Continuing a longstanding partnership in its 26th year, General Mills launched its latest campaign supporting Team Canada, timed to debut ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.

General Mills-owned brand Cheerios launched a 360° extension of its “Cherish the Good” campaign that features Team Canada athletes including swimmer Maggie Mac Neil, decathlete Damian Warner, sprinter Aaaron Brown, diver Caeil McKay and wheelchair basketball player Cindy Ouellet. The campaign centers on how small moments of good can spark great achievements and drive future potential. The campaign was developed with agency partner Cossette.

“Cherish the Good” launched as a new masterbrand platform for Cheerios last fall. This year is the first time that an overarching masterbrand theme extended into the brand’s Olympic platform. The campaign highlights how as time passes and kids grow older, Cheerios can remain a constant source of connection for families. The brand saw an opportunity to translate this into the Olympic campaign, with the insight that goodness goes beyond medaling.

“Other than the competition aspect and the winning aspect of the greatest achievement, the whole journey is equally important, because cherishing the goodness of life, people and connection can spark the flame to the greatest achievement,” General Mills Canada associate director of brand experience Jenny Chiasson tells strategy.

“It is the first time that everything is truly linked together to be strategically cohesive.”

Chiasson says this year’s Team Canada campaign for Cheerios is developed with insight into the strong human need for connection, and people feeling stronger together, connecting to a feeling of joy that the brand aims for throughout its marketing.

“The new masterbrand platform has performed so well since its launch last fall, and its rich in its insight, so it was a natural inspiration to Cossette,” Chiasson says. “It came in pretty easily, because all the strategy work that was done in establishing the new masterbrand platform could translate into the Olympic cultural moment.”

Ouellet’s inclusion marks a new aspect to General Mills’ work with Team Canada, as this year’s campaign is the first that features a fully integrated partnership with the Paralympic Canadian team. General Mills has partnered with Paralympian athletes before, but this year is the first time these athletes can be fully integrated into the same campaign, product lineup and in-store promotion with its Olympic partnership.

“We truly wanted to unite the two worlds, because we want to support all Canadian athletes, regardless of their form of competition,” Chiasson says.

She adds that the campaign is designed to reach all Canadian families, including multicultural and newcomer Canadians, with the goal of developing feelings of pride in being Canadian, creating a connection to that feeling through Cheerios as a brand. The partnership with Team Canada offers a pride, joy and richness to its intensity that regular sports partnerships don’t offer, Chiasson says, because the Olympics don’t occur every year, and they bring the country together to cheer for a team in unison in ways that professional sports can’t, as Canadians’ fandom in sports like hockey and football are divided.

The campaign includes a 30-second TV commercial that includes family moments where children are empowered by loved ones, featured parallel to Team Canada athletes in action. It also includes an exclusive partnership with broadcasters the CBC and SRC that will cover a digital takeover, and a feature in a documentary on Warner titled Sweat & Power.

Cheerios is also putting out limited-edition packaging and in-store displays featuring Team Canada Athletes across several of its brands like Cheerios, Nature Valley and Larabar.

The brand is also launching the Cheerios Summer Games, a social challenge where Canadians can host games in their own backyard including an obstacle course, relay race and various other challenges. Consumers will be able to post user-generated content of them playing the games to Instagram and TikTok to win prizes.

Creative behind the campaign was developed by Cossette. Mindshare handled the media buy, with Narrative overseeing PR and experiential on the campaign, and So.da behind the social media aspect of the campaign.