Agency/Media Company: Palmer Jarvis DDB

Client: Panasonic Canada

Brand: Power Activator Batteries

Media Team: Sheila Holyer, media supervisor; Anne Myers, media director, Toronto; Linda Mansillo-Kear, account director; Doug Gordon, account co-ordinator

Timing: September to December 1999

Best Plan for a Budget of Less Than $1 Million: Runner-up

Best Use of Out-of-Home: Runner-up

The Background

With a cynical, hard-to-reach target audience (ages 15 to 22) and heavy advertising from competitors, Panasonic Power Activator Batteries faced some tough challenges. We knew that if we wanted to appear ‘cool’ to our youth target, we couldn’t try to appear cool, or attempt a major sell job – and we also knew that we’d be tuned out if we tried to stage a head-on effort via traditional mass media.

Our solution: a media strategy that employed ‘guerrilla’ tactics aimed at building grassroots awareness within the target’s own environment and culture.

The Plan

The Power Activator (PA) campaign was executed in two phases.

The one-month teaser phase in September was designed to build ‘Street GRPs’ for the PA logo by exposing it – minus product identification – in underground channels. Teaser elements included:

A presence for the brand at dance clubs: Posters depicting blown-out headphones and boom boxes, accompanied only by the PA logo, plastered the walls of dance clubs. The logo was also emblazoned on thousands of t-shirts, hats, stickers and posters, which were distributed at more than 30 events in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary. In addition, Power Activator’s sponsorship of popular DJs gave the brand tacit endorsement by these key influencers, lending it legitimacy in the eyes of the target. The DJs – who were already favourably disposed toward Panasonic because of its association with the prized ‘1200’ turntable from sister brand Technics – wore PA clothing and lent a hand distributing PA merchandise at the clubs.

Wild postings: The in-club poster creative also appeared on construction hoardings in the general vicinity of the dance clubs.

The second, ‘reveal’ phase of the campaign began in October. It consisted of:

Wild postings: New versions of the posters went up, this time featuring the Panasonic Power Activator brand name and the tagline ‘Extra Strong Batteries.’

Television: An eight-week campaign aired on MuchMusic and MusiquePlus, tied to a month-long cross-promotion with the MuchDance 2000 CD release. (The idea behind the theming was that Power Activator Batteries provided the ‘juice’ for the music on the compilation.) Contest prizing consisted of Panasonic electronic equipment and batteries. Entries were accepted online and via phone, and the winners announced on-air by VJs.

Interactive: A contest micro site was established on the MuchMusic Web site, and stayed up for four weeks. The online effort included feature placement on Much’s ‘Check This Out’ contest page, Flash and non-Flash versions, animated product creative, a link to Panasonic’s home page and an interactive trivia question.

Combined, these various elements added up to an integrated campaign that appealed to the audience on many different levels.

The Results

Among the marketing team, there is consensus that the program produced the desired impact. Sales for fall 1999 were up 136% over the previous year. The MuchMusic promotion generated several hundred online entries on the first day alone, and more than 16,300 in all. What’s more, the micro site averaged a truly outstanding clickthrough rate of 35%.

Also in this report:

* Bates takes the cake p.BMP2

* MaxAir fires on all cylinders: Multi-tiered plan for high-menthol gum was imbued with irreverence p.BMP3

* Dentyne Ice kisses up to teens with party promo: Initiative was designed to drive both brand awareness and sales p.BMP4

* Kool-Aid placement reflected fun, refreshment p.BMP6

* Aussie creates ‘in your face’ presence: Repositions brand as funky, outrageous p.BMP8

* Much VJ follows his Natural Instincts on air p.BMP12

* Chapters stands out in dot-com crowd p.BMP15

* Campbell’s cooks up targeted advertorial: Partners with CTV, magazines to create a presence beyond traditional ad buy p.BMP16

* Looking at Philips through fresh eyes: Redefinition of target market sparked departure from the traditional choice of television p.BMP18

* Jays plan hits home run p.BMP21

* Minute Maid aims for morning ownership p.BMP24

* Western Union a global Villager p.BMP28

* Scotiabank breaks out of the mold p.BMP32

* Clearnet clusters creative: Complementary boards were positioned in proximity to one another to maximize visibility, engage consumer p.BMP38

* The Judges p.BMP43

Strategy is on the ground in Cannes, bringing you the latest news, wins and conference highlights all week long. Catch all the coverage here.

Friday’s batch of Silver and Bronze winners included the oldest category at the Cannes festival, Film, as well as Sustainable Development Goals, Dan Wieden Titanium, Glass: The Lion for Change and Grand Prix for Good. Canadians were recognized with four Lions today: two Silver and a Bronze in Film, as well as a Bronze in Sustainable Development Goals.

FCB Toronto was given yet another nod for its work, “The Count,” for SickKids, bringing the medal count for that campaign to four, including a Gold for Health & Wellness. Another Canadian agency recognized on the final day of the festival was Klick Health Toronto, which earned a Silver in Film for its work “Love Captured” for Human Trafficking Awareness and a Bronze for “18 Months” for Second Nurture. And over in Sustainable Development Goals, the Bronze went to Publicis Canada and its “Wildfire Watchtowers” work for Rogers.

Another massive win for Canada included not one, but two Young Lions (pictured above) taking home medals in the annual competition. In Design, the Gold Young Lion was awarded to Rethink’s senior motion designer Jesse Shaw and ACD Zoë Boudreau. The second, a Bronze in Media, went to Cossette Media’s business intelligence analyst Samuel David-Durocher and product development supervisor Tristan Bonnot-Parent.

Film (2 Silver, 1 Bronze)

1 SILVER: “The  Count” by FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation

“The Count,” a striking campaign from FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation, has earned 1 Gold, 2 Bronze and now 1 Silver for Film at Cannes. If you watch it, it’s easy to see why. The collaboration between brand and agency honoured the hospital’s “VS” platform, while steering it in a new direction from its initial development by previous AOR Cossette. The creative celebrates childhood cancer patients who have to fight for every birthday, while honouring the hospital’s own milestone – 150 years and counting.

1 Silver: “Love Captured” by Klick Health Toronto for The Exodus Road

Klick Health Toronto added to its medal tally with a Silver in Film for it’s work “Love Captured” for The Exodus Road. The creative features a romantic getaway that isn’t what it seems in an experiential short film for the global anti-trafficking organization. The experience takes viewers through a tragic and twisting experience of exploitation.

1 BRONZE: “18 Months” by Klick Health Toronto for Second Nurture

Klick Health Toronto also won a Bronze in the Film category for its work, “18 Months,” done for the charity organization Second Nurture. The animated film is based on a real-life story in which a same-sex couple adopts a baby found in a subway station, and the 18-month journey into a story of hope.

Sustainable Development Goals (1 Bronze)

1 BRONZE: “Wildfire Watchtowers” by Publicis Canada for Rogers

Publicis Canada landed on the winners board for its work, “Wildfire Watchtowers,” for Rogers. The Canadian-developed wildfire-detection tech – which has been billed as “a fire alarm in the forest” – uses AI-powered sensors installed on 5G towers to monitor vast remote areas in real time. By scanning, identifying and reporting early signs of wildfires (up to 16 minutes faster than other systems), the technology helped prevent 54 fires in 2024 alone.

Catch the Gold winners later today when they’re revealed at the gala in Cannes.