2026 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Quebec’s dairy industry was facing an existential threat. With the mandatory Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) review set for 2026, the United States had made its intentions clear: supply management itself was the target. But most Quebecers had no idea what was at stake, or why it was worth fighting for.

The problem wasn’t just awareness. It was perception. Supply management isn’t secured at the checkout. It’s secured at the negotiating table, where politicians hold firm only when public opinion gives them no other choice.

And that audience still pictured dairy farming the way it always had: a tradition passed down through obligation.

The insight was rooted in what the trade tensions had already revealed. Quebecers protect what they love more fiercely than they protect their wallet. The question became: How do you make an entire population see dairy farmers as a symbol of their own collective identity?

The answer was to stop advertising the industry and start humanizing it. They did this with Jeanne, a raw short film by Oscar-nominated director Vincent René-Lortie, based on real life stories of dairy farmers and featuring Hubert Lenoir’s re-recorded cultural touchstone “Fille de personne” (Daughter of no one) as its anthem. No dialogue, no narrator, no product placement. Just a life, and the choice at the heart of it.

Dairy is the province’s number one agricultural sector, accounting for 24% of farm revenues across 9,501 family farms.

Before talks reopened, Dairy Farmers of Quebec had one shot: change how Quebecers saw them so a modern industry would have a modern base of support.

They had two main objectives: perception and cultural resonance. They wanted to build collective pride and improve public opinion of the Dairy Farmers of Quebec by more than 10% among their target, while also building strong consensus across the population by increasing support of Quebec’s supply management model to 75%. As well as maximize organic reach, engagement and conversations around the message.

So the strategic question wasn’t how to remind Quebecers that dairy farming existed. It was how to make them see that Quebec’s dairy farmers were a symbol of their collective way of life. Their values. Their kin. A part of them, and their best chance at a future that looks like them.

Their plan? Not an ad. A film. About them.

The agency chose to tell the true story of “Jeanne”. A story of tradition, grit, doubt, rebellion, reckoning and, ultimately, choosing what matters.

They also let that choice lead their format. Breaking away from classic advertising codes, Oscar-nominated director Vincent René-Lortie created a raw short film. No dialogue, no narrator telling you what to feel and no product placement. Just the story of a life, told through the imagery, music, clashes and quietness of Jeanne’s world.

Musician Hubert Lenoir was so moved by Jeanne’s story that he re-recorded the cultural icon “Fille de personne” (Daughter of no one) specifically for the film. A song that already carried weight for an entire generation was then reborn as an anthem. Lenoir broke a decade of silence to give voice to Quebec dairy farmers.

They orchestrated a rollout designed to spark a broad conversation. To get people talking both on traditional and social media, and cut through fragmented audiences, the film premiered simultaneously on all major TV networks, amplified by PR and social assets.

An influencer layer in targeted communities extended reach to younger audiences: they captured creators’ live reactions to the film, which drove organic sharing by public figures and local content creators such as Lou-Pascal Tremblay (135K followers) and Cynthia Dulude (215K), as well as coverage on popular radio shows.

On social media, the rollout was built for dialogue. Farmers were invited to share their stories, Quebecers could ask them questions and short content featuring dairy farmers from across the province kept the conversation going.

The unique contribution of strategic planning was the radical decision to move the battlefield from economic policy to cultural identity.

Planning’s distinct value was three-fold. First they reframed the stakes and shifted the narrative from “protecting a system” to “protecting our people,” neutralizing the argument for lower-priced imports.
Then they told the authentic story. Using farmer interviews to anchor the film Jeanne, planning ensured the creative wasn’t just “advertising,” but a culturally resonant truth. Finally, they manufactured leverage by planning prioritized organic shareability and breaking traditional ad codes.

Within 24 hours of launch, the film had generated over 4 million views. By the end of five weeks, it had
reached 37 million.

Engagement exceeded industry benchmarks by 441%. Quebecers didn’t just watch. They vouched for
the story, generating the most organic shares in the Dairy Farmers of Quebec’s history. The film drew over 2,500 comments, 97% of which were positive.

In a category that routinely attracts skepticism and criticism, that near-total inversion of sentiment is not just a metric. That emotional truth travelled further than anyone expected. The film earned over 40 media mentions and praise across the US and Europe, gathering support far beyond our borders.

Favourability toward Dairy Farmers of Quebec rose 14 points versus the 10% target, the biggest
single-campaign jump in years. There was not a marginal shift in sentiment, but a meaningful recalibration of how a vast majority of Quebecers see an entire profession.

After the campaign, support for supply management reached 87% (versus the 75% target). At this level, supply management is no longer an agricultural policy concern but a collective issue. Politicians who might otherwise have wavered now have both cover and pressure to hold firm.

Credits

CREATIVE AGENCY: LG2
CLIENT: Les Producteurs de lait du Québec
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Denim
POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Arketype
SOUND STUDIO: Circonflex
MEDIA AGENCY: Touché!
PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY: TACT

[Individual Credits - Agency - LG2]
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTION: Marie-Ève Best
CREATIVE DIRECTION: François Sauvé
COPYWRITING: Olivier Giguère, Christian O’Brien
ART DIRECTION: Colin Beaudin, Steve Pépin, Julie Poulin
STRATEGIC PLANNING: Philippe Goudreault, Francis Mantha
CLIENT SERVICES: Andréa Fortin, Emilie Masse, Carl Milette, Eliane Coutu
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICERS: Nicolas Baldovini, Josh Stein, Luc Du Sault
CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER: Sophie-Annick Vallée
VICE-PRESIDENT, STRATEGY: Stéfanie Forcier
VICE-PRESIDENT, ACCOUNT SERVICES: Karine Payette

[PRODUCTION COMPANY: Denim]
PRODUCER: Mathieu Leduc, Carolan Grégoire, Emma Clark
DIRECTOR: Vincent René Lortie
DOP: Alexandre Nour

[SOUND STUDIO: Circonflex]
ENGINEERING: Jonathan Doyon, Mathilde Langlois-Bettez
MUSIC: Olivier Girard, François-Pierre Lue, Michael Daigle, Paul-Étienne Côté

[MEDIA AGENCY: Touché!]
Vice President, Strategy: Antoine Nguyen
associate director: Simon Wautier
account supervisor: Louis Chevallier
strategic assistant: Samuel Blais

[PR AGENCY: TACT]
senior director: Samuel Tremblay
director: Vincent Fournier Gosselin
senior advisor: Andrée-Ann Déry
advisor: Anne-Sophie Trihey

[CLIENT: Les Producteurs de lait du Québec]
Marketing Director: Julie Gélinas
Senior Advertising Consultant: Sara Bujold
Marketing Agent: Alyssa Chapleau