True Media went big with OOH activations for Gay Lea Foods, creating hard-to-miss messaging around how Gay Lea improves upon everyday foods. Their impactful bus shelter execution in Edmonton featured an enormous 3D can of Gay Lea whipped cream.
It’s a neat trick, the ability to be both big and small at the same time. But it’s one that True Media has perfected, says its president Bruce Neve.
On one hand, he says, the agency has found success as a smaller indie, offering “hands-on service, highly focused on clients and business growth.” But powering up that service is a “robust tech stack and millions of dollars invested in research and tools,” which are capabilities usually offered by large-scale agencies backed by global holding groups.
These two distinct advantages, layered together, help clients “find what’s true” using a personal touch combined with insights, audience metrics, and other data.
True Media’s momentum and growth – 20-plus new clients in the past three years, and a 50% increase in billings – is thanks, in large part, to its innovative structure.
True Media worked with CFC and agency partner LG2 to reach gym-goers to promote chicken as a key source of protein.
True Media Canada, with offices in Toronto and Calgary, is part of the True Independent Holdings Group, which includes True Media, digital agency Coegi, and research and analytics-focused RADaR. It also recently joined the Meet the People group, providing media services across the agency collective.
That’s what makes True Media unique, Neve explains. “It allows us to take things from initial insights and strategy around audiences into actual activation. Often there’s a missing link between the two. A smaller agency won’t have access to the tools and technology that we do.”
The agency used all of these tools in a recent campaign for Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC). “to reach a younger demographic, audience that was typically eating less meat,” Neve explains. The data indicated that CFC should forgo tactics like recipe sharing and explore new mediums. “That opened up the aperture for us to have a lot of fun with it,” Neve says, and pushed the addition of CTV, influencer activations, and DOOH.
For example, instead of telling younger audiences that chicken meat will make them strong, the campaign was designed to demonstrate it. True Media opted for a new tactic for CFC to amplify a stunt coordinated by creative agency LG2, reaching and engaging Canadian gym-goers and health-conscious consumers. As teams of brand ambassadors were seen carrying a “heavy” billboard with variations of the message “Chicken protein makes you stronger” throughout downtown Toronto, similar messaging was displayed within 140+ gyms across the GTA, noting that 76% of gym members are mainly Gen Z and Millennials.
Similarly, the “Raised Right” campaign reinforced Canadian chicken farming ethics, featuring videos of real chickens being good Samaritans. The campaign recently won Best in Show and Best Multimedia Campaign at the Canadian Agri-Food Marketing Alliance.
In a first for Canadian pet retailers, True Media partnered with TikTok and content creators for TikTok Out of Phone Digital activations for its Pet Valu campaign, pioneering DOOH media to amplify local impact and engagement.
Neve says that True’s “big but small” capabilities allow it to lean into non-traditional solutions and services. Most recently, it has started consulting with clients on sports sponsorships. And while the category is nothing new, Neve says, True’s approach is.
Existing client Re/Max was looking for a sports-based strategy to reach a more diverse, energetic millennial audience. “That sounded like the NBA to us, so we helped negotiate that deal,” Neve explains.
Specifically, Neve says Re/Max wanted more than just eyeballs on its logo. “It needed to be more integrated and engaging,” he explains, and ultimately involved True Media, the NBA, and Re/Max co-developing multiple content series to tap into “the energy, style and engagement of the demographic.”
The goal, Neve stressed, was to develop something that was measurable, accountable and ultimately, much more than a one-off. It’s an area Neve says True Media is bringing added value, by acting as a consultant across contracts, rights and other critical details.
Sports sponsorships need to be more than one-off opportunities for more eye-balls, so True Media helped foster a more collaborative relationship between Re/Max and the NHL.
True was recently name Canadian Media AOR for StorageMart and has already negotiated a multi-year partnership with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It’s indicative of the holistic approach the agency takes to all of its relationships. “If audiences don’t have an affinity for the brand, then it won’t be a magnet for its target audiences, says Neve. “Reputation. Trust. If you don’t have those things, all the money in the world spent on lower-funnel media won’t do anything.”
CONTACT:
Bruce Neve
President, Canada
bruce@truemediaservices.com
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