The right to host the Olympic Games is an honor and rare opportunity for the host city to showcase its economic health, architectural beauty, contributions to art, culture, and athletics, political clout, and other symbols of prestige at an international level. In February 2010, Vancouver, BC, held the honor, which was representative of Canada as a whole. Perhaps the decision was also strategic, since Canadians are known for their enthusiasm for winter sports and love of the outdoors.
As the Games approached, the Cheerios brand launched a campaign using traditional and new media to spread their boldly simple message: Send Your Cheer. Designed to provide a meaningful connection between Canadians and the nation’s competing athletes, Spread Your Cheer developed simple adjustments to their widely recognizable cereal packaging and logo to create a campaign that was all about the connection – and, simultaneously, all about Cheerios.
Through a 30-second television spot, viewers learned that they could support a Canadian Olympian by simply cutting out a postcard-sized rectangle from their Cheerios cereal box. On the back of the cutout, viewers saw space for a note of encouragement for an athlete competing in Vancouver. On the front of the cutout, the word ‘Cheer,’ cut from the brand’s name, summed up the national sentiment of pride and patriotism. The target: proud Canadians.
Through quick trips to the mailbox, more than 40,000 wishes of good fortune were en route to their recipients. Or, for another 4,000, a simple click on one of the featured online interactive advertisements, which offered an identical virtual postcard, completed by the user. An outdoor event offered another avenue for Canadians to send their cheer. And the earned media was unbelievable: interviews with athlete recipients, features on local and national television, radio, and print publications, and a buzz on social media. The 2011 Gold Clio for the advertising team at Saatchi & Saatchi didn’t hurt, either.
It seems that a common denominator in the recently successful interactive campaigns is that they grow out of agencies which, first, have a complete, unwavering understanding of their client. They also have the ability to understand the way people feel about their client, and how it can connect to the larger living experience of these people at a specific moment. Instead of making the campaign for Cheerios about Cheerios, this advertising team created the campaign that was about the people.
By recognizing and understanding the larger events in the lives of its user, Cheerios successfully made itself part of these events. By aligning with the physical environment (the Olympics,) Cheerios made itself part of the emotional environment (patriotism, pride, excitement, respect) and created an opportunity for engagement for more than 45,000 users. And by creating this opportunity, Cheerios aligned itself with each and every person engaged by the campaign, and every athlete on the other end.
This campaign didn’t use a record-setting budget. A single 30-second television spot, a simple flash-based application, a website, and an event: not exactly cutting-edge technologies. But the consideration and the connection were cutting-edge, and represent a profound understanding of the consumer.
So, every ‘Cheer’ postcard operated like a brand mention. The creativity didn’t come from 55 layers in Photoshop, or a catchy jingle, or a really famous actor doing the voiceover. And especially not from a crummy gimmick, like a herd of puppies, or a paparazzi shot of Snooki eating Cheerios. It came from looking, listening, and creating an experience that more than 45,000 users wanted to be a part of.
So, the Vancouver Winter Games ended almost two years ago. The campaign? Now, postcards make their way to military families.
