What’s white, four storeys tall and completely unbranded?

It’s the Fido Fidolls! The two larger-than-life executions in question made an appearance in Toronto yesterday. The plain white, featureless dolls – one male, one female – were placed at opposite ends of Toronto, and will steadily make their way towards each other over the next eight days. They’ll meet up in front of a secret destination on August 27 to mark the spot for a mysterious ‘Fido Art Session.’

Fido Sessions is a new concept being rolled out in the Toronto area, led by Sébastien Moïse, Fido’s Toronto-based marketing manager, central region, that will feature quarterly events around art, culture, design and fashion. The Fidolls were created by Bos Toronto, and will serve as the ongoing visual identity for Sessions.

The events, which were developed with Toronto-based District Lifestyle Marketing, are light on Fido branding, with – gasp – no dogs allowed. ‘The concept steps away from the brand a bit,’ says Moïse, adding that they opted to do a three-week unbranded teaser campaign leading up to the first event. ‘We want to gain people’s hearts first and then let them know that it’s Fido backing it up.’

The events are being promoted completely below-the-line, with a multitude of fun guerrilla executions featuring the Fidolls. This month’s Art Sessions are being promoted with the first Canadian use of Flogos (flying logos), as well as wild postings, chalk art and tree hangers (concentrated in Toronto’s trendy Queen West area) depicting only the Fidolls and SMS instructions.

Fido also created a Facebook app where users can enter their cell numbers to receive info about upcoming Sessions, as well as a WAP deck with artist bios. It opted not to do a traditional microsite, choosing instead to keep things mobile. ‘There’s a tree of communications being built through SMS,’ explains Moise, adding that they worked with Toronto-based Magnet Mobile.

Media was handled by Bos Toronto media planners Kyleen Labreche, Jill Wellard and Emily Ouellette.