2021 Winner
BronzeBest Integrated Campaign
Movember
"The Mental Game"
UM
"The Mental Game"
UM
On the Movember Canada website is a reminder of the heartbreaking reality that globally, on average, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day. And in Canada, 3 of every 4 suicides are by men.
Movember has stated its long-term goal is to reduce the rate of male suicide by 25% by 2030, by improving men’s mental health. What’s the best way to do that? Movember cites research which shows that the key is to focus on prevention, early intervention, and health promotion, because improved mental health and better social connections reduces the risk of suicide.
The target audience for Movember in its mission to change the face of men’s mental health is young, low-to-middle-income, at-risk Canadian men who strongly over-index as sports fans, and who spend a lot of their free time consuming both live sports and sports-related programming across channels (broadcast, digital, social, and radio included).
And where do Canadians (especially men) go to follow their favourite sports, including NHL hockey and Major League Baseball? As the home of NHL hockey in Canada, and the Toronto Blue Jays, Movember chose to partner with Sportsnet for an ambitious branded content-led, integrated multimedia campaign called The Mental Game, designed to reach Canadian men where they are, across all Sportsnet channels.
Movember and Sportsnet co-developed a targeted, data-driven media strategy to reach the campaign’s targeted audience, young less-affluent Canadian men, where they spend their free time – through a combination of high-reaching broadcast programming on Sportsnet and Citytv (including live NHL games, Tim & Sid, Sportsnet Central, and Breakfast Television), Sportsnet digital and social channels, and regional radio stations across the country.
Short-form snippets were released gradually on broadcast and social channels, delivering the campaign’s key messaging and driving to both YouTube and a dedicated microsite (sportsnet.ca/thementalgame) where Canadian men could consume the series in full, Netflix-style.
This integrated approach allowed the target audience to engage with The Mental Game on their own time, at their own pace, kind of a choose-your-own-adventure. The centralized content hub at sportsnet.ca/thementalgame and dedicated playlist on the Sportsnet YouTube channel allowed for immersive, deep engagement and lots of time spent with the content, while Canadian men on the go were served bite-sized short-form versions of the content featuring key athlete soundbites and expert tips. Sportsnet also designed an interactive engagement unit, formerly known as Contobox, to create additional engagement from expandable rich media display placements.
Co-branded promos ran prominently on SN television, digital, and radio channels for the duration of the campaign, encouraging Canadian men to visit sportsnet.ca/thementalgame to watch the whole series and begin their own mental fitness journeys today.
Finally, the series culminated with the 30-minute televised special, which was also released on the Sportsnet YouTube channel and Rogers Ignite TV on-demand service.
In The Mental Game, Sportsnet and Movember have created an all-new equity: a branded content series developed from important and powerful cultural insights, and a campaign playbook that can be built upon in future campaigns and even exported to other markets around the world. This playbook includes a unique and recognizable brand identity for The Mental Game, which helped tie together all integrated campaign touchpoints.
Sportsnet and Movember worked collaboratively to develop a robust measurement framework to measure campaign performance. All available analytics show conclusively and persuasively that the campaign inspired the target audience to begin thinking of their mental health in a new way, and to start taking action.
So what did this partnership achieve? First, it created a new brand platform from scratch in The Mental Game, with equity that will be built upon in future campaigns. Second, and most importantly, the campaign results show it reached the target audience at scale and created sparks of a new way of thinking about mental health, one that’s focused on changing behaviour, and helping Canadian men improve their mental fitness.
The Mental Game was successful in reaching and engaging the at-risk Canadian men Movember targeted with this integrated campaign. The campaign reached 54% of Canadian men aged 18-34, 140k more than expected. Young Canadian men spent 30k hours with multi-platform behaviour change-driving content. The Mental Game exceeded all benchmarks for appeal and relevance. If only there was a way to know how many walks were taken, how many journal entries were written, or books were read by Canadian men as a result of the campaign.
Movember has stated its long-term goal is to reduce the rate of male suicide by 25% by 2030, by improving men’s mental health. What’s the best way to do that? Movember cites research which shows that the key is to focus on prevention, early intervention, and health promotion, because improved mental health and better social connections reduces the risk of suicide.
The target audience for Movember in its mission to change the face of men’s mental health is young, low-to-middle-income, at-risk Canadian men who strongly over-index as sports fans, and who spend a lot of their free time consuming both live sports and sports-related programming across channels (broadcast, digital, social, and radio included).
And where do Canadians (especially men) go to follow their favourite sports, including NHL hockey and Major League Baseball? As the home of NHL hockey in Canada, and the Toronto Blue Jays, Movember chose to partner with Sportsnet for an ambitious branded content-led, integrated multimedia campaign called The Mental Game, designed to reach Canadian men where they are, across all Sportsnet channels.
Movember and Sportsnet co-developed a targeted, data-driven media strategy to reach the campaign’s targeted audience, young less-affluent Canadian men, where they spend their free time – through a combination of high-reaching broadcast programming on Sportsnet and Citytv (including live NHL games, Tim & Sid, Sportsnet Central, and Breakfast Television), Sportsnet digital and social channels, and regional radio stations across the country.
Short-form snippets were released gradually on broadcast and social channels, delivering the campaign’s key messaging and driving to both YouTube and a dedicated microsite (sportsnet.ca/thementalgame) where Canadian men could consume the series in full, Netflix-style.
This integrated approach allowed the target audience to engage with The Mental Game on their own time, at their own pace, kind of a choose-your-own-adventure. The centralized content hub at sportsnet.ca/thementalgame and dedicated playlist on the Sportsnet YouTube channel allowed for immersive, deep engagement and lots of time spent with the content, while Canadian men on the go were served bite-sized short-form versions of the content featuring key athlete soundbites and expert tips. Sportsnet also designed an interactive engagement unit, formerly known as Contobox, to create additional engagement from expandable rich media display placements.
Co-branded promos ran prominently on SN television, digital, and radio channels for the duration of the campaign, encouraging Canadian men to visit sportsnet.ca/thementalgame to watch the whole series and begin their own mental fitness journeys today.
Finally, the series culminated with the 30-minute televised special, which was also released on the Sportsnet YouTube channel and Rogers Ignite TV on-demand service.
In The Mental Game, Sportsnet and Movember have created an all-new equity: a branded content series developed from important and powerful cultural insights, and a campaign playbook that can be built upon in future campaigns and even exported to other markets around the world. This playbook includes a unique and recognizable brand identity for The Mental Game, which helped tie together all integrated campaign touchpoints.
Sportsnet and Movember worked collaboratively to develop a robust measurement framework to measure campaign performance. All available analytics show conclusively and persuasively that the campaign inspired the target audience to begin thinking of their mental health in a new way, and to start taking action.
So what did this partnership achieve? First, it created a new brand platform from scratch in The Mental Game, with equity that will be built upon in future campaigns. Second, and most importantly, the campaign results show it reached the target audience at scale and created sparks of a new way of thinking about mental health, one that’s focused on changing behaviour, and helping Canadian men improve their mental fitness.
The Mental Game was successful in reaching and engaging the at-risk Canadian men Movember targeted with this integrated campaign. The campaign reached 54% of Canadian men aged 18-34, 140k more than expected. Young Canadian men spent 30k hours with multi-platform behaviour change-driving content. The Mental Game exceeded all benchmarks for appeal and relevance. If only there was a way to know how many walks were taken, how many journal entries were written, or books were read by Canadian men as a result of the campaign.
Credits
Mark Sanderson – Director, Social Impact Campaigns – MovemberKarli Kirkpatrick – Marketing Director - Movember
Luke Boone- Account Manager, Integrated Sports - Rogers Sports & Media
Scott Smith - Manager, Client Service - Rogers Sports & Media
David Smith – Strategist, Social Impact Campaigns – Movember
Mike Smith – Project Manager, Health promotions – Movember
Michael Zitney- Sr Manager, Brand and Original Content - Rogers Sports & Media
Blair Hoffman- Digital Account Manager - Rogers Sports & Media
Nicole Mintsoulis – Manager, Branded Content - Rogers Sports & Media
Emily Anderson – Manager, Data Marketing Solutions - Rogers Sports & Media
Kristian Ayre- Sr Manager, Media Effectiveness - Rogers Sports & Media
Laura Cook- Manager, Original Content - Rogers Sports & Media