Sandman Hotel Group is staging its biggest contest ever, with a national scope that celebrates the company’s Canadian bona fides.
The “Key to Canada” contest, supported with creative from Full Punch, will grant one winner an exclusive room key that unlocks a week of free stays every year for 25 years.
“We wanted to create a contest that resonated with Canadians and truly celebrated our deep roots in this country,” Fiona McFaul, VP of marketing and loyalty for the Sandman Hotel Group, told strategy.
Sandman timed the “Key to Canada” campaign to tap “staycation” sentiment amid the “Buy Canadian” movement.
“We’ve run lots of smaller and more regional contests over the years, but the ‘Key to Canada’ is by far the biggest contest we’ve ever done, national in scale and full of Canadian pride,” McFaul says. “More Canadians are choosing to explore their own backyard, and we wanted to celebrate that with something truly special.”
The campaign is informed by Sandman research that suggests only 13% of consumers are aware of the company’s Canadian heritage.
“Sandman has hotels coast-to-coast and has been Canadian owned for more than 50 years, so 2025 felt like the right time to “go all in,” McFaul says.
To amplify Full Punch’s creative, which features shots of mountain vistas and Niagara Falls, Sandman teamed up with JMP Flow and Design out of Victoria to create a room key handcrafted from maple wood and maple-syrup resin.
Sandman says awareness of its business is strong across the country, but overindexes toward Western Canada where most of its locations operate.
The hotel chain is promoting the contest through a mix of paid and earned media, including partnerships with Zoomer Media and its CULTR channels in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto. The campaign also includes a collaboration with Vancouver lifestyle influencer Daniella Atkinson on Instagram.
“We’re also amplifying reach through targeted email marketing, paid social-media campaigns and some always on media,” McFaul says.
The “Key to Canada” contest concludes Sept. 2. Participants can enter by booking a stay at any of Sandman’s 57 locations this July and August.
