Outcrop Communications beat out 14 competitors from across Canada to bag the $5-million 2007 Canada Winter Games national marketing campaign contract.
The advertising and design agency, with offices in Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit, partnered with Toronto-based marketing firm McDonnell Haynes for the project.
In May the Games host society tendered the contract for the campaign, intended to boost tourism and investment in the North.
It’s funded with $2 million from the Yukon and $3 million from Ottawa, on behalf of NWT and Nunavut.
“The Outcrop/McDonnell Haynes partnership was chosen for its strong northern knowledge and experience as well as an in-depth knowledge and proven track record in key target markets across Canada,” said host society president Piers McDonald in a release.
“Market research, film, photographs, commercials and other communications products developed for the national campaign will provide a lasting legacy from which our territories can draw,” he said.
Outcrop Yukon will be leading the web development part of the campaign.
“We’ll also be the on-the-ground support for the Yukon,” said Outcrop Yukon co-manager Jason Rayner.
His duties will include account management and scouting locations for filming and photography locally.
The contract runs until August 2007, and all the money must be spent by then.
“It’s a pretty tight timeline; in order to get some of the summer stuff, we need to be out in the field collecting video in late July — so it’s a pretty quick turnaround to get this going,” said Rayner.
Outcrop’s Yukon office employs seven
people. Rayner and Lael Lund have been running the 26-year-old Yukon office for the past two years.