Canadian Olympic Committee

"#WeAreWinter"

Canadian Olympic athletes have historically lived quietly under the poverty line. After the success of the Vancouver games, national pride and Olympic enthusiasm were at an all-time high. As Sochi approached, OMD recognized there was an opportunity to make Olympians famous.

The strategy was to motivate Canadians to connect to Olympic athletes and inspire a nationwide Olympic cheer. Canadians have a special connection with winter, so the agency built the entire campaign on this insight and brought it to life with #WeAreWinter.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) is a not for profit organization, and so success relied solely on the agency's ability to persuade media partners and Olympic sponsors to donate to the cause.

The campaign launched during the NHL Winter Classic (largest sporting event prior to the Olympics). Live digital boards, Twitter-sized newspaper ads, cinema and digital ads promoted the athletes. Olympic sponsors donated owned media bringing #WeAreWinter to in-flight screens, department store windows and Gas Stations. Twitter invested in the campaign in exchange for exclusive content.

The campaign received $15 million worth of donated media. Followers grew by 336%, and the program generated 23 billion earned impressions. It delivered over three million social engagements and the highest Canadian Twitter engagement rate of 24%. #WeAreWinter was used in tweets between Canada's Prime Minister and Barack Obama.