Petro-Canada has launched the first campaign for its charitable organization, the CareMakers Foundation, with the aim of raising awareness about just how common caregiving is in Canada.
“This is such a universal issue that we really wanted to talk to Canadians at large,” says Leila Fenc, executive director of the CareMakers Foundation. “Many people don’t even know that they are caregivers, or that one in four Canadians are.”
The campaign, developed with Petro-Canada’s creative agency McCann Canada, consists of OOH, online, and TV and social. At its centre is a spot that tells the story of a young couple after one of them receives a serious medical diagnosis, and follows the caregiving journey that ensues.
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The spot ends with Petro-Canada’s “Live By The Leaf” tagline, tieing it to a platform celebrating Canadian values and the standards people in communities across the country strive to live up to.
Fenc says they decided to focus on a younger couple to change stereotypes about what caregiving looks like. “People think of an older person caring for a parent. But caregiving can take on so many different shapes and forms,” she explains. “Showcasing a young couple is really going to make people pause and think.”
It was equally important “to feature a caregiving journey as it unfolds in real life,” adds Josh Stein, CCO at McCann, to have a more accurate reflection of caregiving and provide recognition that supports morale and wellbeing.
“We wanted to show some of the key milestones, good and bad, that we feel are reflective of the real-world experience,” he says. “We wanted to do that in a non-stereotypical way so that people could relate.”
The campaign will be in market until June, which Fenc says is the first step of many the charitable organization has in the works. Suncor plans to invest $10 million into the CareMakers Foundation by 2025, which will be going towards online training models for caregivers developed with Baycrest Hospital, as well as work with other charities to “amplify their work by providing resources and support,” Fenc says.
Veritas handled PR for the campaign, while OMD handled media buying and Tam-Tam/TBWA handled French adaptation.
