Canadian Retailer - Store 2014 - 59

2014 ERA AWARDS MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

AWARD WINNER
AWARD SPONSOR

IGNITING THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT
ACROSS ALL BANNERS

Dedicated and inspired marketing campaign helped increase sales,
brand support and customer awareness and engagement
WHEN Canadian Tire Corporation became one of the title
sponsors for the Canadian Olympic Committee, it put in
place a multi-year campaign in all major banners that elevated its brands and boosted the spirits of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the athletes that make it all happen.
The winning programs-We All Play For Canada at Canadian Tire, What It Takes at SportChek and Ça prend quoi at
Sports Experts-inspired and engaged employees, dealers
and families, elevated key Canadian Tire brands, integrated
its family of companies, and provided support for Canadian
athletes. And the key target audiences-for Canadian Tire,
children; for SportChek, achievers-received their own
uniquely tailored messages. Canadian Tire encouraged
children to play and become physically active. Sport Check
encouraged athletes to keep pushing their limits.

Corporation, first-ever non-product flyer to every
household, and support by Don Cherry, who
chose to support the effort by wearing a themed
jacket on national television.
SportChek's campaign asked the question: What
does it take to be an Olympian? By following Canadian Olympians on their journey to Sochi, the
retailer wanted to highlight the hard work that's
required to go the distance in sports and to make
it to the podium. SportChek integrated the campaign through a range of channels and promoted
the Olympics both at a brand and product level,
with multiple TV spots, out-of-home advertising, a
social media campaigning, and other marketing.
Big Results

Increasing brand awareness across all banners.
Putting the Plans into Action

Canadian Tire's We All Play for Canada campaign began
with a survey of more than 5,500 Canadian households to
examine obstacles that are preventing play and physical
activity in Canada. The top responses were time, money
and an increased unwillingness by Canadian children in
the videogame era to engage in physical activity. With this
research in hand, Canadian Tire launched TV spots, a website and 15 inspiring online mini-documentaries featuring
NHLer Jonathan Toews and the community that has supported his athletic goals.
The campaign had unprecedented breadth, including a
30-minute documentary with the Canadian Broadcasting

Canadian Tire's campaigns exceeded the established goals and objectives.
At Canadian Tire, the retailer created never-before-seen levels of brand support internally and
externally, with the highest level of dealer campaign participation (95 per cent). The campaign
positivity impacted various sales targets and contributed to strong financial results.
At SportChek, the retailer generated more than
197 million digital impressions (as a measurement of consumer exposure to the online campaign), scoring SportChek an estimated earned
media value of $1.18 million.
On a brand level, the campaign generated awareness, improved consumers' opinions of SportChek,
and increased brand affinity and engagement. Tremendous PR coverage with more than 15 million
impressions and exposure in publications ensured
that stakeholders were aware of the campaign.
Overall store sales also went up by a quarter for
the four weeks surrounding the Olympics, proving the halo effect of the campaign on the entire
business. The retailer achieved positive merchandise sales growth as well, including SportChek's
high performance Adidas line, which has generated $9.3 million in sales, and a second Olympic
branded product that has generated $2.5 million
in sales for the company.

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Canadian Retailer - Store 2014

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