RBC
#Make150Count
How does a brand celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary while striding boldly into the future? That’s the question the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) had on its mind in 2016. RBC turned to a natural symbol and catalyst for progress and forward-thinking: Canadian youth. The campaign began in October 2016 by giving $150 to hundreds of young Canadians with a simple request: Use the money to help communities prosper. RBC branches selected local Canadians between the ages of 16–25 to participate in the program by asking them to share their ideas via social media with the hashtag #Make150Count.
Participants spent their money by doing so many altruistic things, such as buying supplies for children living in homeless shelters, making care packages for people living on the street and creating art projects to demonstrate the value of positive thinking for Canadian women.
The company came to Weber Shandwick Canada wanting to ensure that their Canada 150 idea would stand out in the noise of other anniversary campaigns, while also building pride among employees by involving them in the launch of their program across the country. Inspired by entrepreneurial youth, Weber Shandwick was tasked with developing a launch event for employees that would tell the story of the campaign, and catapult RBC to the front of the line among Canada 150 activations. To achieve these goals, Weber Shandwick and RBC employees created giant public portraits of six outstanding #Make150Count participants—using dozens of RBC tower windows and 300,000 perfectly-placed Post-it notes. These multi-story mosaic billboards greeted commuters in Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver.
The Results
Three hundred and fifty eight windows later, the portraits were complete. In Toronto, high over Union Station and Front Street, the Post-it portrait became Canada’s largest-ever billboard. The activation engaged over 230 employees with family and friends, generated over 4.5 million impressions and over 400,000 views on a time-lapse social video. It was incredible to see how thousands of Post-it notes created beautiful pieces of art; and similarly, how hundreds of $150 actions ignited a movement of positive change within society.
