Every holiday season, for the last three years, IGA creates an animated spot that carries an emotional message around connecting with others through food – and this year is no different. However, instead of just connecting with consumers online, this year the retailer decided to extend its message into the physical world with DIY and AR holiday ornaments inspired by its latest film.
“Made with Love,” a collaboration with Sid Lee, features a teen baking a reindeer cookie that her nurse mom gives to a boy stricken with cancer at the hospital where she works. The boy returns the baked goods with origami shapes, and later drops off his own edible gift once he’s fully recovered. The tagline is “Sharing is Everything,” with a callout to donate to the Fondation Charles-Bruneau, a paediatric cancer charity.
https://youtu.be/d0tsDfSx3Ek
The origami characters (from penguins to elves) were also recreated for the real world, with the retailer selling “Origaminis” for families to fold together and use to decorate their homes for the holidays. The folded shapes can also be brought to life using AR when a person scans the character with their phone.
Each “Origamini” can be purchased for $3 online or in store at every Quebec IGA until December 30, with the proceeds going directly to the Fondation, a cause IGA has been supporting for 14 years. This year, the brand looks to raise $700,000 for the hospital.
Typically, IGA would seek small donations for the Fondation from shoppers in exchange for keychains, reusable bags or water bottles, says Caroline Duhamel, IGA’s director of marketing. With this campaign, however, Duhamel says IGA wanted to offer more than a traditional fundraiser and decided to create an interactive experience for the whole family.
This isn’t the first time that IGA has used AR technology to bring a charitable campaign for the Fondation to the digital world. It’s previous “#ToughCookie” campaign brought tattoos to life virtually, using beta versions of Facebook’s Spark technology.
Julie Desrochers, CD at Sid Lee Montreal, says the tech’s functionality has since evolved and that, with both efforts, the idea was to include an element of storytelling within the item itself. Duhamel notes that paediatric cancer is a tough issue to address, and so the campaign is meant to be a more positive and optimistic approach to support kids through kids.
Carat handled the campaign’s media buy, with Quebecor helping with visibility and integration into different shows and content. Other media supporters include Bell, Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, TV5, Rogers, Outfront, Pattison, Astral, Capitales Médias, La Presse, Verizon, Spordle, Kijiji, Media Tonik, and S4M.
While its the “Origaminis” campaign is dedicated to supporting Fondation Charles-Bruneau during the holidays, IGA has been an active contributor to many other initiatives related to the pandemic since April, raising over $3 million for food banks and helping La Tablée des Chefs’ Solidarity Kitchens.
