Marketing News Canada Roundup: November 09, 2022

Today we feature a round-up of some big events and recent industry happenings.

• FleishmanHillard HighRoad and Indigenuity Consulting Group Announce Partnership
• NHLPA Goals & Dreams and Sonnet Insurance Team Up Through Hockey
• Sinai Health Foundation launches first campaign with newly appointed Creative AOR FUSE Create
• Demand Spring Launches Season 4 of Marketing Unplugged
• Virtual healthcare provider Dialogue creates immersive wellness campaign for Billy Bishop takeover

Read more below!

FleishmanHillard HighRoad and Indigenuity Consulting Group Announce Partnership

FleishmanHillard HighRoad (FHR) and Indigenuity have announced a collaborative partnership to enhance their public affairs, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), public relations, and consultation offerings for clients.

FHR and Indigenuity share a commitment to advancing DE&I and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Through this partnership, FHR will bring its communications experience and proficiency together with Indigenuity’s history and expertise in Indigenous relations and consultation.

"We’ve been working with Indigenuity for more than a year and are excited to take the next step to formalize our relationship," said Angela Carmichael (she/her), president of FHR. “This partnership will expand on the impactful, transformational work we’re already doing with our clients, bringing new perspectives to the table.”

FHR has decades of experience as a leader in public affairs and public relations in Canada, working with clients across a multitude of industries including financial services, natural resources, agriculture, healthcare, energy and environment, consumer brand, and technology.

“We know that for reconciliation to be successful, we need to build strong partnerships. We look forward to continuing our work with FHR, and to offering our clients new solutions to build their capacity and integrate reconciliation and DE&I into their everyday practice,” said Janis Brooks (she/her), Vice-President of Indigenuity.

Since 2000, Indigenuity has established a strong reputation as a leader in building meaningful relationships with Indigenous Peoples by facilitating critical dialogue and decision-making processes between parties, and helping clients reach success through strategic approaches and creative solutions.

“DE&I can't exist without Indigenous reconciliation, and we’re thrilled to be working with Indigenuity to broaden our expertise in this way,” said Jen Anthony (she/they), FHR senior vice president and DE&I practice lead in Canada. “This partnership will help our clients further build their relationships with Indigenous Peoples and provide them with opportunities to invest in reconciliation.”

“As our public affairs practice continues to grow across Canada, we’re seeing governments increasingly expecting full engagement and participation with Indigenous Peoples in multiple areas of public policy decision-making. Our partnership with Indigenuity will offer our clients much-needed insights and connections that are critical to their success,” said John Capobianco (he/him), FHR Public Affairs practice lead.

NHLPA Goals & Dreams and Sonnet Insurance Team Up Through Hockey

With the goal of making hockey more accessible and inclusive for young players across the country, the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and Sonnet Insurance (Sonnet), Canada's first fully online home and auto insurance company, are teaming up for the second straight year in support of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund. The next chapter of the initiative, “Everyone Deserves a Team,” focuses on community and amplifying Indigenous voices.

This year, Sonnet and NHLPA Goals & Dreams have broadened their outreach and support by giving young hockey players and their families of Innu Nation an in-person, once-in-a-lifetime experience in the small community of Mani-Utenam, Quebec.

NHLPA members Nick Suzuki and David Savard of the Montréal Canadiens travelled to northeastern Quebec to surprise young hockey players in the Innu Auasset program with a day of on-ice bonding over a shared love of the sport. The star players announced a donation of 50 sets of brand-new equipment and funds to help lift barriers to access and create memorable experiences for the children on behalf of NHLPA Goals & Dreams and Sonnet.

The NHLPA and Sonnet worked with community leader and change catalyst Normand Jr Thirnish-Pilot to capture the story of how hockey helped bring a community together, acting as a vessel for healing, joy, and recreation. The “Everyone Deserves a Team” project honours the work being done by Thirnish-Pilot and the Innu Auasset program to empower the youth of this community through a short form documentary and TV spot.

“You can see how important hockey is to the youth and families of Innu Nation. It’s a great feeling being part of this initiative, bringing young people together through NHLPA Goals & Dreams to create some great memories for these young players just starting out,” said Nick Suzuki, NHLPA member and Montréal Canadiens captain. “It was meaningful for me and David, together with Sonnet, to have the opportunity to visit the community and see the impact of Normand Jr Thirnish-Pilot’s work giving more youth the chance to enjoy the game.”

By increasing access to the game of hockey for this group of passionate and deserving athletes through the donation of new equipment and funds, NHLPA Goals & Dreams and Sonnet are committed to building a support system rooted in inclusivity and accessibility. This year’s donation in Mani-Utenam follows last year’s donation of 25 full sets of equipment from NHLPA Goals & Dreams to children in the Innu community of Pakua Shipu, which was coordinated by Thirnish-Pilot.

“Here, hockey is almost like a religion. It really helps the youth to walk towards a better future,” said Normand Jr Thirnish-Pilot, Innu Auasset Committee Founder. “The visit of Nick Suzuki and David Savard in Mani-Utenam and the donation of new equipment from NHLPA Goals & Dreams and funds from Sonnet Insurance was really meaningful to us. Those players are heroes here and the donation will help to bring more kids on the ice. We are truly thankful.”

“This year’s campaign strengthens our commitment to community and demonstrates to the young athletes of Innu Nation that we are on their team and want to see them succeed both in the sport and in life,” said Brian Long, VP of Marketing, Sonnet. “It’s an honour to lend a hand to the good work the NHLPA has been doing for over 20 years and to see the impact an in-person visit from some of the NHLPA’s most talented players has on this community.”

The NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund is a player-driven initiative – and the largest grassroots hockey program in the world – that has supported youth hockey in 34 countries and donated more than $26 million in equipment to help grow the game of hockey. To learn how the NHLPA and Sonnet are helping make a difference in the lives of young hockey players, visit: sonnet.ca/goals.

Sinai Health Foundation launches first campaign with newly appointed Creative AOR FUSE Create

Sinai Health Foundation is launching its first evolution of the “See what care can do” campaign, November 7, with creative agency FUSE Create. This is the first creative work coming out of the partnership since the AOR announcement this past summer.

The fully integrated brand marketing campaign follows personal stories of care. The goal of the stories is to showcase the individualized, multidisciplinary, collaborative care provided by Sinai Health. Through compelling visuals and storytelling, the stories highlight specific areas of care such as women & infants, rehabilitation, and cancer treatment, among other treatments Sinai Health is well-known for. In addition to the primary spot, stories from two past patients will launch later in the campaign, further deepening the notion of "see what care can do."

“Rather than focusing on care alone, this campaign celebrates our people – those who provide the care, our staff; those who benefit, our patients; and those who support it; our donors.,” says Laura Hearn, Vice President of Brand Strategy & Marketing at Sinai Health Foundation. “By shifting from See What Care Can Do to the more inclusive “see what we can do,” it’s inviting the audience to be a part of the world-class care that Sinai Health provides every day.”

FUSE Create developed the creative and digital marketing strategy that includes TV, OOH, print, and paid social. FUSE worked with Vapor Music on the audio production, Radke Films on production and direction, and Outsider Editorial for editing post-production. Aber, H+K, and JAM Direct also provided support for this campaign.

“Building on the momentum of the “See What Care Can Do” campaign, we wanted to dimensionalize that word ‘care’ a little for the viewer,” says Steve Miller, Executive Creative Director. “By associating names, faces, and even symptoms to the care provided, we can bring that care to life, and demonstrate what “we” - the patients, doctors, nurses, therapists - can do.”

The fall campaign will carry over into 2023, along with a new creative campaign to celebrate Mount Sinai Hospital’s centennial. To learn more about Sinai Health Foundation visit sinaicares.ca

Demand Spring Launches Season 4 of Marketing Unplugged

Revenue Marketing consultancy Demand Spring launched the fourth season of Marketing Unplugged, a podcast that goes behind the scenes and delves into the personalities and the people behind some of the world’s greatest marketing.

Demand Spring founder and executive chair Mark Emond returns for his fourth season, and is joined again this year by veteran marketing executive and Leap by Demand Spring advisor Elle Woulfe.

This season of Marketing Unplugged will continue the conversations from the last three seasons - talking with guests about what inspires them, and how they channel their ideas to help their organizations, and themselves, stand taller. We have secured an incredible line-up of marketing experts for season 4, including:

• Ramli John, Content Director at Appcues and bestselling author of Product-Led Onboarding
• Chris Arrendale, CEO & Founder of CyberData Pros
• Laura Marx Chief Marketing Officer at RSA Security
• Jodi Cerretani, VP of Revenue Marketing at RollWorks

“We have been fortunate to have some incredible guests over the first three seasons of Marketing Unplugged,” said Mark Emond, Founder and Executive Chair of Demand Spring. “At the beginning of each season we ask ourselves how we are ever going to top the guests and conversations from the previous year, but year after year the conversations keep getting better. I am excited to dive into season four.”

Marketing Unplugged is available on Stitcher, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. For more information, visit demandspring.com/podcasts.

Virtual healthcare provider Dialogue creates immersive wellness campaign for Billy Bishop takeover

Dialogue, Canada’s premier virtual health and wellness platform, is helping improve the health and wellbeing of millions of Canadians. Looking to deepen that impact and engage directly with the public, they are launching a new interactive campaign at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport on November 7th - a first for the B2B digital service provider.

With issues such as mental health, economic uncertainty and labour shortages top of mind, Canadian businesses are making big investments to better support and create more engagement around the health and wellness of employees.

Dialogue’s first-ever out-of-home campaign was designed to engage directly with business professionals and decision makers to create an immersive wellness experience while passing through one of the most high-traffic business travel airports in the country.

The airport takeover provides travellers with the opportunity to test features and content from Dialogue’s new Wellness program. Travellers will have the opportunity to try stretching, mindfulness and deep breathing exercises that will help illustrate that creating new habits and focusing on wellness can help improve overall well-being and productivity.

The Billy Bishop takeover launch is just one part of a wider campaign involving a mix of digital and printed billboards in Toronto’s downtown core. The campaign highlights the benefits of the truly integrated care within the Integrated Health Platform™, including primary care, mental health and Employee Assistance programs.

Compiled by Emma Whiten, Former Editor of Marketing News Canada