Canada Believes - A Simple Promotion Goes Gold

by Melanie Chambers

You’ve seen it on billboards, perhaps even on TV, and you’ve certainly heard about it as the Olympics gets closer and closer. It’s one word that has the country all abuzz. Believe. Believe in the spirit of the Games. Believe in Canada bringing the world to our doorstep. Believe.

But this simple, humble slogan has very humble beginnings. Yet, it quickly became synonymous with Canadian Olympic spirit. Canadians first saw the slogan on CTV clothing.

“In the beginning, this apparel was developed just to appear within our advertising as props,” says Adam Ashton, Vicevice-President president of Marketing marketing for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. But the campaign evolved into so much more.

In an attempt to make Canadian athletes familiar household names, CTV created a campaign called Believe, ”which was aimed at making Canadian athletes household names. Part of the campaign involved short 30- and 60-second television vignettes called “'Get To Know Your Canadian Athletes.” In the vignettes, 25 English and French Olympians revealed little-known details about their personalities and lifestyles.

In the vignettes, athletes wore clothing bearing the word “believe.” The vignettes began airing in February 2009 — a year before the Games. As the campaign predicted, after the year-long ads, sure enough , Canadians knew a little more about the athletes; but something they didn’t predict took hold of the campaign.

Mountains of requests poured in from Canadians asking where they could buy their own “Believe” clothing — the clothing the athletes were wearing in the vignettes ; from this overwhelming demand, the “Believe” clothing started a life of its own.

CTV approached the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) to acquire the necessary licensing privileges for “Believe” merchandise. And, after the decision to create nationwide retail apparel called “Imagine” in French-speaking Canada, the next step was to spread the word.

To let the nation know about “Believe,” each newscast of CTV created a contest revolving around the clothing; the gold medal prize pack was given out to five entrants — a batch of clothing with the chance to win a trip to the Games.

“In order to increase awareness for the “Believe/Imagine” merchandise, we encouraged our local CTV stations to create their own unique “Believe/Imagine” on-air spots and promotional initiatives. Each local station was able to focus on community heroes and local athletes, which gives a regional aspect and another layer to the campaign,” says Ashton.

Conceived by Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium as a national marketing promotion designed to rally Canadians around our Olympic Games hopefuls and promote multimedia coverage, the “Believe” campaign permeates television as well as radio and other print media.

In Montreal viewers entered to win the gold medal package that included a toque, scarf, ball cap, long sleeve tee and both a women’s and men’s fleece full zip hoodie (a value of about $240). All CTV “Believe” entrants were also automatically entered to win two tickets to the Games.

In British Columbia, viewers watched Tamara Taggart’s weekly weather forecast to get the secret password to enter the contest. Viewers had only one day to enter.

Newspapers across the country announced winners like they were announcing winners of a lottery. The “Believe” campaign was beginning to spread a wave of Olympic spirit and pride.

And to ensure that those wearing the clothing were supporting their athletes, part of the proceeds from the “Believe” apparel will go to Own the Podium, a fund set up to support Canadian athletes.

Adding to its Canadian-made authenticity, all original shoots of the vignettes were produced and directed in-house. And, the “Believe” campaign was created and developed by the award-winning CTV Creative Agency.

With the help of some promotional apparel, a campaign with humble beginnings has evolved into a national movement. As the Games approach, Canadians aren’t just asking if they believe, they already do.

siastically received and adds: “Podium Picks was a great way to engage Canadians in the Games and to get to ‘know’ our athletes better too. Podium Picks allowed us to start building a community of Globe Olympic enthusiasts. We will be reaching out to them — and others — in the coming months as we build towards the Games.”

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games is one of the most significant sponsorship commitments in The Globe’s history. “These are truly ‘Canada’s Games’ and we want to bring the Winter Olympics closer to the fans. We are planning a series of reader promotions that will engage Canadians coast-to-coast in new and exciting ways,” says Humphrey.

While a hoodie or hat is always good for joining in the spirit of the Games, for those interested in the finer things Canada has to offer — I’m talking wine here — they’re lucky that Vincor Canada was made official wine supplier to Vancouver 2010. “Because they’re Canada’s largest wine company, Vincor was really proud that they were allowed to win this bid…It could just as easily gone to another country’s brand,” says Leeann Clemens, spokesperson for Vincor Canada.

Being a sponsor presents a huge opportunity to shine the light on the fact that Canada has a thriving wine industry, says Clemens. “On a global scope our industry is very small. What they’re hoping is that it will not only put Canada on the world stage but the Canadian wine industry as well.” Vincor is certainly doing a wide array of promotions to get the word out.

Wine lovers may have noticed Olympic fever when Vincor’s Jackson-Triggs’ EspritTM Chardonnay and Merlot started showing up on store shelves and in restaurants in 2007. Named to capture both the French and English connotations of the word “spirit,” they are co-branded with the Vancouver 2010 emblem. Clemens says the Esprit wines are selling successfully. “The fact that a $1.25 from every bottle sold goes directly to the Olympic athletes, that’s just a great reason for customers to want to buy it.”

Inniskillin, also part of the Vincor family, boasts its own Vancouver 2010 contribution and promoted it with a launch party. Olympic freestyle skiers Steve Omischl and Deidra Dionne, Canadian artist Gordon Halloran and pastry chef Thierry Busset were on hand in November to sign bottles and speak at the British Columbia launch of the Inniskillin Vidal Icewine Commemorative Edition. Halloran, who is internationally renowned for using ice as his canvas, was a natural fit to create the artwork for the bottle’s label. “The artwork was taken from Gord’s ‘Paintings Below Zero’ installation at the Cultural Olympiad of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy,” says Shivauna Brown, Vincor Olympic project manager. Sold in a tube, the commemorative Inniskillin icewine stands out on the shelf.

“Promotions are one the most valuable modes to generating excitement towards our Canadian athletes. Accounts are able to leverage our marketing rights through promotions tied to the Esprit wines,” says Brown. There are more promotions to look forward to from Vincor Canada in its efforts to win gold for Canada’s wine industry. From innovative retail and restaurant promotions, high visibility at Vancouver 2010 events, hospitality programs, and corporate gifting opportunities, it promises to be an interesting year for promotion hounds. Cheers to that!

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