2025 Winner
GoldBest in Experiential/Stunts - Budget Over $100,000
Dairy Queen
"Big Red Spoons"
Publicis
"Big Red Spoons"
Publicis
DQ Canada, of Blizzard treats and iconic red spoon fame, is a favourite destination for ice cream treats — in the summer. During December-March, Blizzard treat sales decrease seasonally by an average of 35%. The agency knew from research that most Canadians don’t give up on ice cream in the winter (on average, 10.4 million pounds of it are sold during the winter season); it’s an all-season treat. Blizzard® treats just aren’t top of mind in blizzard season.
The main challenge, however, was that Blizzards simply weren't top of mind during the colder months, leading people to choose other options. They’re in steep competition with McDonald’s and Tim Hortons, some of Canada’s biggest advertisers. The typical annual spend is 30% relative to theirs, making it even more challenging to capture attention.
The Blizzard Banks transformed the natural Canadian landscape into something fun and joyful, bringing to life DQ’s “Happy Tastes Good” positioning at a time when Canadians are outside enjoying winter activities like skating and skiing.
So, they turned snowbanks, an especially abundant resource in Canada this year, into an overnight OOH campaign for Blizzard treats.
This year, when Canada got bit by the biggest blizzard in years, snowbanks appeared everywhere. They recognized an opportunity: after Mother Nature’s stunt, they pulled one of their own, and turned snowbanks into an instantly recognizable campaign for Blizzard treats.
The medium presented unique challenges: snow can melt and become unappetizing quickly. The campaign had to be simple and nimble: find the right snowbanks, and stick giant, 7 replicas of the iconic red spoon and Smarties toppings into them while they were still fresh. Thankfully, Blizzard® treats are a summer favourite, so they knew their audience would recognize them as soon as they saw the brand’s giant version. To make it even tastier, a QR code embedded on the spoons offered a chance to win free Blizzard® treats for a year.
To find snowbanks that were perfect in appearance and location, they scoured weather data to find Canada’s snowiest locations and identified ones with a nearby DQ and plenty of outdoor foot traffic, even in the depths of winter. They are active in Ottawa, Collingwood, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Whistler. The audience was already out and having fun; the Blizzard Banks made their weekends a little sweeter.
Blizzard Banks are the first time snowbanks became a medium for interactive, branded installations.
The campaign’s success was evident early on; people were taking pics before installation was complete. One young kid in Calgary liked the installation so much that they tried to take a Smartie home with them.
After the three-day activation in five smaller markets, they had achieved national coverage — and cravings for Blizzard treats were on the rise. And most importantly, their installations compelled Canadians to change their behavior and eat more Blizzard treats during the winter, with a 10% increase in Blizzard treat sales during February in comparison to the previous year.
The campaign generated 21.8 million total impressions, including 5.1 million earned impressions. Nationwide, Blizzard treat sales increased by 10% in February, demonstrating a strong consumer response. Earned media efforts alone delivered 32 traditional media hits, resulting in three million impressions — surpassing the original impressions goal by an impressive 1,400%.
The main challenge, however, was that Blizzards simply weren't top of mind during the colder months, leading people to choose other options. They’re in steep competition with McDonald’s and Tim Hortons, some of Canada’s biggest advertisers. The typical annual spend is 30% relative to theirs, making it even more challenging to capture attention.
The Blizzard Banks transformed the natural Canadian landscape into something fun and joyful, bringing to life DQ’s “Happy Tastes Good” positioning at a time when Canadians are outside enjoying winter activities like skating and skiing.
So, they turned snowbanks, an especially abundant resource in Canada this year, into an overnight OOH campaign for Blizzard treats.
This year, when Canada got bit by the biggest blizzard in years, snowbanks appeared everywhere. They recognized an opportunity: after Mother Nature’s stunt, they pulled one of their own, and turned snowbanks into an instantly recognizable campaign for Blizzard treats.
The medium presented unique challenges: snow can melt and become unappetizing quickly. The campaign had to be simple and nimble: find the right snowbanks, and stick giant, 7 replicas of the iconic red spoon and Smarties toppings into them while they were still fresh. Thankfully, Blizzard® treats are a summer favourite, so they knew their audience would recognize them as soon as they saw the brand’s giant version. To make it even tastier, a QR code embedded on the spoons offered a chance to win free Blizzard® treats for a year.
To find snowbanks that were perfect in appearance and location, they scoured weather data to find Canada’s snowiest locations and identified ones with a nearby DQ and plenty of outdoor foot traffic, even in the depths of winter. They are active in Ottawa, Collingwood, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Whistler. The audience was already out and having fun; the Blizzard Banks made their weekends a little sweeter.
Blizzard Banks are the first time snowbanks became a medium for interactive, branded installations.
The campaign’s success was evident early on; people were taking pics before installation was complete. One young kid in Calgary liked the installation so much that they tried to take a Smartie home with them.
After the three-day activation in five smaller markets, they had achieved national coverage — and cravings for Blizzard treats were on the rise. And most importantly, their installations compelled Canadians to change their behavior and eat more Blizzard treats during the winter, with a 10% increase in Blizzard treat sales during February in comparison to the previous year.
The campaign generated 21.8 million total impressions, including 5.1 million earned impressions. Nationwide, Blizzard treat sales increased by 10% in February, demonstrating a strong consumer response. Earned media efforts alone delivered 32 traditional media hits, resulting in three million impressions — surpassing the original impressions goal by an impressive 1,400%.
Credits
Vinicius Dalvi, Chief Creative OfficerVictor Yves, Head of Art
Josh Dornan, Senior Art Director
Claire Mills, Senior Copywriter
Larissa Visentin, Art Director
Jackson Rothwell, Copywriter
Serene Gaspar, EVP, Managing Director
Bobby Malhotra, EVP, Managing Director
Mary Chamber, Chief Strategy Officer
Shawna Hayman, SVP, Brand Lead
Silvia Parkinson, Group Account Director
Haleigh Magill, Account Director
Rachel Senay, Account Supervisor
Chris Whyte, Group Strategy Director
Rylee Strachan, VP Digital Strategy
Abby Guthrie, Digital Strategy Director
Eliza Pratter, Jr. Digital Strategist
Chris Desjardins, SVP, Sponsorship & Events
Sabeeca Ali, Director, Brand Experience
Ryan Balter, Account Executive
Chris Taylor , Program Director
Benjamin Jones, Associate Technical Director
Myah Wills, Designer
Mike Charal, Team Lead, Motion Design
Elliot Berkis, Designer
Sydney Wills, Production Designer
Yuriy Leheta, Production Designer
Marley Garren, Junior Motion Designer
Terry Theofilactidis, VP Commercial Content
Reid Marshall, Director
Alex Chan, Photographer
Rebecca Burtnik, Post Producer
Ingrid Theiner, Editor
Angeli Pineda, Editor
Adam Kemp, Colourist
LePub MTL, Audio Mixing
Ginger Sherwell, Senior Account Director, Media Profile
Alyssa Bomben Tomczak, Senior Consultant, Media Profile
Halli Gallo, Consultant, Media Profile
Gemma Mastroianni, Influencer Marketing and Content Strategist, Media Profile
Donna Smith, VP, Media Director, DentsuX
Amali Senarath Yapa, Director, DentsuX
Claudia Rodriguez Proano, Account Director, DentsuX
Herleen Bansal, Sr. Media Planner, DentsuX
Vinod Talreja, Associate Partner Manager, DentsuX
Stephanie Estanislao, Coordinator, Buying, DentsuX
Priyanka Lokre, Digital Planner, DentsuX