In early January, ahead of February’s 2022 Winter Games, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) launched a Winter iteration of its ‘Glory From Anywhere’ Olympic campaign.
The campaign, which was developed in harness with Toronto-based creative agency Camp Jefferson and with Montreal’s K-72, kicked off on 10 January and ran across national television, print, digital and social media, plus other outdoor advertising media including billboards and bus shelters.
Hubbed around a bespoke site at www.gloryfromanywhere.ca, the campaign was led by a hero ‘Glory From Anywhere: Beijing 2022 – Team Canada’ 60-second TV spot starring eight Canadian athletes in a training montage, including bobsleigh racer Cynthia Appiah, skeleton athlete Jane Channell, figure skaters Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, speed skater Gilmore Junio, freestyle skier Mikaël Kingsbury, ice hockey player Jocelyne Larocque and snowboarder Max Parrot.
The spot ran in both English and French language versions across the national governing body’s digital and social channels as well as in the national broadcast media.
The footage was accompanied by the copy: “We come from everywhere and can overcome anything. Glory is more than a medal – it’s found on the journey to the Games – in the gym, on the slopes, on the ice and in the air. It’s found in the sacrifices athletes make to pursue their dreams. Through our Canadian Olympic values – values like bravery, determination, and integrity – we can all chart our paths.”
The lead ad was supported by a set of individual athlete social cut-down spots.
“In the ‘Glory From Anywhere’ debut for Tokyo 2020 this summer, we built on our ‘Be Olympic’ platform and highlighted the values it takes to achieve that moment of glory that can define an athlete’s career,” outlined Chief Brand and Commercial Officer and CEO of the Canadian Olympic Foundation Jacquie Ryan. “In this [Winter] chapter, we’re highlighting the incredible sacrifices athletes make to overcome obstacles and be their best which, given the challenging time we are in, we hope can be a source of inspiration for Canadians.
“We believe that athletes can transform Canada by demonstrating how to pursue a goal with bravery, integrity and determination,” continued Ryan. “But we wanted to bring more of their story to Canadians in this campaign and to highlight that glory is also found in the journey most of us never see. Glory is in the gym, on the slopes, on the ice, and in the air. It’s in the struggles they face, not just in the medals they win, and I think that idea can have a lot of power right now as we’re all digging a little deeper to navigate the second winter of the pandemic.”
Appiah is hoping to make her debut at the Games in women’s monobob – a new event on the Olympic programme.
“My glory is expressed through my sport but it extends beyond athletic achievement,” said women’s monobob racer Appiah. “I also want to demonstrate that black athletes can compete in winter sports and hopefully connect with aspiring black youth to help them pursue their dreams. We are lucky to have a rich Olympic history in Canada because we can look up to so many great Olympians who achieved their dreams through bravery or resilience. But it’s important that people can see themselves in their heroes. I hope my team mates and I can be the same source of inspiration for people watching the Games no matter their background, race or religion.”
Comment
Despite the concerns and controversies clouding Beijing 2022 – which range from the fast-spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19 to the host nation’s human-rights violations – Team Canada and its sponsors are still activating heavily around an event which the country holds in equally as high, if not higher, esteem as the Summer Olympics.
This is the second iteration of the COC’s ‘Glory From Anywhere’ campaign which originally debuted last summer in June ahead of the late running Tokyo Olympics.
“We wanted to bring more of their story to Canadians in this campaign and to highlight that glory is also found in the journey most of us never see,” said Ryan. “Glory is in the gym, on the slopes, on the ice and in the air. It’s in the struggles they face, not just in the medals they win, and I think that idea can have a lot of power right now as we’re all digging a little deeper to navigate the second winter of the pandemic.”
For the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, agency Camp Jefferson originally created the ‘Glory From Anywhere; campaign to help build buzz, back the athletes and ‘to redefine what Team Canada is today’ with a new platform to build on for the future.
It was built on research showing that not all Canadians felt represented by Team Canada and yet the desire to be/feel represented was strong with 71% of Canadians stating they are ‘interested in the Olympic Team’. Thus it was flelt that whilst Team Canada was seen as a sports team representing the best of Canada’s athletes, it was not necessarily representing ‘the best of the country’.
The agency and the COC felt the Games offered an opportunity to ‘change the idea of what we’re supporting’ by shifting the focus from sport to the set of values that both Team Canada and Canadians share so that everyone could feel like they belonged to Team Canada.
The solution was to invite all Canadians to follow their path to glory with a message that ‘everyone has the potential to achieve glory’ brought to life through inclusive stories of ordinary people (athletes and non-athlete) doing extraordinary things.
Amongst the key headline results from the summer iteration of ‘Glory From Anywhere’ was the fact that by the end of the Games the COC had converted 1.5m Canadians into new fans (+4%) and made 3 in 4 Canadians (75%) more interested in the Canadians Olympic Team.
Campaign tracking found that after viewing the campaign 44% of Canadians had a more positive opinion of Team Canada, with new 57% of New Canadians feeling even more connected to the brand (+13pts).
Plus, on the commercial and sponsorship side, this new direction was reported to have played a major role in attracting new big brand partners such as Lululemen and Sobey’s who saw the values based direction to be a perfect alignment with their purpose driven strategies.
Indeed, the Winter promotional push followed on from a campaign from COC’s official supplier Lululemon which first rolled out back in September 2021, while Sobey’s own ‘Feed The Dream’ Winter campaign also rolled out in mid-January 2022.
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