To honour Canada's wartime sacrifices, November 11th is designated as Remembrance Day. The familiar term 'Lest We Forget' reminds Canadians to be thankful to those who have selflessly served our country. However, as time passes, these great sacrifices are at risk of becoming a distant memory. With the historical date of 11/11/11 on the horizon, the agency saw an opportunity to deliver an once-in-a-lifetime message to Canadians reminding them of the selfless sacrifices our veterans have made.

To do this, the agency conducted an extensive search for a partner, ultimately approaching the Historica-Dominion Institute (HDI), the largest independent organisation dedicated to Canadian history. The HDI was looking for a way to promote its Memory Project, an educational initiative that connects Canadians to veterans, and with that, the natural partnership was born.To draw national, and local attention to the Memory Project and provide a powerful connection between veterans and Canadians, the agency photographed actual veterans, side-by-side, saluting their fellow countrymen to create an emotionally-charged '11/11/11' symbol, marking the date: November 11, 2011. This iconic imagery was brought to life by a live billboard, featuring real saluting cadets, which appeared at Toronto’s Civic Remembrance Day Ceremony. Aggressive media relations promoting the initiative accompanied the activation alongside advertisements appearing in key national media outlets and locations across downtown Toronto.In the end, the campaign connected veterans with Canadians and shattered all measurable objectives, generating 4.4m media impressions and an unprecedented 343% increase in donations to the Memory Project.

The agency began planning the campaign only weeks prior to Remembrance Day, and as a result, timelines were extremely tight and with a budget of $0, the agency had to be efficient and solicit substantial donations from suppliers, proving pivotal to the campaign’s success.Despite these challenges, the agency moved forward, and in that short timeframe: • Partnered with one of Canada’s largest organisations dedicated to our heritage• Developed the print advertisement• Negotiated ad placement with media suppliers (i.e. The Globe and Mail, The History Channel)• Brainstormed the live installation and negotiated its reveal at the City of Toronto’s Remembrance Day ceremonyOn the days prior to the reveal, the agency began conducting extensive media relations, followed by the live installation on the 11th at Toronto Old City Hall, featuring 6 saluting cadets in the formation of 11/11/11, witnessed by key media.

Did Canadians remember? Absolutely. The campaign wildly out-performed expectations and exceeded each of our pre-set objectives:1. Raising awareness, the campaign garnered a 233% increase in website traffic2. HDI experienced a tremendous 343% increase in donations. These funds are now supporting The Memory Project, preserving and sharing the sacrifices of thousands of veterans, for generations to come.3. Media relations generated a reach of more than 4,400,000 impressions with 17 positive editorials in mainstream and marketing media (print, online and television).4. Under Canada’s standardised measurement evaluation system for earned media, MRP, the cost per contact for programming was: $0.00, as this was a pro-bono project. The campaign generated a quality MRP score of 100%, meaning all pre-determined criteria and tone was met.