Holiday cards and gifts from Canada’s ad agencies are rolling in. For more merry messaging, check out parts one and two and, if your agency has something festive to share, feel free to give us a shout.
Citizen Relations knit ugly truths into ugly sweaters
Citizen Relations is using the ugly sweater medium to convey an important message on an often-overlooked holiday season topic: mental health.
It’s a tricky topic at a time more associated with merriment and joy, but one that will resonate strongly with the half of Canadians who experience feelings of anxiety, depression or isolation over the holidays, according to a study conducted by Citizen in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).
The project – Citizen’s first on a North American scale – “is tied to our agency’s mission to craft conversations that count,” says Josh Budd, North American CCO for Citizen.
“The conversation around mental health took a huge step out of the shadows in 2021, with everyone from professional athletes to celebrities and even our own employees speaking up in support of the cause or opening up about their own struggles,” says Budd.
Citizen is building on that momentum by encouraging hundreds of celebrities, athletes, government officials and business leaders to wear one of their ugly sweaters and share a photo on social media under the hashtag #UglyHolidayTruths.
In addition, the CMHA is supporting the effort by providing access to experts and resources for people who are seeking information or in need of help. Citizen, meanwhile, has made a donation to the organization.
The project was executed in collaboration with Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Nikki Ormerod and the Undivided Creative team.
Trigger shares QR-coded holiday messages
Calgary-based agency Trigger drew inspiration from the vaccination passport concept in the execution of its seasonal greeting, which it calls the “vacation passport.”
The “vacation passport,” sent both digitally and as a printed card to each of the agency’s clients, features a QR code on its face that leads to a special microsite full of holiday messages from the Trigger team.
The messages range from videos of family traditions to recipes. There’s even a DIY guide to make Christmas crackers. It’s a little bit of something for everyone – and from everyone at the agency.
Skylar Media Group keeps it brief… kind of
What’s a holiday season without a home movie? Skylar Media Group has produced something just like that in a short film about the chaos that ensued when the holidays chose to promote themselves in a campaign without a brief.
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The agency’s video, titled “The Holidays,” sees a cast of Skylar employees donning the garb of all of the annual holidays – including the ones that are really just social events. The film’s tone? Entirely tongue-in-cheek. But the point is clear: a good brief and the help of an agency can help tighten the focus and make for a much more effective campaign.
Along with the film, Skylar is inviting brands to submit their briefs. For every brief submitted, it is donating $10 to a local charity.
Publicis’ leaders have a cinematic and worldly wishlist
Where will Maurice Lévy and Arthur Sadoun be working next year?
That question is the crux of Publicis Group’s 2022 “Wishes” video, which imagines Lévy, the chairman of the company’s supervisory board, and Sadoun, its chairman and CEO, in a variety of roles and locales from a wide array of Hollywood hits spanning the decades.
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“A working trip on a cruise” sees the pair aboard James Cameron’s Titanic (before the disaster, obviously), while working from a ski lodge looks an awful lot like The Shining.
The point is to highlight Publicis’ new program for employees, Work Your World, which will allow them to work for six weeks of the year, anywhere in the world. That program launches in 2022.
“This is traditionally the time of the year for looking back and reflecting on the past. But after another challenging 12 months for our people, we wanted to look forward with them, offer a fresh perspective and hopefully make them smile,” says Sadoun. “Our 2022 Wishes are an invitation not just to ‘work your world’ but to hopefully create the kind of incredible memories many of us have missed out on over the past two years.”
The film was created by Publicis’ New York shop Le Truc, in partnership with Prodigious.
