Address the subject of minding your manners to an audience that is just beginning to explore the great outdoors—it must be accomplished in way that doesn’t insult or alienate them. This was the challenge put forth by Réseau plein air Québec and its partners. They were charmed by our atypical approach and tone!
Lack of manners isn’t a new phenomenon when it comes to outdoor activities. But, since the pandemic, as many Quebecers discover or rediscover the joys of practicing activities in nature, discourteous behaviour has certainly grown.
Since they’ve got a front row seat for observing human behaviour, animals are the best judges of character.
From our most polite gestures to our less polite ones, animals see it all. And, when it comes from them, we’re willing to accept a bit of judgment, for the sake of the great outdoors. Especially if they’re speaking our language and borrowing from our references.
These are the insights our creative team used to design the Nature is Judging You (kindly of course) campaign for the Réseau plein air Québec and their general brand onyva.quebec.
Aimed at young people aged 18 to 30 and utilizing the attitudes, habits, and language of the web and social media, this campaign includes plenty of ‘side eye’ and puts numerous animal memes in the spotlight. We even included Ranger the raccoon, a mascot so cute that we’d love to adopt him (or at least get a tattoo: true story)!
It’s nice to
S-H-A-R-E
Educational and full of humour, Nature is Judging You focuses on learning and sharing good outdoor practices.
The campaign focuses on how we all SHARE the great outdoors: Say “Hi!”, Hear the Voice of Nature, Pay Attention, Respect Your Surroundings, Erase Your Waste. These are five easy-to-memorize gestures that underscore the behaviours to adopt during outdoor activities.
A digital experience in line with the media consumption habits of its target audience
The campaign’s main vehicle, natureisjudgingyou.ca microsite includes interactive tools such as a quiz (which featured a contest). It also has a guide for minding your manners that offers advice tailored to various outdoor activities throughout the year.
The platform also features a seamless transition between winter and summer. With a simple click, web users can choose their favourite season, thus generating two distinct campaigns.
To amplify the impact of the campaign, content was developed and shared on the On y va Québec social media accounts.
This initiative aims to captivate the target audience, build awareness, and thus increase the influence of the campaign. Several ads were developed and deployed on the main social platforms used by the target group, while an influencer marketing strategy complemented the media efforts. The idea remains to offer content that is as close as possible to the attitudes, habits, and language used on social media.
However, since tangible and physical supports also have their impact in certain contexts, a complete kit with posters and practical tips was created and made available to partners.