2020 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Challenge and Goals
ParticipACTION is a non-profit health advocacy organization that has encouraged Canadians to get active since 1971. Almost 50 years later, its mandate – to get people to sit less and move more – remains the same, but the challenge has become considerably harder as technology has engineered more and more activity out of our lives.

More than ever, ParticipACTION needed to remain relevant in this rapidly evolving world, and give Canadians a refreshed look at the importance of exercise in their lives.

Insights and Strategy
Organizations advocating for fitness traditionally focus on tips and tools that make daily activity easier, at least in theory. The thinking is unquestionably logical: Show people how easy it is to get active and they’ll respond accordingly.

When ParticipACTION looked at fitness messaging, something became clear to the organization. The idea that fitness is important is almost universal, yet the focus is almost always on how to get fit, rather than why to get fit. Fitness is portrayed as an end in itself and not something that lets people sleep better, think better and even do things, like have sex, better.

In a society that’s constantly seeking life improvements, the most accessible and overlooked way of achieving them is through physical fitness.

Execution
The “Everything Gets Better When You Get Active” campaign came to life with a deliberately cheeky tone and a bright, engaging look. It spelled out, in no uncertain terms, the kind of benefits that increased physical fitness can lead to. Do you want to age better, focus better or even poop better? Activity helps with all of that.

Awareness of everyday life benefits was communicated through mass media (such as television and digital), transit, OOH and mobile, and interactivity driven through engaging digital and social placements, leading to a redesigned – and content-filled – ParticipACTION website.

The refreshed website and retargeted social media stories shared simple ways to introduce daily activity into a busy life – adapted for abilities, income and age.
The campaign platform proved to be a great springboard for specific messaging. Valentine’s Day executions of “Sex Better” definitely caught people’s attention.

Results
The campaign proved that telling people why they should do something is more motivating than telling them what to do. ParticipACTION was able to break through and demonstrate to Canada that “everything gets better when you get active.”

The results show that 72% of Canadians who saw the campaign found it motivating (a score significantly above average). Almost half of Canadians found the platform to be educational, relevant and interesting. Ad awareness was 13 points higher than ParticipACTION’s historical average.

When it came to the redesigned website, it had significantly increased engagement, particularly among Millennials – an important target, as they begin to enter an age range where activity drops off. It had +21% overall page views, +65% time spent, +26% sessions per user for Millennials and +15% lift in email sign-ups. Everything added up to the toughest goal of all –behavioural change, as 47% of Canadians who saw the campaign were motivated to get more active

Credits

Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Chief Creative Officer: Zak Mroueh
Creative Directors: Catherine Allen, Ian Simpson, Jon Webber
Associate Creative Director: Marcelo Mariano
Art Director: Catherine Allen, Manali Kulkarni, Kyle Winsor
Writer: Ian Simpson, Dylan Verway, Jon Webber, Monika Leck
Designer: Ryan Booth, Gala Tanaskovic, Array of Stars (AOS)
Agency Producer: Ola Stodulska, Kevin Corvetti, Teresa Bayley, Marko Stevelic
Account Team: Robyn Morrissey, Lauren Boultwood
Strategic Planner: Heather Segal
Director of Innovation: Sean Bell
Client (Company): ParticipACTION
Clients: Rebecca Jones, Alison Carruthers, Shauna Pichosky, Phillip Hatcher
Media Agency: Cossette
Media Agency Planner: Jenny Martin, Mary Lampasona, Urooj Fatima, Erica Goldfarb
Production House: Westside Studio
Director: Matt Barnes
Production House Producer: Scott Houghton (Executive Producer) / Adam McCloy (Line Producer)
Director of Photography: Barry Parrell
Casting Director: Shasta Lutz
Video Post Facility / Editing Company: Zulubot
Editor: Max Lawlor
Post FX Facility: Alter Ego
Animation: Ian Flaig
Colourist/Transfer: Conor Fisher
Producer: Katie Methot
Audio Post Facility/Music House: Cylinder Sound and Film
Audio Director: Chris Waugh
Producer: Chris Waugh & Brad Nelson
Engineer: Ryan Haslett
Casting: Rebecca Whitby
Studio Artist: Anna Harju, Brandon Dyson
Developer: Array of Stars (AOS)
Animation: Array of Stars (AOS)