A Strategic Mix of Video and Digital Marketing for Canadian Horticultural Council

We’ve done a number of social marketing projects, but this one is unique and fascinating. Our job is to convince Canadian government organizations AND Canadian citizens that the international farm workers who come to our country every year and work in the fields and greenhouses are a positive force – a necessary and essential force – that puts food on the table for 35 million of us every day. If you ask most of the workers, they love what they do, and the benefits for them are immeasurable, especially when it comes to providing for their families and communities back home.

It would be simple to just do a longform video about this topic, but the Council wants real impact: so we are building a robust digital media campaign and custom-building video assets to make that campaign work. Our goal? Show what’s REALLY going on “down on the farm” and tell a genuine and engaging set of small stories about this important work force.

Just popping over to India for a bit…

Our work with UNICEF has taken us all around the world, and this month, Jeff Lively and intrepid UNICEF staff producer Benita Hansraj travelled to New Delhi, India, on a film shoot covering UNICEF programs on maternal and child health issues, focused specifically on systematic eradication of diarrhea, which kills hundreds of thousands of children a year. These shoots are strenuous, sometimes dangerous, always challenging, and they require stamina, flexibility, and great kit. Just watching Jeff prepare for this adventure reminded us that it takes much more than just creative chops to pull off these highly emotional, logistically complex shoots.

Dusting off a great campaign…

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada is one of our favourite clients because they really understand the connection between great creative and audience retention! Several years ago we produced a set of 8 “tip clips” – fifteen-second mini-commercials destined, at that time, for new media and theatre audiences. Spin forward half a dozen years, and they asked us to re-imagine the spots using the “Floyd family” we’d created for three different campaigns. 

Watch the video here

Syrian Refugees

Sometimes a project teaches you funamental lessons about life - and this is one of them. Over the past four months, through the production of a film for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, we’ve had the singular honour of getting to know three Syrian families, all part of Canada’s GAR (government-assisted regugee) program. While each family’s story is different, there’s a common thread - humility, a sense of wonder about how friendly and inviting Canadians are, and a sense of hope and optimism about what Canada can offer these wonderful men, women and children. The experience has made us all stop and reflect on how fortunate we are, and how fragile and how crucial Canada’s culture is.

Tim Pitsiulak

One of the things we’ve learned over 25 years of working in the Canadian north is that it is as unforgiving and challenging an environment as it is beautiful. This was driven home to us two days before Christmas as we learned that our friend, Tim Pitsiulak, had succumbed to a severe respiratory illness in Cape Dorset, NU, unable to be airlifted out to an appropriate medical care facility because of storms that made it impossible for the medevac to take place. We worked with Tim on the creation of the Kenojuak Ashevak Cultural Centre and Print Shop film. We got to know a dedicated father and husband with a 5,000 watt smile: a brave hunter, an immensely talented artist, and probably the staunchest San Jose Sharks fan who ever lived.

Peace, Tim.  

Watch the video here

NAV Canada - Take Charge of Your Career

One of the toughest but most intriguing careers around is the job of Air Traffic Controller or Flight Service Specialist, moving millions of people and tonnes of cargo through Canadian airspace every single day. NAV Canada asked us to produce a simple recruitment “TV ad” for these positions, and to focus on the unique combination of excitement and profound responsibility inherent in the work.

Voir la vidéo

Watch the video here

UNICEF - Amazon

We’ve just had another wonderful opportunity to work UNICEF in Brazil to help them grow their DRTV assets, raise awareness, document projects, and raise funds! We travelled to the Amazon to meet people and learn about projects that are showing how community development can take flight when the basic structure and support is combined with the imagination and will of the people. We’ve added our 4K drone to our lightweight travel kit, and broke it out a few times, much to the delight of Brazilians like Jeff's newest friend Alondra. 

ESDC - Aging in Place

"Aging in Place” is a new term used to describe a growing phenomenon in which older people do everything they can to have a productive life without having to leave their home. For people who live in the country, this means placing new emphasis on the value of networks. This video lays out the how and the why, using a simple and comfortable style and set in a typical Canadian farm community.

Voir la vidéo

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Statistics Canada - Business Data

Making informed decisions relating to business development can be made much easier if you consult readily available data from Statistics Canada. In this tutorial, we demonstrate a range of data sets and show how they can be manipulated to great advantage for those planning their enterprises.

Watch the video here