This year’s CASSIES reflected some major changes in the marketing industry. First, the awards introduced new categories, such as Best Matching of Message to Medium(s), which recognizes the symbiosis between those two elements in a world of integrated campaigns.
There was also a noticeably large number of winners in the Events, Seasonal & Short-Term category – 26 in total across Gold, Silver and Bronze. In today’s blink-and-you-miss-it, fast-consumption world, where a trend can go viral and then die within a day, there’s no doubt the proliferation of these campaigns is indicative of a greater societal trend.
But there were still plenty of programs with legs. Take the Grand Prix winner, Molson’s Beer Fridge, which started as a single stunt, but ended up travelling around the world (see the Creative Report Card for more on its journey), impressing the judges at home.
The CASSIES is the only awards program in Canada to truly focus on a marketing campaign’s effectiveness and impact, with a jury of senior execs deliberating over detailed case studies to determine the winners. Presented by the ICA, in association with the AAPQ and APCM, a total of 60 awards were handed out to 53 cases at a gala on Feb. 19 at the Hilton in Toronto.
All cases were edited by John Bradley, with additional editing by Tanya Kostiw and Emily Wexler.
Check out the complete case study list for all the Gold, Silver and Bronze CASSIES winners below, as well as this year’s judging panel.
Grand Prix
Molson Canadian’s passport to success
Gold
Canadian Tire breaks records from a cold start
Putting the Mr. back in Mr. Clean
Ubisoft hacks a successful launch plan
Amex turns envy into instant sales
WestJet delivers surprising results
MDA helps trigger gun policy change
Boston Pizza finds its happy place
Silver
Taco Bell makes angry consumers eat their words
Koodo empowers consumers to help themselves
Les Éleveurs de porc du Québec takes the fat and boredom out of pork
Koodo spices up the telco category
BMW drives new performance standards
Ikea breathes inspiration into catalogue pages
McDonald’s shows its skinnier side
Ivanhoé Cambridge encourages closet cleaning
Maple Leaf changes lives with bacon
TD turns features into benefits
SickKids focuses on the hero within
Oreo gets in on the Olympic spirit
Raptors embrace northern identity
Volkswagen takes a gammified approach
Canadian Tire celebrates unsung heroes
Heart & Stroke brings home increased donations
Tangerine bears the fruits of branding success
Subaru’s rallying cry for increased sales
Bronze
La Presse turns the page to a new readership
Honda drives long-term dominance
Scotiabank demonstrates the power of free
York University looks ahead to get ahead
Kraft shows the joys of guilty pleasures
The Salvation Army makes a big change
Shreddies shows its ‘Genuine Goodness’
Strategic Milk Alliance milks every moment
Selections Chartier goes where no wine has gone before
Nissan proves it’s a winter warrior
Vancouver Police Foundation leaves others in the shadeick and easy
Politicians’ losses were Workopolis’ gain
Honda drives home a successful spring
Alberta Health Services encourages quitting
Canadian Blood Services turns people into heroes
CAMH tells both sides of the story
BP’s wacky rib campaign nets serious results
Who’da thought VW needed simplifying?
Canadian Tire takes its Canadianness to digital
The Fonds de solidarité makes RRSPs relatable
Jackson-Triggs proves its universality
