In 2018, Tim Hortons desperately needed to rebuild love and trust with its 5,000,000 daily guests following a challenging year that had seen a decline in sales and a stream of negative PR. The objective was to capture hearts and reignite Canadians’ love for the brand, generating 100 million earned-media impressions and increasing positive sentiment for the brand.

To help reignite love for the brand, Tim Hortons knew it had to show its commitment to something that all Canadians hold near and dear. Something that connected Canadians coast-to-coast. From here, the agency found the insight that powered the campaign: that nothing brings Canadians together like a shared love of hockey. From its namesake and founder, to Timbits Hockey and even the NHL, hockey has always been a part of Tim Hortons’ DNA. The brand could credibly talk about it, but needed to tell Tim’s hockey story in a more modern way.

The team searched for unique Canadian hockey stories, but found a story that, while Canadian at heart, actually came from the heart of Africa: Kenya. There is just one ice hockey team in Kenya – the Ice Lions – and because they are the only team, they have no one to play. Tim Hortons decided to bring them to Canada, the home of hockey, to play a game and get together with Canadian fans and players who love the sport as much as they do, in turn helping Canadians come together over their love of the game. Tims set up a game at a rink with a local team. What the Ice Lions didn’t know was that two of the game’s best players, Sidney Crosby and Nate McKinnon, were going to play for the Ice Lions. Their experience was chronicled in The Away Game, a content campaign that unfolded with custom online versions for each platform. The story was seeded to Twitter, with influencers enlisted to spread the story. Custom video content was posted to Facebook, encouraging people to share. Twenty-four Instagram stories emphasized different aspects of the story, linked through a platform-optimized, full- length film.

Enthusiastic hockey fans loved the story so much, they wanted to see more. So the brand gave it to them. Tim Hortons partnered with Rogers Sportsnet and aired an 18-minute version of The Away Game in a special primetime slot after a Pittsburgh Penguins game. Over 1.8 million people watched it.

Within four days, the video had 4 million views. After 72 hours, social media impressions hit 8 Million. It went global, on CNN, The Huffington Post, BBC, ESPN and USA Today. Brand engagement jumped 250%, positive sentiment increased 100%, and store-traffic grew 3% in the month after the film’s release. It also gained over 300 million earned media impressions. The campaign was listed among the Top 10 Campaigns of the Year and was an Ad Age Editor’s Pick of the Day. The short-form video was the #1 YouTube Video in Canada for Q4 2018. Tim Hortons jumped 17 places in the list of Canada’s most admired companies.

It was a truly inspiring piece of brand content that captured the hearts of the nation.