The challenge
In September 2010, BBDO launched Shaw Cablesystems G.P.’s new brand identity, “Together is Amazing,” which showed people the power of togetherness by focusing on the potential that lay in uniting Shaw’s 10 million customers.
The challenge that spun out of this idea was to fill every food bank in Canada to alleviate hunger during the holiday season.
The insight
The insight was, if Shaw could truly bring its customers together, imagine what they could do. Specifically, if BBDO could harness the power of Shaw’s employees and their daily interaction with Shaw’s customers, then the goal of collecting a million pounds of food during the month of November could be met. That’s when the Together is Amazing Food Bank Initiative was born.
The B!G idea
The big idea was using the web and community engagement to create a platform that allowed customers to take the lead and encourage donations on a grassroots level, that could also harness a national audience
BBDO used mass media and online to encourage people to donate, and the Shaw website became the hub for the food bank initiative. People could donate online, organize grassroots events, as well as track the campaign’s progress.
But the real power of togetherness happened when all of Shaw got behind the initiative as well. Shaw technicians took donations when they were on call, employees set up community food drives and the company used its community connections to encourage local businesses to give discounts for donations. Local and national media helped tell the story by featuring everything from public school food drives to news about a local food bank being revived and restored with new equipment provided by Shaw.
The impact
By the time the month-long initiative had wrapped up, Shaw had surpassed its target and over 2.5 million pounds of food had been donated to food banks nationally, making it the most successful food drive in Canadian history, according to the agency.
The initiative showed how an idea can not only inspire the consumer, but also become an organizing principle for an entire company across all stakeholders, from the president right through to the sales force. It demonstrated how a brand proposition – Together is Amazing – can translate into action to produce tangible results.
What the judges said:
“Excellent strategy development.”
–Karen Nayler, Mindshare Canada
“Most completed campaign that went beyond advertising.”
–Yanik Deschênes, AAPQ
“They managed to find a tag line, ‘Together is Amazing,’ that works to promote their goodwill campaign and their product. This is the kind of campaign that has legs and a long shelf life.”
–Lainé Slater, Vancouver International Film Festival
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