"Amazing things can happen when we work together."
That's the tagline of national charity
Tides Canada's latest—and unusual—promotional campaign, called "Strange Bedfellows."
It's not the message behind the campaign—that unexpected partnerships often yield innovative solutions—that makes the campaign stand out, but rather the video Tides released to spread it.
The
video gives us a literal representation of the results of unexpected couplings: an environmentalist and a businesswoman part ways after spending (what appears to be) their first night together. Before going their separate ways, both parties sheepishly text back and forth about the fun night, agreeing to see each other again soon before finally thanking Tides Canada for bringing them together. The tag: "Tide Canada. We bring together strange bedfellows. Uncommon solutions for the common good."
"The idea behind the campaign is that there's power in putting groups together that don't often have the opportunity to engage with one another," says Sarah Goodman, Tide Canada's vice president of business development and services, "that successful partnerships are often built between people from different points of view or different walks of life."
Though launched just last week, the cheeky campaign seems to have paid off.
"We seeded the campaign through social media," says Goodman. "It has been a great opportunity for us to reach beyond our traditional networks... it's really gotten a lot of traction."
The campaign also includes a new microsite and the release of the organization's annual report. It comes in the wake of
criticism from the Harper government, which has singled out Tides for accepting foreign funding and for its supposed support of organizations opposing the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline between Edmonton and Kitimat, B.C.
Though the Strange Bedfellows campaign doesn't explicitly reference the controversy, Tides wanted to remind Canadians of its core values.
From its Toronto offices, Tides has sponsored many projects in the GTA including Artreach Toronto, the Centre for City Ecology, Jane's Walk, Not Far From the Tree and East Toronto Storefront.
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Sarah Goodman, Vice President,
Business Development & Services, Tides Canada