AS FEATURED IN THE GLOBE & MAIL

For many brands that have found initial success through direct response methods, “performance marketing” has been the engine behind much of their growth. These brands have relied on highly targeted tactics to drive quick wins in customer acquisition.

Performance marketing strategies, such as search marketing and digital performance ads, have helped sustain sales and maintain visibility in competitive spaces. But as brands reach a certain stage, they often realize that continuing with a pure performance marketing approach may no longer be enough to unlock their next wave of growth.

READ MORE…

.

AS FEATURED IN CAMPAIGN CANADA

It was shortly after “We the North” had debuted, and Sid Lee’s then SVP of strategy, partner Dustin Rideout was sitting with his colleagues Jared Stein and Jeff Da Silva at a Toronto Raptors game at the former Air Canada Centre.

In front of them, a group of young boys spent the entire game chanting the now famous slogan. At one point, Rideout, now partner and CSO at The Hive, leaned over to Da Silva and said, “Well, it might not ever get better than this work for us.”

What became an emotional rallying cry heard from coast-to-coast began with an examination of where the Toronto Raptors’ brand created impact. It quickly became clear to Rideout and the Sid Lee creative team that there was an opportunity to turn the franchise’s perceived weakness of being an outsider into a strength.

MLSE had originally enlisted Sid Lee to create a new Raptors logo to replace the dinosaur used since its inaugural season in 1995. The team felt it was on course to challenge for NBA championship, and wanted to become the "coolest" team in the NBA, Da Silva told Campaign back in 2019.

It was a daunting task for a franchise that had spent much of its existence on the league's fringes, but Sid Lee turned that outsider status into the rallying point for the creative team. 

The insight behind it was simple and straightforward: In Canada, we’re outsiders playing our own game. “I can quite honestly say that the connection of the insight to idea is among the tightest of anything I’ve ever been part of,” said Rideout.

It was a bold approach, particularly coming from a country that often looks to the U.S. for validation. "[We thought] what can we say about us that's true? Well, we're the only team in the NBA outside of the United States,” said Da Silva in 2019. “We also wanted to represent Toronto in a way that was a little bit different than the cliche symbols you associate with Canada in general."

That meant no pristine lakes, snow-peaked mountains, and definitely no beavers. Instead, the visuals for the accompanying "We the North" TV spot featured Toronto's concrete playgrounds and graffiti-covered back alleys, images more aligned with the sport's urban appeal.  

There were also countless proposed slogans, but "We the North" worked for two main reasons, said Da Silva: It felt like a declaration (a kind of "we the people" for basketball fans), and it also sounded wrong in just the right way.

"We never entertained 'We are the North,' but we were asked multiple times by people who were involved if that's what it should be," Tom Koukodimos, then CCO at Sid Lee, told us five years ago. There were even discussions about whether there should be a comma after the word "We."

A decade after "We the North's" debut, and having just limped to a 25-57 season, the Raptors are once again trying to climb the summit to an NBA championship.

Everything is different now, the promise of an up-and-coming team giving way to the uncertainty that accompanies any rebuild, yet “We the North” endures—a rallying cry and statement of pride for the sole Canadian team in a U.S. dominated league.

It’s ironic that for all of its cultural resonance, “We the North” was never a big winner for Sid Lee on the awards show circuit. “It’s the most famous work that’s won the least amount of advertising awards that I’ve ever worked on,” said Rideout.

But now, having toppled two presumptive favourites in the first two rounds of the Campaign Cup, and looking like a strong contender to win it all, the Raptors have a chance at a new title, “Greatest Canadian Ad of the 21st Century.”

Canadians tend to be self-effacing when asked to predict their chances in competition, but Rideout summoned some of “We the North’s” forthright attitude when asked about its chances in the latter stages of the Campaign Cup. “This is sports, we play to win,” he said. “Let’s go Raptors. #WeTheNorth.”

AS FEATURED IN STRATEGY MAGAZINE

This story was originally published in the 2024 Winter issue of strategy magazine

At first blush, the clean-cut, affable, and family-oriented basketballer Gradey Dick is a brand natural.

On NBA draft night, the Kansas native went viral with a sartorial nod to his home state and The Wizard of Oz, rocking a ruby red Dolce & Gabbana-sequined shirt and jacket. And when the 6’7 small forward was seen attending Caribana, he once again became a social media sensation for donning a pink-and-blue Toronto FC jersey. Dick’s affinity for the flamboyant caught the eye of Holt Renfrew, which quickly profiled the hooper in its video series “What Do You Wear?”

Last year, after one NBA start, the Raptors demoted Dick to its development league, where in two games, he made six out of 33 attempts at the net. Now with Dick temporarily toiling in the minors, are brands with more investments in him quaking in their high-tops? Adidas, for example, signed the rook to a multi-year footwear contract and Gillette put him in a shaving ad. Also, Canadian energy drink Guru announced that Dick is both a share-holding investor, as well as its brand spokesman, as the company looks to sports relationships to build more brand equity in eastern Canada.

When it comes to these kinds of athlete deals, it’s a roll of the dice, says Matthew Kelly, managing partner with Level5 Strategy. Contrast Dick’s performance with the team-up between the NHL’s Connor Bedard and Hyundai Canada, which had its eye on the young Vancouverite since draft night. Bedard is living up to the hype. And the Chicago Blackhawks are reporting that merch sales have doubled over the same period last year, likely due to the teen lighting it up on the rink. As Kelly points out, “Bedard was in a class of his own,” while every sport and city has its rookies like Gradey Dick, and few if any are touted as the Next Big Thing.

Kelly says marketers need to ask, “Is the relationship doing any damage to the brand or my organization?” Then, they need to consider whether an athlete deal was meant as a revenue driver, relationship builder, or sales enabler. “If that isn’t coming through, you need to pivot to plan B very quickly.” If Dick is out of the limelight, and not putting up points, the value is simply not there, Kelly says, unless he suddenly succeeds and achieves a kind of underdog status redemption arc and earns back what’s been temporarily lost.

“Why cut bait?” asks Dustin Rideout, partner, and chief strategy officer at The Hive, who points out that it is common for rookies to struggle mightily. Also, as Rideout notes, the Raptors overall have been languishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, which is not doing any favours for more well-known Raptor multi-brand pitchmen like Scottie Barnes (Google Pixel, Subway and Bitbuy) or Pascal Siakam (McDonald’s and Frito Lay).

When a brand is linked to an athlete, the challenge is figuring out how to make them relatable with those you’re trying to influence. And Dick’s struggles, Rideout says, could actually resonate. “A narrative of setbacks and mental fortitude, and listening to yourself and having confidence, those are broad narratives that all of us can relate to,” he says.

As a marketer, rather than risking the vicissitudes of linking a brand to a particular athlete – which could be hampered by on-court/ice/field performance issues, injuries, trades to a different geography entirely, misconduct issues – Rideout advocates supporting grassroots sports.

He cites Michael Bartlett’s “transformational” work as president and CEO of Canada Basketball, which supports education of coaches and officiators, youth sport leadership (off the court), developing sustainable and inclusive basketball programming for kids, with an emphasis on girls and women, a Unified Assist Program, identifying and supporting non-profit community programs and initiatives focused on increasing access to the game. The community work they do, Rideout opines, is incredible and supported by the likes of Sunlife and Toyota, and is something “more brands should be getting on board.”

EFFIE CANADA ANNOUNCES NEW CHAIRS

Effie Canada, which recognizes the best in marketing effectiveness, has secured the services of experienced brand marketer Ali Leung, and agency strategy leader Dustin Rideout as co-chairs for its 2022 program. 

Leung and Rideout will oversee both the judging of the Effie Awards Canada, and the resulting program that amplifies the impact made by the winning work across the industry.

Currently a Toronto-based global senior marketer at Shopify, Ali Leung has previously held senior marketing roles at WeightWatchers, Facebook, and Unilever. She has also supported Effie Canada as a judge in previous years and sits on its advisory committee.

Dustin Rideout is currently partner and chief strategy officer at The Hive and has also worked in senior strategy roles at Juniper Park\TBWA, McCann Canada, Sid Lee and Leo Burnett. His track record of Effie Canada success includes work for IKEA, the rebranding of the Toronto Raptors, and Juniper Park\TBWA being named as Effie Agency of the Year in 2021. 

Both Leung and Rideout have strong backgrounds in driving digital marketing and innovation but bring different perspectives with their marketing and agency experience.

READ MORE…

BEAUTIFUL CONSTRAINTS

LBB> What do you think is the difference between a strategist and a planner? Is there one? 

Dustin> Absolutely, however not because of any romantic longing for a return to the mystique that once surrounded the planner label. The work of a strategist has never been more diverse, as one needs to flex their thinking for both upstream and downstream opportunity. From that perspective, a strategist for me is about identifying opportunity and legitimising brand response. Planning on the other hand is about how to orchestrate an idea to market in the sharpest, most culturally relevant way. Both are important, but flex different muscles.

LBB> And which description do you think suits the way you work best?

Dustin> I find most strategists/planners are either house cats or alley cats. The former toiles in literature to unearth a gem, the later gets out into culture to experience why people behave the way they do. I’ve always valued venturing outside to understand what’s happening in real life.

READ MORE…

WHAT CULTURAL SHIFTS WILL BE THE MOST MEANINGFUL

With each new year we indulge in conversations of fresh starts, trends, and cultural phenomena. But this time, the stakes are higher, and the implications are more significant.

The pandemic instigated a reshuffle of global realities, social norms, and individual beliefs. What we knew to be our world is ending, and something else is being born. Nearly eighty years after the original “Year Zero” that followed WWII, we once again have a chance to redefine ourselves and rebuild. 2021 promises to be another “Year Zero,” where growth will be redefined.

To stay relevant during this time of risk aversion and tarry, brands have an opportunity to re-establish their roles. To become forces of disruptive growth in a world that’s stuck in incrementalism.

CULTURAL TRENDS MARKETERS CAN TAP INTO

READ MORE…