Resort operator Club Med Canada has awarded McCann Canada’s Montreal office its strategy and creative messaging following a closed pitch.

The brand is looking to drive increased sales in the Canadian market, where it opened a new resort – Club Med Quebec Charlevoix – in December. The opening was heralded with a campaign, “Carve First Tracks,” that first launched in late 2020 and was renewed in the summer of 2021 as the resort’s opening drew closer. That campaign had been developed by then-agency partner Sept24, and was focused heavily on attracting Canadians who couldn’t book vacations outside of the country due to pandemic restrictions to visit the resort. According to its data, 65% of visitors to the new four-seasons resort are domestic.

But as pandemic restrictions ease, Club Med will also aim to continue promoting its resorts elsewhere. As such, McCann’s immediate mandate is to develop national campaigns that will drive brand equity and online bookings for global and domestic resorts deemed priority locations for the company. Michelle Aboud, SVP and managing director for McCann Montreal, says that while it will initially be supporting marketing for the Quebec Charlevoix resort, it will be also aiming to drive “strong business performance” on other locations.

“The pandemic resulted in new travel habits among Canadians and gave us the opportunity to promote domestic travel options with our new Canadian location in Charlevoix. As travel restrictions continue to ease globally, we look forward to highlighting our exceptional domestic and international destinations to Canadians,” says Vincent Giraud, managing director of Club Med Canada and North America sales operations.