High Five: Canada
The pandemic has shifted advertising in Canada in a big way. Agencies have had to adapt their offerings in a lot of ways, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’ve seen it first hand at my current shop, which made a quick deliberate pivot from IRL experiences to virtual ones on a significant portion of our clients' businesses. Surprisingly, our capabilities to create in the real world easily translated to the digital realm. Here’s a couple recent Canadian pieces that stood out to me. Some are good examples of adapting to the times, and some are just plain good...
Alloprof - 'Flo'
Agency: Cossette
With a lot of elementary schools going virtual, parents have had doubts whether non-IRL learning was effective. I know I have. This beautiful makeover of an existing learning platform encourages learning through play and simplifies home schooling.
GM - 'Exhibit Zero'
Agency: Momentum
For the second year in a row, one of the world’s largest tech conferences CES was going virtual. GM planned on having a big presence at the event since it had some very important announcements to make - GM 'Exhibit Zero', an immersive digital experience that parallels the event. Users could watch the keynotes, explore the Ultium platform and get up close and personal with the first-ever all-electric Silverado.
Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) - 'Unwanted Followers'
Agency: No Fixed Address
It’s not an easy task to create something so arresting that the viewer can’t look away. This piece does just that. I won’t give away the story, but this issue is only going to get worse if we don’t act against it.
Twitter - 'Tweet It Into Existence'
The conversation around social media’s effect on a person's self-perception is a very hot topic. The negative effects are usually the ones that get the spotlight. This campaign’s ability to shine a light on the positive side using real tweets is a smart move strategically.
Amnesty International - 'Writing Lights a Way Out'
Agency: Cossette
With a strong concept and immaculate execution, this was one of those 'I wish I thought of that' kind of pieces. In my opinion, print often gets overlooked when it’s actually the fastest medium we have.
