Looking to captivate the nation with its marquee new series Top Chef Canada, Shaw Media has launched its ‘most extensive single-show marketing campaign’ in Food Network Canada history, according to a release.
The campaign supporting Top Chef Canada spans coast to coast with special emphasis on Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. Launched Monday and set to run for eight weeks, it includes a number of media firsts for the network, including Toronto streetcar wraps and shopper-targeting AdBars (which sit on checkout conveyor belts). The campaign was created in-house by Shaw in partnership with digital artist Brett Simms.
The media plan targets consumers at a variety of food-oriented touchpoints, such as restaurants and grocery stores, and busy commuter zones. Public transit advertising includes posters in every SkyTrain station in Vancouver and two Toronto streetcar wraps, while billboards and 30-second radio spots target consumers in their cars. Campaign creative ‘foodifies’ Canadian landmarks – a potato masher turns into a West Coast chairlift, a salt shaker becomes an Eastern lighthouse and a chef’s knife becomes the CN Tower.
Going beyond standard media fare, the campaign also includes a targeted push at food-loving Canadians in the places they shop and eat.
AdBar executions, featuring the image of a knife, will be placed in 60 grocery stores in Toronto and Food Network Canada is also handing out branded reusable grocery bags during two Saturdays in April at foodie haven St. Lawrence Market in Toronto and a yet-to-be-announced location in Calgary. Postcards promoting the show are also being distributed via Top Chef Canada competitors’ restaurants across the country.
And of course, the media plan wouldn’t be complete without broadcast, and for that, Shaw Media will be featuring a 30-second clip on all of its channels and a full-day on-air domination on Food Net on April 11 leading up to the premiere episode.
‘We’re infiltrating the market with the Top Chef Canada brand in the largest way possible – people will see it everywhere they go,’ Solange Bernard, director of brand and publicity for the lifestyle channels at Shaw Media, said in a release.
The show features a number of brand integrations as well, including GE Monogram kitchen appliances, Loblaw Companies and SpongeTowels.
Top Chef Canada features 16 chefs competing for a $100,000 prize in a series of challenges and elimination rounds. It premieres on Monday, April 11 at 9 p.m. ET.
