2026 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Dairy Queen Canada faced a predictable business problems frozen-treat sales decline each autumn as colder weather shifts consumer behaviour toward Warm, seasonal alternatives.

The challenge was therefore not just to drive growth, but to fundamentally improve return on investment by finding a way to scale reach without scaling cost.

Tum falling mapie leaves into scannable coupons, transforming a cultural itual into a national distribution system,.

Using augmented reality, a Snapchat lens allowed users to scan real fallen maple leaves and instantly unlock the DQ offer, in doing so, the campaign transformed a passive cultural moment into an interactive brand experience.

With approximately 1.7 quadrillion leaves falling across Canada each year, the environment became a near-infinite distribution system. Rather than paying for each impression, the brand leveraged a naturally occurring phenomenon to generate reach at no incremental cost.

Strategic planning identified that the core inefficiency was not the strength of the offer, but the cost required to distribute it at scale. Traditional media models rely on linear economics, where increased reach requires increased spend. Planning reframed the problem by identifying an opportunity to decouple reach from cast.

By aligning the brand with a cultural behaviour that already commands attention, the strategy shifted distribution from paid media to participation.

Against the communications objective, the campaign expanded reach beyond traditional channels, with over 2.5 million Snapchatters engaging with the Scan-a-Leaf AR Lens, demonstrating large-scale participation driven by organic discovery rather than paid impressions.

Against the marketing objective, the campaign drove above-benchmark engagement, delivering 2x higher interaction than the average Snapchat lens and averace playtime exceeding 10 seconds, while also achieving the second highest Share of Voice among OSR brands on the platform.

During the campaign period, delivered +18% frozen-treat sales growth year-over-year reversing a historically declining seasonal trend.

Based on the incremental revenue generated from this uplift, the campaign delivered a return of 777:1 ROAS. This means that for every S1 invested, the campaign generated $777 in revenue return,.

By embedding the offer into a high-frequency cultural behaviour, the strategy replaced paid impressions with participatory, user-initiated interactions. As a result, reach scaled without scaling cost, engagement increased without increasing meclia weight, and revenue grew without proportional investment.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Vinicius Dalvi
Head of Art : Victor Yves
Chief Creative Officer : Mary Chambers
EVP, Managing Director : Bobby Malhotra
EVP, MAnaging Director: Serene Gaspar
Creative Director: Emmanuel Obayemi
Senior Art Director: Pedro Minari Felippe
Senior Copywriter: Joseph Ruiz
SVP, Brand Lead: Shawna Hayman
Group Account Director: Silvia Parkinson
Account Director: Haleigh Magill
Account Supervisor: Rachel Senay
Group Strategy Director: Chris Whyte
Content Creator: Evan Chen
Content Creator: Timeia Buhra
Media Agency: DentsuX

Client: DQ Canada
VP, Marketing, DQ Canada: Candida Ness
Digital & Direct Marketing Sr Manager, DQ Canada: Cheryl Niziolomski