmond: Graphic Artist
Ryan Tomka: Editor/Videographer
Dan Purdy: Motion Graphics Artist
Emily Ryder: Producer
William Trush: Producer
Ryan Roberts: SVP, Group Strategy Director

Client: Ecobee
Nicole Avery: VP, Brand & Marketing Communications
Tom Kirby: Director, Brand Strategy & Planning
Fatima Reyes: Senior Communications Manager
Malika Minotra: Product Marketing Manager
Stephanie Johnson: Senior Brand Manager
Becky Scott: Social Media Manager
Kevin Sormon: Senior Manager, UX
Carys Roberts: Communications Specialist