2026 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

When choosing a destination, 46% of Canadian travellers list whale watching as “very important.” While Newfoundland and Labrador leads the nation, competitors were closing in.

The challenge was to defend leadership in a way that deepened brand engagement and encouraged travellers to interact, share, and stay connected beyond the boat tour.

Traditional whale watching is fleeting: travellers see whales, take photos, and the moment is over. They realized that emerging AI technologies could reshape the experience. What if AI could make the encounter more personal and more enduring? By transforming a photo into a unique narrative – one that evolves over time – AI could bring travellers closer to whales than ever before, turning a one-time excursion into an ongoing relationship.

HelloHumpback.ca is a world-first platform that merges AI-driven science with storytelling. Travellers upload a photo of a whale’s tail, which functions like a fingerprint. AI-powered image recognition scans the photo against Happywhale.org’s global research database to identify the whale. Once a match is found, a custom generative AI model crafts a personalized narrative, pulling from the whale’s real-world sightings data, migration history, and environmental context.

Each new photo submission doesn’t just generate a story – it updates the whale’s biography in real time, creating a living narrative. Travellers receive email updates whenever ‘their’ whale is spotted again, sometimes months or years later, extending engagement long after their trip. With “Hello Humpback”, AI became the core experience – turning raw data into personal stories, and tourists into active contributors to marine science.

“Hello Humpback” redefined what a tourism campaign could be: simultaneously deepening brand engagement, fuelling trip planning, and advancing conservation science. In its first whale watching season, the campaign has generated 105 million earned media impressions, valued at $9.5 million. The activity has ignited trip planning, contributing to 2.7 million total sessions on NewfoundlandLabrador.com, where referrals to tourism operators grew 6.2%, creating a measurable impact across the industry.

Credits

Creative Director: TJ Arch
Associate Creative Directors: Jennifer Szilagyi, Julia Forrester
Art Director: Jennifer Szilagyi
Copywriter: Julia Forrester
Senior Developer: Tim Carew
Web Developer: Sarah Stone
Production Artist / Digital Imaging Artist: Dejan Vucicevic
Junior Graphic Artist: Amy Brenton
President: Catherine Kelly
Account Director: Ernie Brake
Senior Account Managers: Alaina Collins, Allison Daley
Strategic Planner: Noel O’Dea
Agency Production Manager: Vivian Tulk
Agency Producer: Matt Tucker
Director of Communications and Media Planning: Jef Combdon
Digital Media Planner: Ryan Locke
Paid Social Media Specialist: Sophia Munden