2025 Winner
SilverPlanning with Purpose
Indigenous Tourism Alberta
"In Good Spirit"
Initiative
"In Good Spirit"
Initiative
Indigenous Tourism Alberta (ITA) is a member-based organization that promotes authentic Indigenous owned & operated tourism businesses, from medicine walks and lodges, to art galleries and restaurants. They partnered with Explore Edmonton and Tourism Calgary to launch a program designed to drive interest in Indigenous tourism across those areas of the province.
Canada’s journey toward Indigenous reconciliation has created the perception that Indigenous culture is solemn and serious. For many travelers, this creates a barrier: people choose vacations to relax and have fun.
While Indigenous experiences can be profoundly moving, they’re also filled with joy, connection, and humour. The agency needed a format that could convey the lightness of these experiences and get audiences excited about Indigenous travel.
They launched “In Good Spirit,” a comic series that flipped the script — reframing Indigenous tourism from something Canadians tiptoe around to something they’re excited to explore. Each comic told a lighthearted, true story from the perspective of Indigenous tourism operators, capturing the warmth and wit found in real guest interactions.
They partnered with Kyle Charles, a local Indigenous comic artist with Marvel and DC credits. Kyle met with four Indigenous tourism operators, listened to their stories, and brought them to life through stunning, hand-illustrated comics — complete with handwritten speech bubbles and lettering.
In partnership with The Globe & Mail, the agency adapted each story into a newspaper comic strip, featured weekly in the Pursuits section. Each strip teased the full story and directed readers to a digital hub, where they could view the complete comics and hear audio recordings of the operators telling their stories in their own voices.
They compiled the stories into a printed collection that resembled a classic comic book. Then the ageny mapped out comic shops, board game cafés, and geek spaces across the Greater Toronto Area and convinced them to distribute the comics in-store. With custom cardboard displays and free take-home copies at the front of every key comic shop in the city, they embedded Indigenous storytelling into the spaces where comic culture thrives.
During Toronto’s Fan Expo in August — the country’s largest comic convention — they went big. The agency created custom wildpostings with mylar bags full of comics attached, inviting passersby to grab a free comic. While the city buzzed with comic book energy, they made Indigenous tourism part of the pop culture conversation.
This campaign marked the first time comic storytelling was used to promote Indigenous tourism. By borrowing from the visual language of pop culture, and partnering with celebrated Indigenous Marvel artist Kyle Charles we reframed Indigenous tourism from something “serious” to something fun, vibrant, and engaging.
They tapped into Canada’s network of independent comic book stores as an unexpected brand content channel. Stores were pitched on participating, provided with custom-designed cardboard stands, and stocked with free comics for customers. This allowed us to reach an engaged, niche audience in a trusted, passion-driven context.
The agency reimagined wildpostings by designing custom posters that doubled as physical comic holders, each sealed in collectible mylar bags. Passersby could grab a comic right from the street, transforming static outdoor creative into a tangible, shareable, and memorable brand experience.
The campaign reached 10,288,163 Canadians (108% vs. plan) through distribution in 10 different comic book stores, including legendary local shops like The Silver Snail and The Beguiling. It attracted 35,363 readers of the comic strips (161% vs. plan) and generated 36,817 social engagements across likes, shares, and comments.
A total of 3,500 printed comic books were distributed across Toronto’s comic community. Participants spent over 200 hours on site exploring full comics and learning from operators, while 688 listens were recorded for audio stories told in the voices of Indigenous guides.
The campaign also earned notable media coverage, with features such as “Comic series features stories of Indigenous travel in Alberta” — Media in Canada, and “Alberta’s Indigenous tourism experiences get the superhero treatment” — Campaign Canada.
Canada’s journey toward Indigenous reconciliation has created the perception that Indigenous culture is solemn and serious. For many travelers, this creates a barrier: people choose vacations to relax and have fun.
While Indigenous experiences can be profoundly moving, they’re also filled with joy, connection, and humour. The agency needed a format that could convey the lightness of these experiences and get audiences excited about Indigenous travel.
They launched “In Good Spirit,” a comic series that flipped the script — reframing Indigenous tourism from something Canadians tiptoe around to something they’re excited to explore. Each comic told a lighthearted, true story from the perspective of Indigenous tourism operators, capturing the warmth and wit found in real guest interactions.
They partnered with Kyle Charles, a local Indigenous comic artist with Marvel and DC credits. Kyle met with four Indigenous tourism operators, listened to their stories, and brought them to life through stunning, hand-illustrated comics — complete with handwritten speech bubbles and lettering.
In partnership with The Globe & Mail, the agency adapted each story into a newspaper comic strip, featured weekly in the Pursuits section. Each strip teased the full story and directed readers to a digital hub, where they could view the complete comics and hear audio recordings of the operators telling their stories in their own voices.
They compiled the stories into a printed collection that resembled a classic comic book. Then the ageny mapped out comic shops, board game cafés, and geek spaces across the Greater Toronto Area and convinced them to distribute the comics in-store. With custom cardboard displays and free take-home copies at the front of every key comic shop in the city, they embedded Indigenous storytelling into the spaces where comic culture thrives.
During Toronto’s Fan Expo in August — the country’s largest comic convention — they went big. The agency created custom wildpostings with mylar bags full of comics attached, inviting passersby to grab a free comic. While the city buzzed with comic book energy, they made Indigenous tourism part of the pop culture conversation.
This campaign marked the first time comic storytelling was used to promote Indigenous tourism. By borrowing from the visual language of pop culture, and partnering with celebrated Indigenous Marvel artist Kyle Charles we reframed Indigenous tourism from something “serious” to something fun, vibrant, and engaging.
They tapped into Canada’s network of independent comic book stores as an unexpected brand content channel. Stores were pitched on participating, provided with custom-designed cardboard stands, and stocked with free comics for customers. This allowed us to reach an engaged, niche audience in a trusted, passion-driven context.
The agency reimagined wildpostings by designing custom posters that doubled as physical comic holders, each sealed in collectible mylar bags. Passersby could grab a comic right from the street, transforming static outdoor creative into a tangible, shareable, and memorable brand experience.
The campaign reached 10,288,163 Canadians (108% vs. plan) through distribution in 10 different comic book stores, including legendary local shops like The Silver Snail and The Beguiling. It attracted 35,363 readers of the comic strips (161% vs. plan) and generated 36,817 social engagements across likes, shares, and comments.
A total of 3,500 printed comic books were distributed across Toronto’s comic community. Participants spent over 200 hours on site exploring full comics and learning from operators, while 688 listens were recorded for audio stories told in the voices of Indigenous guides.
The campaign also earned notable media coverage, with features such as “Comic series features stories of Indigenous travel in Alberta” — Media in Canada, and “Alberta’s Indigenous tourism experiences get the superhero treatment” — Campaign Canada.
Credits
Indigenous Tourism AlbertaTom Babin, Senior Director of Marketing
Maria José, Marketing Specialist
Explore Edmonton
Gina Schopfer – Marketing Account Manager
Nykala Shone – Interim Sr. Marketing Director
Michele Fowler - Interim Marketing Accounts Director
Cassie Kupka – Interim Content Marketing Director
Shannon McEwan – Indigenous Tourism Development Specialist
Melissa Radu – Executive Director, Destination Stewardship
Tourism Calgary
Jeff Hessel – SVP, Marketing & Destination Development
Sam Macmillan – Director, Marketing
Mark Friesen – Manager, Content & Social
Tess Ciarloni - Specialist, Social Media
Initiative Canada
Stefan Ruby - Director, Creative Partnerships
Ryan Gentile - Director, Client Advice & Project Management
Chris Gairdner - VP, Head of Creative Partnerships
Taylor Schmidt - Director, Creative Partnerships
Sammy Rifai - Chief Strategy Officer
Helen Galanis - Chief Executive Officer
Globe & Mail
Ryan Cunliffe - Brand Partnership Manager
Kirstie Ciccone - Senior Manager, Content Marketing and Strategic Solutions
Kamille Chin - Designer, Creative Studio
Sonja Tasovska - Manager, Program Delivery Team
Kiran Rana - Manager, Content and Podcast Strategy, Globe Content Studio
Michelle Da Silva - Content Strategist, Globe Content Studio
Jenna Zaitchick - Creative Lead, Globe Content Studio
Aashish Arora - Interactive Designer, Globe Content Studio
Kyle Fulton - Audio Producer, Globe Content Studio
Shazia Khan - Social Media Strategist, Globe Content Studio
Zahra Khozema - Chase Producer,
Makers Production
Tiffany Tse - Executive Producer
Kirsten White - Talent Lead + Sr. Producer
Andrew Stokes - Producer
Grassroots Advertising
Dagi Back - Sr. Global Sales Representative
Talent
Kyle Charles - Artist
Scott B. Henderson - Letterer
Lilyrose Meyers - Storyteller
Lorrie Lawrence - Storyteller
Keith Diakiw - Storyteller
Heather Black - Storyteller