Telus’ latest campaign seeks to drive brand affinity and consideration, while inspiring Canadians to join its scholarship program, which was launched last year. The “Better Than Imagined” campaign tells the story of three Telus scholarship recipients and how they envision their future in a cheerful and hopeful tone. It emphasizes that Canadians can participate in the program by simply purchasing an entry for the new Telus Friendly Future Foundation Sweepstakes, which awards the winner a family trip to Hawaii.
The campaign includes social media, content marketing, influencer relations, sponsored content and earned media. The brand is also highlighting other students through owned, earned, and paid channels.
Lisa Mack, VP of brand at Telus, tells MiC that the strategy for the media plan was developed specifically as a digital-centric spend, with an emphasis on programmatic video. “The strategy enabled us to invest in innovative platforms, placements and formats that are not only relevant to our target audience but deeply aligned to our social purpose messaging,” she says.
In addition to social takes on Pinterest and Tik Tok, the campaign includes GoodLoop, a media platform where a donation to Telus Friendly Future Foundation is unlocked every time the customer views the campaign ad; and Amazon ads, with buy-in on Fire TV where Amazon will make a donation to Telus Foundation for every hour of selected video aired on the platform (up to a pre-determined amount).
To drive awareness and consideration of the sweepstakes, the brand is using digital tactics such as IAB banners. There are also assets such as 30s videos on platforms like OLV premium and Connected TV, and OOH advertising in Ontario and Quebec to amplify support where needed.
Carat handled media buying, with We Are Social for organic social content and National Public Relations for strategy and PR support. The&Partnership and Connected Studio were behind the creative.
According to Mack, the media mix helps the brand raise awareness of the Telus Student Scholarship and offers an opportunity to not only effectively communicate their social purpose and enhance the brand’s reputation, but also to help them advance their purpose by inviting Canadians to join them in supporting young people.
Unlike the previous campaign for its scholarship program, Mack notes that this time Telus is focusing on recipients’ stories and the good they do in their communities in order to create an emotional connection with the public and establish a distinct brand identity. The team also wanted to go beyond the message and motivate Canadians to take action, so they thought that a sweepstakes would be the perfect way to complement those stories.
The campaign is in line with Telus’ positioning, which over the past years has focused on highlighting the company as a trusted brand committed to generating positive social change. To reinforce that positioning even further, the company decided to launch a new brand platform in 2023 called “Let’s make the future friendly,” which invites Canadians to come together to help make the world a better place. “Today, as we round out 2024 with ‘Better Than Imagined’ and ‘Friendly Future Sweepstakes’, these campaigns are a natural extension of our brand promise, but with a renewed focus on driving consideration for Telus,” Mack says.
