The theme of the Team Canada collection was about transformation. Athletes wear the clothes between Olympic events (opening and closing ceremonies, the podium and while speaking to the press). In addition to conveying the change from athlete to Olympian, Lululemon wanted to also transform the world’s perception of Canada, a country that’s written off as one-dimensional, geographically and culturally.

Together with director Natalie Rae, we crafted an immersive world of “Feel Canada,” which unveiled visceral textures from Canada’s nature and blended it with past memories and dreamscapes that represented the future of Canada. There were even mesmerizing moments with dancers to symbolize every aspect of Canada coming together and moving forward as one. Throughout the film, the shots were punctuated by a meticulously arranged soundscape using found audio of Canadian voices, both past and present.

The intention of every detail was to create a film that transcends the clichéd Canada we see in our own media and across the world and omitting the Canadian archetype of quiet, friendly people who say sorry, live in snow and play hockey. Instead, we presented them as world-class artists, powerful activists, multifaceted people who are developing cutting-edge sustainable design and a culture that’s incredibly rich, diverse and future-facing.

The all-new Lululemon and Team Canada partnership was an opportunity to put a stake in the ground: Lululemon dresses the world’s best athletes. To tell this story, we drew from the transformational design of the athletes’ apparel.

Both Team Canada and Lululemon are misunderstood, with little attention paid to their technical know-how. The Winter Olympics and Paralympics were a moment for mutual transformation and rewriting stubborn misperceptions. On one hand, we sought to highlight Canada’s richness as a land of beauty and resilience—not just maple syrup and hockey—and on the other, highlight how lululemon’s meticulous technology makes it the gold standard of technical wear—and so much more than just yoga pants.

Through this symbiotic story of transformation, we aimed to delight Canadians with a refreshed representation of their national team, as well as a global audience, by sparking a reassessment of the Lululemon brand and its provenance.

We used a phased approach to ensure that engagement built to a crescendo at the Winter Games. We started with teasers across social, film, OOH and retail that drew parallels between details of the products and the physical geography of the Canadian landscape. We then unveiled the athlete-kit products with Team Canada athletes and invited people to “Feel Canada” through their stories across athletes’ and Lululemon’s channels. Additionally, we created ongoing opportunities for Canadians to feel a part of it with content that drove gifting of Cheer Gear over the holidays. Then, as Canada’s Olympians and Paralympians ventured to Beijing, we fostered pride and celebration through a timely slate of content celebrating our athletes and their achievements. Content covering our athletes was also captured firsthand to convey the on-the-ground excitement and energy that were happening at the games, putting Lululemon at the heart of it all.

A survey indicated we increased awareness 32% from 19 to 51% that lululemon is an Olympics partner. Among those who indicated awareness, we increased brand perception 42%.