Canadian Tire Corporation - Best Interactive Outdoor Event

Company: Canadian Tire Corporation, Toronto, ON, Canada
Company Description: Canadian Tire Corporation Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire, Mark's, FGL Sports, PartSource, and the Canadian operations of Party City.
Nomination Category: Event Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Brand & Experiences - Interactive Outdoor Event

Nomination Title: Canadian Tire Christmas Trail 2020

The date on which this nominated production was first presented: November & December 2020

Christmas in 2020 may not have been a ‘normal’ Christmas but that didn’t mean Canadians couldn’t celebrate and create memorable moments to last a lifetime! The first ever Canadian Tire Christmas Trail fully immersed Canadians in the experience of Christmas magic by creating a fantastical interactive Christmas event complete with Santa Claus, show-stopping lights, festive music and activities, all from the safety and comfort of the car. Canadians drove though 1.5 KM winter wonderland featuring10 strategically and beautifully decorated vignettes withholiday lights, Santa and his elves!

Santa was available for photographs with the kids (or just the young at heart) in a safe, distanced, and protected environment. A stunning Christmas décor assortment was seamlessly integrated into the event. Families gasped in delight at the sights and sounds they witnessed and felt like a kid again with all the wonder and awe that the season brings.

Two main objectives for the 2020 Christmas Trail are:

-To rally alongside Canadians and to remind them that while Christmas may be different this year, the magic is still alive, and we are here for Canadians no matter what life looks like. We're there to help Canadians continue to celebrate special moments that are familiar to them – in fun, new ways.

-Defendour position as Canada's Christmas Store while also enabling a 360-degree experience to engage employees, customers, Loyalty members, media and influencers in a meaningful and cohesive way.

The Christmas Trail was a truly sensory experience, encompassing multiple human senses.

Smell:
-Guests received a pine scented car air freshener to hang in their vehicle while driving through the Christmas Trail.
-Our tree lot vignette featured over 200 real pine trees where the smell spread throughout vehicles, even with the windows closed!

Sound:
-Upon entering the Christmas Trail, guests tuned into a custom podcast while in their vehicles. The podcast included a welcome message from Santa, greetings from elves and a collection of holiday songs.
Midway through the Christmas Trail, cars stopped to enjoy live music from festive Christmas carollers.

Taste:
-The second vignette along the Christmas Trail provided all guests with individually packaged, freshly baked gingerbread cookies and a single-serving bottle of milk.

Sight:
-While driving the 1.5 km Christmas Trail, guests enjoyed millions of Christmas lights, vignettes including a 20’ Advent Calendar, a 70’ Christmas tree made up entirely of lights, and floating Christmas Trees on a pond. We incorporated a large assortement of our product from stores encompassing many of our owned brands such as CANVAS, NOMA & Mastercraft that were displayed throughout the trail.

The event results are as follows:

-Results from our post event survey provided a Net Promoter Score of90. This NPS score was the highest Canadian Tire Corporation has ever scored at an event.
-We hosted22,137guests over the course of 35 sold out daysand raised$149,085.00for our Jumpstart Charity.
-We showcased our stunning hero Christmas décor assortment. Throughout the Christmas Trail, we displayed over5,000different products.

List the appropriate creative and production credits for this entry: Advertising Agency/City: Client: Art Director: Cinematographer: Creative Director: Designer: Director: Illustrator/City: Music Producer/City: Photographer/City: Printer/City: Producer: Production Company/City: Programmer: Writer: Web Development Firm/City:

Credits

Events:
Jordana Novak, Associate Vice President, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation
Sandra Mancini, Manager, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation
Toni Masci, Manager, Community Events, Canadian Tire Corporation
Elliot Abish, Senior Advisor, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation
Nathalie Nahas, Advisor, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation
Lisa Chinnery, Senior Advisor, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation
Isobel Medel, Advisor, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation
Juliana Sozzi, Advisor, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation  
Kate Dionne, Advisor, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation 
Erin Wilson, Specialist, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation  
Tyler MacDonald, Specialist, Event Finance and Operations, Canadian Tire Corporation
Mitchell Peck, Coordinator, Events, Canadian Tire Corporation

External Communications:
Stephanie Nadalin, Associate Vice President, External Communications, Canadian Tire Corporation
Cathy Kurzbock, Manager, External Communications, Canadian Tire Corporation
Harriet Renshaw, Advisor, External Communications, Canadian Tire Corporation
Jessica Leroux, Advisor, External Communications, Canadian Tire Corporation
Michelle Jones, Specialist, External Communications, Canadian Tire Corporati

Employee Communications:
Michelle Ghandour, Associate Vice President, Employee Communications, Canadian Tire Corporation
Leah Gaucher, Manager, Employee Communications, Canadian Tire Corporation
Caitlin DeCourcey, Advisor, Employee Communications, Canadian Tire Corporation
Cynthia Roberts, Administrative Assistant, Employee Communications, Canadian Tire Corporation

Films:
Jay Gordon, Manager, Creative Production, Canadian Tire Corporation
Erin Graham – Producer, Creative Services, Canadian Tire Corporation
Jonathan Perry, Digital Content Specialist, Creative Services, Canadian Tire Corporation
Spencer Torok, Video Editor, Creative Services, Canadian Tire Corporation
Sean O’Neill, Videographer and editor, Creative Services, Canadian Tire Corporation

External Vendors

Radke Film Group - Toronto
Micheal Walker, Art Director- Toronto
Weber Shandwick- Toronto
Heidi Pelzl Styling - Toronto
Marc Bondy, Elves and Brand Ambassador support - Outlook Promotions
Dayent - Carollers
Just be Claus - Santa
Hala on Stilts - Stilt walkers
Isabella Hoops- Buskers