Canadian footwear brand Baffin is spotlighting its own employees’ football fandom as it looks to draw a deeper connection with the CFL.

The “Passion Unites Us” campaign, which debuted last week alongside the 2023 CFL season, features Baffin employees from various areas of its Hamilton-area operation, from front office staff and the warehouse team to factory line and maintenance crew members, kitted out in gear from their favorite teams. There is one team member representing each of the League’s nine teams, with colours, logos and face paint included.

Real world testing is at the core of what the brand does, and the company often uses its staff in different content projects, says Jessica Liut, Baffin’s brand director. However, this is the first time Baffin did it in a creative way, incorporating its staff into a big, broad campaign.

Baffin began a multi-year partnership as the official boot of the CFL and the Grey Cup during last year’s playoffs. It had already been a longtime sponsor of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and of Tim Hortons Field, where the team plays and is just a 15 minute drive from Baffin’s Stoney Creek facility.

The new campaign was developed with creative agency Elemental, with which the company has had a longstanding relationship.

This partnership, the apparel brand says, merges two Canadian organizations whose fanbases never let Canada’s extreme cold stop them from showing up. Baffin’s “Cold Unites Us” campaign reflected on Canadians’ ability to overcome obstacles, whether trekking to the North Pole or cheering on their team during a playoff snowstorm.

“We know that CFL fans are sitting outside in very cold environments and you will continue to see those stories evolve,” Liut says.

According to Liut, the CFL has a wide demographic and Baffin is targeting those who love the outdoors. During the pandemic, with people having less to do, Liut says the company had an uptick in business.

Launching now alongside the CFL regular season and running until the playoffs begin in October, the digital ad will be promoted across all owned social media channels by both Baffin and the CFL, alongside in-game support. The media buy is being done by the Baffin internal team.

Liut says when it comes to ad spend, it is less of a splash compared with “Cold Unites Us.” In the fall, Baffin will focus on winter wear, and is spreading its spend across that timeframe.