2024 Winner
BronzeBest in Brand Integration
BronzeMedia Collaboration: Best Partnering
Disney
"Inside Out 2 / NHL"
OMG23
"Inside Out 2 / NHL"
OMG23
It has been 9 years since the first instalment of Inside Out. During that period we’ve experienced COVID, national lockdowns and waves of entertainment content shifted to home viewing as streaming services boomed.
With Disney/Pixar films like Soul, Luca & Turning Red launching directly on Disney+, families were conditioned to wait for animated films to be released on streaming platforms forgoing the theatrical window. These factors have tempered Disney/Pixar’s box office performance, as many price conscious families opt to watch content at home rather than going to the cinema.
For Inside Out 2, they needed to get families back in theatres as well as age up the film by getting the kids that had watched the first film, now into their teen years, back for the sequel. To achieve this, they needed to make the film relevant now and introduce the new series of characters, who embodied relatable human emotions we can all identify with (anxiety, embarrassment, ennui and envy).
As the main character – Riley – is a hockey player competing in an elite hockey camp, the brand saw a great opportunity to celebrate Canada’s national sport connecting with families coast to coast. To do so, they partnered with the NHL for the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs to reach a mass audience including fans of the first film, families and potential new consumers.
Disney joined Canadians on an emotional rollercoaster to the final of the Stanley Cup with live integration in game presentation moments. After identifying that in round 1 & 2 of the 2023 NHL Playoffs, series featuring Canadian teams achieved 4 times the average of series with US only matchups and that four Canadian teams would feature in the NHL playoffs in 2024 vs 3 teams in 2023, the brand partnered with the NHL and Rogers to align the emotions of Inside Out 2 with those of the players and audience alike during the rollercoaster of emotions that is live playoff hockey.
This broadcast integration was first of its kind for the NHL using the live Studio DED integration to put Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 into the heart of the action. This execution gave IO2 cultural relevance in the most anticipated moments of the Canadian sports calendar and provided mass reach across all demos of sports fans and females with kids in unmissable co-viewing moments.
The execution was amplified across custom brand sell, co-organic social posts with Disney and NHL Players Association, an NHL.com takeover and the DED rink boards.
This was the first time Disney created a custom 30 second co-branded spot with the NHL airing across multiple Rogers owned media assets. This was the first studio to execute DED boards and first time the NHL offered corporate DED time for in-game presentation moments to an advertiser – Joy connecting to winning moments and Anxiety connecting to the pressures of overtime.
Live Sport evokes strong emotions and given the passion of Canadians for hockey, Inside Out 2 was perfectly positioned to hold up a mirror to the emotions of the nation for the Stanley Cup final.
Through collaboration and the innovative use of media technology, the campaign was able to give returning Inside Out fans a reason to get excited for the sequel, and reach new audiences, giving them all the feels, on the rollercoaster to the Stanley Cup finals.
The campaign was able to generate 132,000,000 impressions across linear TV through Rogers TV, radio, digital, streaming and social assets.
This media integration helped make Inside Out 2 a massive success at the Canadian Box office. Inside Out opened as #1 movie in Canada, remained #1 for 3 weekends in a row and 19
consecutive days at #1.
It was the highest Disney/Pixar opening ever in Canada ($10,184,797), the highest opening weekend box office in 2024 up to July 26, 2024, the highest cumulative box office of 2024 to date, the highest animated film 2nd weekend in Canada ($8.895M) of all time and the highest cumulative box office for any animated film in Canada ever above North American average. Higher than other markets France, Germany, Australia & China.
Inside Out 2 has achieved the highest cumulative box office for any Disney/Pixar or Disney animated film in Canada, reaching $54 million and counting, including revenue from Frozen 2. It now stands as the highest-grossing animated film in Disney Canada's history, entering the top 10 all-time Disney grosses in Canada, surpassing The Lion King and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
This was a testament to the way the agency was able to make Inside Out 2 feel culturally relevant and give families with teens a reason to return to cinemas across Canada.
With Disney/Pixar films like Soul, Luca & Turning Red launching directly on Disney+, families were conditioned to wait for animated films to be released on streaming platforms forgoing the theatrical window. These factors have tempered Disney/Pixar’s box office performance, as many price conscious families opt to watch content at home rather than going to the cinema.
For Inside Out 2, they needed to get families back in theatres as well as age up the film by getting the kids that had watched the first film, now into their teen years, back for the sequel. To achieve this, they needed to make the film relevant now and introduce the new series of characters, who embodied relatable human emotions we can all identify with (anxiety, embarrassment, ennui and envy).
As the main character – Riley – is a hockey player competing in an elite hockey camp, the brand saw a great opportunity to celebrate Canada’s national sport connecting with families coast to coast. To do so, they partnered with the NHL for the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs to reach a mass audience including fans of the first film, families and potential new consumers.
Disney joined Canadians on an emotional rollercoaster to the final of the Stanley Cup with live integration in game presentation moments. After identifying that in round 1 & 2 of the 2023 NHL Playoffs, series featuring Canadian teams achieved 4 times the average of series with US only matchups and that four Canadian teams would feature in the NHL playoffs in 2024 vs 3 teams in 2023, the brand partnered with the NHL and Rogers to align the emotions of Inside Out 2 with those of the players and audience alike during the rollercoaster of emotions that is live playoff hockey.
This broadcast integration was first of its kind for the NHL using the live Studio DED integration to put Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 into the heart of the action. This execution gave IO2 cultural relevance in the most anticipated moments of the Canadian sports calendar and provided mass reach across all demos of sports fans and females with kids in unmissable co-viewing moments.
The execution was amplified across custom brand sell, co-organic social posts with Disney and NHL Players Association, an NHL.com takeover and the DED rink boards.
This was the first time Disney created a custom 30 second co-branded spot with the NHL airing across multiple Rogers owned media assets. This was the first studio to execute DED boards and first time the NHL offered corporate DED time for in-game presentation moments to an advertiser – Joy connecting to winning moments and Anxiety connecting to the pressures of overtime.
Live Sport evokes strong emotions and given the passion of Canadians for hockey, Inside Out 2 was perfectly positioned to hold up a mirror to the emotions of the nation for the Stanley Cup final.
Through collaboration and the innovative use of media technology, the campaign was able to give returning Inside Out fans a reason to get excited for the sequel, and reach new audiences, giving them all the feels, on the rollercoaster to the Stanley Cup finals.
The campaign was able to generate 132,000,000 impressions across linear TV through Rogers TV, radio, digital, streaming and social assets.
This media integration helped make Inside Out 2 a massive success at the Canadian Box office. Inside Out opened as #1 movie in Canada, remained #1 for 3 weekends in a row and 19
consecutive days at #1.
It was the highest Disney/Pixar opening ever in Canada ($10,184,797), the highest opening weekend box office in 2024 up to July 26, 2024, the highest cumulative box office of 2024 to date, the highest animated film 2nd weekend in Canada ($8.895M) of all time and the highest cumulative box office for any animated film in Canada ever above North American average. Higher than other markets France, Germany, Australia & China.
Inside Out 2 has achieved the highest cumulative box office for any Disney/Pixar or Disney animated film in Canada, reaching $54 million and counting, including revenue from Frozen 2. It now stands as the highest-grossing animated film in Disney Canada's history, entering the top 10 all-time Disney grosses in Canada, surpassing The Lion King and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
This was a testament to the way the agency was able to make Inside Out 2 feel culturally relevant and give families with teens a reason to return to cinemas across Canada.
Credits
OMG23 CanadaMichelle Grozdanovski: Media Buying Director
Rachel Rush: Strategy Supervisor
Rob Metzger: Managing Director
Media Partner: NHL / Rogers
Eric Epstein (Director, Sponsorship & Player Marketing)
Chris Falkiner (VP, Integrated Solutions, Global Partnerships)
Amanda Tokiwa: Sr. Account Manager
Nick Rupert: Account Manager
Peter Mak: Development Manager
Percy Lee: Sales Associate
James Johnston: Sr. Manager Client Sales Execution
Client:
Walt Disney Studios Canada