2021 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

INSIGHT
HomeEquity Bank (HEB) is a sponsor of the Royal Canadian Legion, which promotes Remembrance Day in Canada. HEB wanted to help broaden the reach of the Legion’s campaign and attract a new generation of supporters.

HEB provides financial products to Canadians aged 55+. As a brand that represents seniors, many with a direct connection to WWII, HEB partnered with the Royal Canadian Legion to engage a younger audience to understand the importance of Remembrance Day, which honours the men and women whose brave service has protected our liberty and freedom.

Fortunately, Canada has enjoyed an extended period of peace. That means that for those under 40, their deepest connection to war is through entertainment, especially first-person shooter and war-simulation games. Anyone over 40 is likely to have heard first-hand stories of WWII from grandparents and other relatives from that generation.

To communicate that message in a relevant way to HEB’s audience, Zulu Alpha Kilo needed to convey it via the people they watch and admire: video game streamers on platforms such as Twitch, Mixer, and YouTube.

EXECUTION
In the lead-up to Remembrance Day, high-profile gaming influencers PrismaticHub and BigTimeRob shared a video developed for the campaign on its social channel, asking followers to “#PauseToRemember that war is not a game”.

On three of the gaming world’s top platforms – Twitch, Mixer and YouTube Gaming – that’s exactly what it did. At precisely 11 a.m. on Monday, November 11th, the world’s first global online gaming cease fire began as gamers worldwide laid down their controllers.

The campaign was identified by a clear and strong visual: a generic gaming console modified with a poppy placed over the buttons typically used to manoeuvre in a game. A short film and toolkit were made available at Pausetoremember.ca for streamers to promote the cause.

RESULTS
Nearly 1M gamers took part in the initiative, with barely any paid media support. Media coverage was global, with unprecedented coverage in Canada as a way to communicate the message that War Is Not a Game.

The campaign generated 41M media impressions and secured a 21% increase in the average donation amounts for digital poppies. It also led to Digital Poppy purchases from a staggering 114 countries.

Many gamers took the time to talk about the veterans, their sacrifices and the peace Canadians enjoy today because of them. They also asked about how to get involved in the campaign in upcoming years, already giving it the potential to become an annual campaign and a global tradition.

Credits

Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Creative Director: Zak Mroueh
Associate Creative Directors: Vic Bath, Dan Cummings
Art Director: Michael Romaniuk
Writer: Jackson Kemp
Account Team: David Tremblay, Violet Karbalaei
Planning Team: Tim Hopkins, Sean Bell
Client: HomeEquity Bank
Clients: Yvonne Ziomecki, Vivianne Gauci, Niary Toodakian
Media Agency: OMD
Media Agency Planners: Dwayne Mataseje, Mitchell Cornelisse
PR Agency: Provident Communications
PR Agency partners: Wojtek Dabrowski, Morgan McLellan
Production House: Zulubot
Production House Producers: Tom Evans, Colleen Allen
Editor: Ashlee Mitchell