Who: GoDaddy Canada, Juniper Park\TBWA, Wavemaker (media), North Strategic (PR).
What: “Shift Just Got Real,” a new summer-long marketing campaign aimed at small business owners and entrepreneurs.
When & Where: The campaign debuted April 29 and is running on TV and online video, complemented by social and digital out-of-home in Toronto. The company also plans to incorporate additional OOH in the Prairies and Maritimes, where its presence isn’t as strong, says Anne De Aragon, the newly appointed vice-president and country manager for GoDaddy Canada.
Why: The campaign is promoting GoDaddy as a key resource for the country’s approximately 1.1 million small-business owners who need to adapt their website to accommodate shifts within their business. “A lot of people think ‘I get my domain at GoDaddy, but we’d like them to also know that we offer a full range of solutions,” says De Aragon. “Even though we have high awareness in Canada, I’d like people to start thinking of us for our all-encompassing solutions, and not necessarily just where they go to get domains or hosting.”
How: The TV spot humorously depicts how abruptly a small business owner’s focus can shift, whether through factors like innovations and trends, to more personal circumstances. A 30-second spot features the proprietor of a moving company who decides to shift his focus after throwing out his back while moving a couch. Goodbye Frank’s Movers, hello Frank’s Falafels.
“It’s tapping into some of the things that we think small business owners in Canada are living through every single day and bringing that to the forefront,” says De Aragon. “It’s being a champion for entrepreneurs and providing tools that are intuitive and easy to use.”
On the campaign origins: The campaign had its origins in GoDaddy’s previous campaign featuring the Toronto Raptors’ C.J. Miles. When Miles was traded at the NBA’s trade deadline earlier this year—with the spots still in market—GoDaddy was forced to quickly shift its focus.
“We had that moment where we realized we had to make an adjustment, and it was a bit of an ‘a ha’ moment, because small businesses have to do this too,” says De Aragon. “Most small business owners go through several iterations, whether they just love being a serial entrepreneur and love the thrill of starting something new; whether the business gets too big and they want to return to a smaller business, or whether their life circumstances change.”
Taking a summer break from sports: GoDaddy has enjoyed considerable success with its longstanding association with the Toronto Raptors, but this is the third consecutive year it has employed a summer shift in its marketing. “It was always our intention to shift away from sports during the off-season and focus on real situations,” says De Aragon. This year’s campaign follows 2017’s campaign featuring GoDaddy employees, and last year’s “Try Your hand at Building a Website.”
