YTV is looking to reinforce its position as Canada’s channel for families.
‘We’ve got the audience, so that’s not really an issue,’ says Laura Baehr, VP marketing, Corus Kids. ‘But, we still struggle on a business front with a media buyer or planner who maybe doesn’t watch YTV, or an advertiser who says ‘no, I don’t want to buy kids TV.”
What was initially a trade campaign promoting YTV as a place to reach both parents and kids became a consumer effort positioning the station as official sponsor and head lobbyist for a national Family Day – currently celebrated only in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.
‘If we can create a movement to make sure everyone in Canada gets a Family Day, it’s great proof in the pudding that YTV is about families,’ says Martin Beauvais, ECD at Toronto-based AOR Zig.
The effort centres on a microsite, Worldslongestsignature.ytv.com, where Canadians can sign a petition to have Family Day recognized in all provinces and territories. YTV’s goal is to stretch the petition across Canada, and its progress can be tracked on the microsite using a Google satellite image.
The campaign is supported by social media, a TV spot developed in-house to air on Corus channels, and wild postings and ambient signs appearing in family-oriented locations like rinks and toboggan hills.