2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Maxi, a Quebec-based discount grocery store, faced the challenge of promoting its local product offerings with fewer resources and less equity compared to its competitors. Instead of trying to outspend them, Maxi took an unconventional approach to sponsorship by hijacking the National Bank Omnium, an event sponsored by its main competitor IGA, and sponsoring local tennis player Félix Auger-Alliassime.

Maxi's sponsorship of Félix Auger-Alliassime allowed the brand to insert itself into the IGA environment and attract attention for its boldness. The campaign's key message was that Maxi's fresh offer was unbeatable. The brand even launched an ad stating that it would sponsor Félix for as long as he won, but the sponsorship would end as soon as he lost a game because Maxi is unbeatable and cannot sponsor someone who has just been beaten.

The news of the anti-sponsorship campaign was picked up by all the major media outlets in Quebec, making Maxi the talk of the town during the tennis tournament held at the IGA Stadium. The exposure from Félix Auger-Aliassime's sponsorship highlighted Maxi's fresh and unbeatable local offering with fewer media resources, proving the effectiveness of an anti-sponsorship.

In year 2 (2022), Maxi announced the re-sponsorship of Félix with an online video that delivered above the benchmark with great engagement and a high completion rate. The campaign had a CTR of 1.34% and a VCR of 77.22%, with social reach at 769K, an engagement rate of 13.85%, and a social sentiment of 95% positive.

Maxi also announced the end of the sponsorship with another online video that had a higher CTR than the first and was 200% over the VCR benchmark. The campaign had a CTR of 1.44% and a VCR of 71.05%, with social reach at 848K, an engagement rate of 12.69%, and a social sentiment of 98% positive.

Credits

[Company Credits]
CREATIVE AGENCY: LG2
CLIENT: Maxi
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Gorditos
POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: SHED
SOUND STUDIO / ENGINEERING: BLVD
MEDIA AGENCY: Dentsu X
[Individual Credits - Agency - LG2]
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICERS: Marc Fortin, Luc du Sault
VICE-PRESIDENT, CREATIVE: Marilou Aubin
VICE-PRESIDENT, STRATEGY: Sophie-Annick Vallée
VICE-PRESIDENT, ACCOUNT SERVICES: Marie-Christine Cayer
VICE-PRESIDENT, PRODUCTION: David Legendre
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTION: François Sauvé
CREATIVE DIRECTION: Frédéric Tremblay, Sébastien Legault
COPYWRITING: Guillaume Bergeron, Samuel Bernard
ART DIRECTION: Marc Guilbault
STRATEGIC PLANNING: Jean-Sébastien Martel
ACCOUNT SERVICES: Marie-Julie Cossette, Stéphanie Paquette, Julia Berryman
AGENCY PRODUCTION: David Legendre, Mélanie Bruneau,
Isabelle Fonta
[Individual Credits - Client - Maxi]
Frédérique Perron-Thomas, Valérie Le Sieur, Antoine Cormier
[Individual Credits - Production Company - Gorditos]
DIRECTOR: Louis-Philippe Eno
PRODUCER: Véronique Poulin
[Individual Credits - Sound Studio - BLVD]
ENGINEERING: Olivier Rivard
[Individual Credits - Media - Dentsu X]
GROUP DIRECTOR: Sébastien Labelle
MEDIA SUPERVISOR: Sophie Marcotte