2021 Winner
GoldBest in Sponsorships
Sobeys
"Feed The Dream Tablecloth"
FCB & UM
"Feed The Dream Tablecloth"
FCB & UM
As Canada’s Family Grocery Store, Sobeys has always supported every Canadian. From their communities to their customers and employees, everyone is a member of the Sobeys family. After becoming the Official Grocer of the Tokyo Olympics, Sobeys had new members of the family they needed to support: Canada’s Olympic athletes.
The dinner table is the place where families gather for meals; but more importantly, conversation. Growing up, it’s where Canadians of all backgrounds were fed love and support, and where families explored and pursued their dreams.
This year, the sponsored Canadian Olympic athletes were heading to Tokyo alone, without the support of family, friends, or even fans. The brand knows support plays an important role in driving the passion and performance of athletes and wanted to ensure that they feel their support despite pandemic restrictions and distance.
To inspire their athletes, they created a custom tablecloth to help bring them together over a piece of home: an Olympic-sized tablecloth stitched with messages of support from their family, friends, and fans who continue to believe in and feed their dreams. Tablecloths typically mark a special occasion of family and friends coming together. To commemorate something as significant as the Olympics, they needed an even grander gesture. Enter their 260 ft² tablecloth: a monumental symbol of love,
hope, and encouragement.
Taking inspiration from the maple leaf in the Canadian flag, Team Canada’s Tablecloth is made from over 1,300 patches representing the voices of their family, friends, coaches, and fans; each patch cheering them on and nourishing their spirits through the Games.
Their “Words to Live By” anthem spots showcased words of encouragement from those closest to the athletes, which set the tone for the campaign. Igniting a movement and rallying Canadians from coast to coast to support the athletes. Messages also poured in from athlete alumni, notable Canadian influencers, and even the athletes themselves.
Their microsite and social channels were the catalysts for their campaign. They drove engagement and became their content hub, collecting thousands of messages. The top messages were stitched into history, with thousands more living on a digital version of Team Canada’s Tablecloth that users could explore to rally together with Canadians from across the country.
Canadians submitted their words of support through social media or the microsite which were then embroidered onto a patch that became a piece of their massive tablecloth. Behind the scenes, it was a complex production process. The vetting process selected the most encouraging, motivating messages. As those messages were being embroidered onto their tablecloth, they were captured on video, edited by leveraging automation formulas, and then sent back to the user, resulting in approximately 1,300 unique videos showcasing the top messages of support. Recipients were encouraged to share with their networks and incite further submissions.
Their campaign microsite and social channels were the catalysts for their campaign. They drove engagement and it became their content hub, collecting thousands of messages of support for Team Canada. Once they had collected enough messages to complete their physical tablecloth, they continued to accumulate additional messages that would live on a digital version of
Team Canada’s Tablecloth.
After just over two months in market and the Olympics just beginning, the campaign exceeded target messages by over 95% and counting, drove a 300% increase in average time spent on site (4:03 vs 1:23 on previous Sobeys campaigns), and generated over 175MM impressions. Their “Words to Live By” spots drove over 4.4MM impressions, of which 2.7MM were completed video views, resulting in a completion rate that's 77% above YouTube's benchmark.
The dinner table is the place where families gather for meals; but more importantly, conversation. Growing up, it’s where Canadians of all backgrounds were fed love and support, and where families explored and pursued their dreams.
This year, the sponsored Canadian Olympic athletes were heading to Tokyo alone, without the support of family, friends, or even fans. The brand knows support plays an important role in driving the passion and performance of athletes and wanted to ensure that they feel their support despite pandemic restrictions and distance.
To inspire their athletes, they created a custom tablecloth to help bring them together over a piece of home: an Olympic-sized tablecloth stitched with messages of support from their family, friends, and fans who continue to believe in and feed their dreams. Tablecloths typically mark a special occasion of family and friends coming together. To commemorate something as significant as the Olympics, they needed an even grander gesture. Enter their 260 ft² tablecloth: a monumental symbol of love,
hope, and encouragement.
Taking inspiration from the maple leaf in the Canadian flag, Team Canada’s Tablecloth is made from over 1,300 patches representing the voices of their family, friends, coaches, and fans; each patch cheering them on and nourishing their spirits through the Games.
Their “Words to Live By” anthem spots showcased words of encouragement from those closest to the athletes, which set the tone for the campaign. Igniting a movement and rallying Canadians from coast to coast to support the athletes. Messages also poured in from athlete alumni, notable Canadian influencers, and even the athletes themselves.
Their microsite and social channels were the catalysts for their campaign. They drove engagement and became their content hub, collecting thousands of messages. The top messages were stitched into history, with thousands more living on a digital version of Team Canada’s Tablecloth that users could explore to rally together with Canadians from across the country.
Canadians submitted their words of support through social media or the microsite which were then embroidered onto a patch that became a piece of their massive tablecloth. Behind the scenes, it was a complex production process. The vetting process selected the most encouraging, motivating messages. As those messages were being embroidered onto their tablecloth, they were captured on video, edited by leveraging automation formulas, and then sent back to the user, resulting in approximately 1,300 unique videos showcasing the top messages of support. Recipients were encouraged to share with their networks and incite further submissions.
Their campaign microsite and social channels were the catalysts for their campaign. They drove engagement and it became their content hub, collecting thousands of messages of support for Team Canada. Once they had collected enough messages to complete their physical tablecloth, they continued to accumulate additional messages that would live on a digital version of
Team Canada’s Tablecloth.
After just over two months in market and the Olympics just beginning, the campaign exceeded target messages by over 95% and counting, drove a 300% increase in average time spent on site (4:03 vs 1:23 on previous Sobeys campaigns), and generated over 175MM impressions. Their “Words to Live By” spots drove over 4.4MM impressions, of which 2.7MM were completed video views, resulting in a completion rate that's 77% above YouTube's benchmark.
Credits
Client:SVP, Marketing Sandra Sanderson
Marketing Director, Media & Sponsorship Erika DeHaas
Manager, Media Sponsorship & Brand Conner Higgins
Manger, Sponsorship Zak Bannerman
Director Derek Kent
Manager, Social Tara Thomas
Agency Credits
Creative
Chief Creative Officer: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
Chief Creative Director: Jeff Hilts
Group Creative Director: Troy McGuinness
Sr. Copywriter: Ariel Riske
Sr. Art Director:Adam Tuck
Sr. Copywriter: Jason Soy
Sr. Art Director: Naeem Walji
Art Director: Zuheir Kotob
Art Director: Jerry Yang
Account Management
VP, Managing Director: Ricky Jacobs
VP, Group Account Director: Hanh Vo
Account Coordinator: Ajeevaan Sivan
VP, Broadcast Producer: Stef Fabich
Broadcast Producer: Jana Desjardins / Tess Waisglass
Director, Editorial & Animation: Tyler Strahl
Project Management
Integrated Producer: Cori Pettit
Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown
Senior Planner: Meg Siegel
Other:
North - PR
XMC - Experiential
UM - Media
Ali Tinker, Connection Planning - UM
Chelsea Brennan, Director, Connection Planning - UM
Adam Steeves, Senior Connection Planner - UM
Boris Pancevic, Director, Investment - UM
Production Credits
Director: Scott Drucker / Pat Moore - Director
Post: Alter Ego
Editorial: Outsider
Audio/Music: BoomBox Sound
Printing: Emmerson Group Inc.
Embroidery: Makelab Creative Technology Studios
Seamstress: Shoppe and Tailor Studios