Under attack from its American competitors, Canadian Tire won the market share battle by leveraging the role it plays in developing active living and building healthier communities.

As a winter nation, Hockey is Canada’s # 1 sport, and Canadian Tire is the go-to store for all things related to active living and hockey. Following the enormous success of Canada at the 2014 Olympics, positive sentiment, pride and patriotism was at an all-time high in the country; not able to compete in a price war against our American rivals, we fanned the flame of patriotism, to win consumers share of heart.

Our community rooted strategy paid off, YOY sales grew by $93 million during the quarter of the campaign, leaving our competitors in the dust.

Outperformed brand KPI’s:

• Had meaning to me personally: +100% over Ipsos norms

• Online awareness: 4 x Ipsos Norms

• Ranked #1 for most likely to consider buying

In just FIVE DAYS, we generated 85 million Facebook impressions, in a country of 30 million people.

The #WeAllPlay appeared in over 4 million Twitter feeds.

The documentary attracted over 3.2 million viewers, generating 14 TV rating points.

The “Jacket Stunt” and “Documentary” earned $8.6 million in free media airtime.

We found 300 volunteers who carpooled, coached, and mentored Jonathan throughout his life. Our content strategy featured those volunteers in online documentaries and a full length version in prime time TV.

We synchronized Facebook posts to our TV ads prompting downloads of the song featured in the spot. “We-All-Play-for-Canada” became the most downloaded song in Canada.

To strengthen grassroots positioning, stores engaged their communities, through in-store activities, social assets and the flyer program.

Don Cherry, the iconic hockey broadcaster, wore a team photo jacket on air. Soon, other celebrities joined the movement; “We-All-Play-for-Canada” became the rallying cry of a nation.

Hockey is a platform where Canada dominates, we used it as a patriotic lever to represent the fight it was leading against giants Target and Walmart. The central idea of the campaign was “Team Photo”. It’s based on the insight that it takes more than athletic ability to excel in sports. It takes the collective efforts and sacrifices of an entire community. Canadian Tire came together with Jonathan Toews, captain of team Canada and 300 volunteers from his hometown, who had contributed to his illustrious career, demonstrating that by working together we could surmount the opposition and achieve great things.