Black Diamond’s new campaign highlights the work its started doing with Food Banks Canada to provide fresh food to those in need. Acording to the brand, there were over two million visits to food banks in March, representing a 6% increase compared to 2023, and a 90% increase compared to 2019.

Through the phrase “we all deserve to share the food we love with family,” the campaign emphasizes the benefits of having access to fresh meals, pointing out that they not only nourish physically, but also provide comfort, joy and satisfaction on an emotional level. It also shows Black Diamond’s donation of $75,000 in fresh cheese to food banks, as well as its support in delivering the donations across the country.

“The key message we are trying to communicate…is our belief that we all deserve to share the food we love with the family we love. Especially fresh and nutritious food,” Enrique Larez, director of marketing at Black Diamond, tells strategy. “This is the first year Black Diamond is partnering with Food Banks Canada. Our strategy is to leverage our popular brand to actively support FBC’s efforts to help combat hunger among Canadians in need.”

Larez notes that the partnership fits with the brand positioning launched earlier this year, which focuses on the role Lactalis-owned Black Diamond plays in bringing families together around home-cooked meals.

The collaboration is also part of Lactalis’ goal to continue investing in its CSR initiatives. “We have made tangible gains towards our ESG goals and continue to work collaboratively and proactively with our customers, suppliers, dairy farmers, government, industry and community partners,” Larez says. “Our key ESG priorities at Lactalis Canada are focused on circular economy and packaging, climate and animal welfare and these are supported through our brand initiatives.”

The campaign relies on social networks and a combination of traditional and digital media. Through a partnership with Postmedia, the brand has launched the campaign on the National Post‘s website and in its print edition, along with newspaper ads in the Vancouver Sun. Larez explains that in previous years, traditional media was the focal point of the brand’s advertising strategy. However, now that digital media is increasingly popular among a wide range of demographics, the team has optimized the creative and channels it uses to share its messages.

“We published sponsored content in National Post to increase our reach and share more details about our partnership through storytelling, something that is difficult to do in short-form videos or social media posts,” Larez says. “Although the campaign is still active, we’re already seeing outstanding results that are surpassing Postmedia’s benchmarks for sponsored content so far.”

Broken Heart Love Affair was behind the creative, while Zenith Media handled the buy and Heads & Tales led PR.