2026 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

The FIFA World Cup is coming to Toronto. For the first time ever. This presented an opportunity for Canada Soccer to boldly declare what it stands for and demand the respect it deserves after building for years. The goal was to flood the country in red, looking to achieve mass awareness and engagement – to rally the country and become active participants in cheering on our Canadian National Men’s Team as they compete on the world stage.

However, Canada is not a traditional soccer nation. Hockey is the inherited religion. Soccer, for generations, was the game of the newcomer – carried here in suitcases from Italy, Portugal, Greece, the Caribbean, South Asia, and West Africa, and kept alive in church basements, social clubs, and neighbourhood cafés long before the country had a league.

And for a city built by the communities who carried this sport across oceans, that is everything.

Then Italy missed qualifying.

For the millions of Italian-Canadians who call Toronto home, that hit differently. Not just disappointment. Grief. Real, personal, generational grief.

Canada Soccer saw it for what it was: the most charged cultural moment in the country's soccer history, and a once-in-a-generation chance to prove what "Our Game Now" actually means. With zero paid media, the goal was to earn mass attention and turn a bitter moment into a sweet one and clear representation of the brand.

Italy's failed qualifying was not just a news story. It was a wound. And Canada Soccer's new platform, "Our Game Now," is built on exactly this truth: Canada's soccer identity was forged by communities like this one. It’s a big part of World Cup culture to have a “first team” and a “second team.” For most Italian-Canadians, Italy is their “first team”. That brought them to their driving insight: With Italy out – how could Canada Soccer invite Italian-Canadians to make Canada their “first team”.


A jersey swap sounds like a taunt. Walk up to a community in the depths of grief and ask them to hand over the kit they have worn through decades of love and heartbreak? The risk is enormous but this tension fueled call to action had the potential to capture widespread attention.

Canada Soccer activated a “Jersey Swap”. Bring your Azzurri, leave in Canadian red.

96 hours after Italy's loss, Canada Soccer set up at Café Diplomatico – the place Italian-Canadians have watched every major tournament for decades – and invited the neighbourhood to come and hand over their Azzurri for Canadian red. No campaign build-up. No media buy. A location, a date, and a simple task.

Canada Soccer moved at the speed of culture, not a campaign timeline, turning breaking news into an attention grabbing headline.

Over 350 fans arrived and followed through. They handed over jerseys soaked in years of pride, heartbreak, and identity, and walked away wearing something new. Select influencers and media cameras were invited down to capture the reactions, raw and real, hit social media before the day was over. They let them tell their story.

By Sunday it had crossed borders, a clear definition of what “Our Game Now,” really means. The story didn't travel because it was boosted. It travelled because it was real.

Firstly, in the development of the new brand platform, “Our Game Now,” the positioning identified a unique truth to the sport here at home: Canadian soccer was not built by Canada. The World Cup on home soil is their reward.

Understanding the sport is made up the same as our country – a collection of communities allowed the team to focus on appealing to the distinct motivations and intricacies of each.

Secondly, focusing on strategic executional decisions that allowed the idea to capture maximum attention. Understanding the Italian community, this heartbreaking loss was an opportunity to bring some of the most passionate fans in the sport to root for their home team. They did not pander to them or offer condolences; they offered a reframing of mindset – Canada Soccer was claiming that community as the reason the game belongs here in Canada, not through advertising but action.

Finally, the campaign was a result of how to strategically drive mass awareness and engagement without paid media support. With their focus on the individual communities, they knew there would be many moments that mattered to various groups of Canadians while on the road to FIFA.

News of the “Jersey Swap” travelled the globe. Coverage landed in over 30 countries, generating 4.6 billion earned impressions and an estimated media value of $42.7 million USD, an ROI of 292,366%. The Guardian, Reuters, ESPN, USA Today, New York Post, La Repubblica, Times of India, La Parisien, La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Score and TSN all ran the story.

It trended on Reddit, Instagram, Threads, and X, all weekend. Zero paid media. Not one dollar. The awareness then turned into action:

Over 350 Italian Torotonians turned up willing to hand in their jersey. The agency’s launch post announcement generated over 34K engagements and 1.1 million organic views within 24 hours.

The jersey swap created twice as many engagement and mentions online for Canada Soccer than the World Cup group draw itself.

News and social feeds flooded with Canadian red, sparking a 59% increase in conversation vs the same time period for the last major match – the Qatar 2022 World Cup inclusive of the draw and day that Canada clinched their spot after 36 years of absence.

The “Jersey Swap” didn’t just earn coverage. It earned trust. It told Italian-Canadians, and every community like them, that their identity is the reason this game belongs to Canada.

By focusing on one of the many communities that make up this country and the success of the game, they were able to communicate to all through the demonstration. It turned the most bitter news of the week into the most unifying moment of the year. Heartbreak became homecoming.

Credits

Diamond
Craig McIntosh, Chief Creative Officer
Jaimes Zentil, Chief Creative Officer
Jon Taylor, Creative Director
Andrea Romanelli, Creative Director
Jon Taylor, Writer
Andrea Romanelli, Art Director
Giordan Sora, Head of XM Production
Maddie Lowen, Production Manager
Lori Davison, Chief Strategy Officer
Erin Banting, VP, Strategy
Shannon Hunter, Director, Influencer Strategy
Roberto Ayala, Senior Digital Strategist
Lorri MacDonald, Chief Operating Officer
Iain Morris, Account Executive

Canada Soccer
Paulo Senra, Chief Communications and Content Officer
Dominic Martin, Director, Marketing
Adam Iafrate, Digital Content & Communications Manager