Twitter Canada has announced its list of the top brand campaigns of the year—ranging from No Name’s quirky product posts, to McDonald’s Canada’s deftness at tying its brand to the Toronto Raptors’ playoff success.
The campaigns reflect the stated ambition of the social network’s newly introduced Twitter Next offering, which is committed to helping brand partners develop “human-centric” ideas capable of driving conversation by bringing together strategists, technologies, program managers and designers.
“Our goal is to get people talking about brands,” Twitter Canada’s head of brand strategy Jamie Michaels told The Message earlier this year. Let the conversation begin.
Best Purpose-Driven Launch: Bell Let’s Talk
The annual #BellLetsTalk event has used Twitter to raise funds and awareness across its four key pillars: anti-stigma, care and access, research and workplace health, with 5¢ donated to initiatives across those areas every time the hashtag is used. The most re-tweeted tweet of the year on Twitter Canada was actor Seth Rogen’s about the event, which was retweeted 167,000 times.
BELL LET’S TALK DAY 2019 OFFICIAL VIDEO: Today, every view of this video makes a difference. All you need to do is watch it and Bell will donate 5¢ to mental health initiatives. Share to help spread the word! #BellLetsTalk pic.twitter.com/zVdFiEafYl
— Bell Let's Talk (@Bell_LetsTalk) January 30, 2019
Best Only On Twitter launch:
Bestowed upon the brand that creatively used Twitter as its only (or primary) media partner to launch something new. CIBC Aventura Visa partnered with Food Network and Corus Entertainment’s in-house content studio, so.da, to launch the interactive cooking series #DestinationDishes.
The program gave Twitter users the ability to determine that week’s content by selecting a preferred destination in a Twitter poll. Once the results were in, a Food Network chef prepared a dish inspired by the most selected destination.
❤️ this Tweet to receive weekly recaps & join a culinary journey with Food Network Canada's exclusive Twitter series #DestinationDishes. A trip that'll take you around the world with renowned chefs, one recipe at a time. pic.twitter.com/xfltCwIdHm
— CIBC (@cibc) February 28, 2019
Best Connection to Culture
Presented to the brand best able to connect to a big cultural event and drive rich conversation during a launch. This honour went to McDonald’s Canada for the launch of its #BeyondTheArch campaign, which leveraged the Toronto Raptors’ playoff success with Twitter content that was “highly connected” to the team’s success (plus a nifty use of the QSR’s famous arches).
In support of the Raps, our arches are no longer in a golden state. #LetsGoRaptors #NBAFinals @NBACanada @Raptors pic.twitter.com/H1M1gqnzuX
— McDonald's Canada (@McDonaldsCanada) May 30, 2019
Best Pre-Launch Tease
Presented to the brand that that got people excited prior to the reveal. Schitt’s Creek was the most tweeted about Canadian TV show of the year, and to get viewers excited for season five episodes, it utilized the cast to create a behind-the-scenes look at each upcoming episode.
@AnneJagielka A big change could be in the air for Stevie, but how has playing the role changed Emily Hampshire in real life?
Don't forget to stream an all-new Schitt's Creek tonight from 9pm on CBC Gem!
(Reply #ewdavid to unsubscribe from your weekly reminders) pic.twitter.com/9TBGHVg8tx
— Schitt's Creek (@SchittsCreek) January 22, 2019
Best Brand Launch
Presented to a brand that made a splash in its Twitter debut. With its matter-of-fact approach to tweeting about everything from baking powder (“will not replace oven”) to medium cheddar (“cannot communicate with the other side”), Twitter’s No Name account quickly had people talking on the platform, and it has amassed more than 43,000 followers since its debut. (See our story here, back when @NoNameBrands only had 24,000 followers.)
chips do not pour slowly pic.twitter.com/tL5L1sMKsQ
— no name (@NoNameBrands) November 8, 2019
Best Use of Creators
Presented to the brand that best leveraged influencers and creators to spread the word in “new and interesting ways” during a launch, this honour went to Samsung Canada for its weekly series #PowerUp—which used young directors from DirectorX’s production company Popp Rok to create a series of music videos using the new Galaxay Note 10 (see our story here).
❤ this Tweet to sign up to receive updates every Thursday when we drop episodes of #PowerUp – our new original series with Director X captured with the #GalaxyNote10 pic.twitter.com/YwhkxuQoqs
— Samsung Canada (@SamsungCanada) October 3, 2019
Best Physical to Digital Application
Bestowed upon the brand/campaign that brought what Michaels calls “the magic of Twitter” into real life by combining digital and experiential. This honour went to CFL sponsor Nissan Canada for its #NissanGreyCupContest, which ran exclusively on the social network. The program saw winners awarded prize packs from the league and Nissan in real-time, delivered directly to their homes in Nissan vehicles.
We're one week away from the biggest game of the 107th CFL Season. Celebrate by tweeting your Nissan x Grey Cup excitement with #NissanGreyCupContest + 🏈(don't forget the football emoji!) for a chance to win swag! pic.twitter.com/bjq1mtxHQs
— Nissan Canada (@nissancanada) November 15, 2019
Best Way to Fuel Fans
This honour went to the brand that used Twitter to enlighten and engage a large fan-base in a creative manner. Budweiser Canada was the recipient for its efforts to promote women’s hockey as the official sponsor of the Professional Women Hockey Players Association. Its efforts including tweeting stories of female players impacted by a lack of funding within the game.
This Game is for us all #ForTheGame @PWHPA pic.twitter.com/mCgE6ahAQC
— Budweiser Canada (@BudweiserCanada) November 9, 2019
Best Use of Twitter Products
Presented to the brand that took advantage of innovative Twitter products to create an original interactive campaign to reach Canadian audiences. This went to Elections Canada for its campaign reminding Canadians to vote and directed them to the official Elections Canada website for information about how to register and vote.
@AnneJagielka Today is election day! Don’t forget to vote! #ItsOurVote
— Elections Canada (@ElectionsCan_E) October 21, 2019