Help reinforce Molson Canadian’s “Canadian Pride” positioning, specifically around Canada Day.Provide a point of leverage/communications for all Molson Canadian/ Molson sponsorships, promotions and associationsProvide Molson Canadian with a platform that would allow the brand to break through the competitive clutter prior to key summer long weekends We approached the Toronto Sun with the idea of developing a series of guides that would give their readers a detailed look at specific events and activities, while providing relevant editorial for Molson Canadian and the target audience.

The Sun was selected due to its strong delivery against the core Molson Canadian target audience and because of the tabloid format – it was felt that this format would be more conducive to delivering a guide that could be easily read and kept for future purposes. In addition to providing the editorial, layout/ design and distribution of the guide, a pre-promotional component was negotiated.Three guides were produced and distributed in the Toronto Sun, a week prior to each of the summer long weekends. The guides carried a mix of editorial (Canadian pride and general information relevant to the target) and information on key Molson/ other long weekend events happening between the long weekends:Canada Day – 12 pagesCivic Holiday – 8 pagesLabour Day – 8 pagesThe Sun’s pre-promotional support was a summer-long programme of:Weekly small space (3 col. x 50 li.) 4 Colour ads on Page 3 in the Toronto SunJune 14th to August 16th (10 weeks)In addition to using this space to promote the upcoming guides, it was also used to promote/highlight some key events and media sponsorships for Molson CanadianHalf page B&W ads that ran prior to each of the guides’ distribution dates3 insertions per guide (9 in total), running in the days leading up to each guide3,000 Toronto Sun Boxcards (ads on coin-purchase newspaper boxes) were used to promote/establish the first two long weekend guidesJune 17 x 4 weeksWe selected those in strategic/high volume areas In addition to in-paper distribution, 50,000 overruns of each guide were produced and distributed prior to each long weekend at:Key Molson sponsored eventsCineplex Odeon theatres in the Greater Toronto Authority in conjunction with a Molson Canadian on-screen/promotional campaignLocal licensee’s events by Molson sales staffThe CNE via the Toronto SunDeborah Komlodi, Director Media, Molson, commented, “Molson Canadian's impactful, summer newspaper guides were developed to drive the Brand's association with long weekends, notably with Canada Day. Brand editorial input allowed for content that remained on strategy. Our Sales team found the features on Brand-sponsored events to be highly leveragable.” Our brief was to devise a media strategy that helped position Molson at the heart of Canadian life; one which associated it with the summer long weekends (in particular Canada Day), of long lazy days, when consumers would be in their most relaxed and therefore most receptive state of mind to receive these messages. We wanted to find a tangible way of making this association.We developed the idea of a joint editorial/ advertising venture with a leading Canadian newspaper for its client Molson, to produce a series of co-branded ‘Long Weekend’ guides to be distributed prior to each summer long-weekend.As well as contributing to the editorial content (without impinging on the newspaper’s own editorial integrity), the media team negotiated a pre-promotional package and additional distribution at local events to ensure maximum exposure for the client.Whether you were heading out of town or looking for something to do in the city, we provided a source for our target to refer to and plan their weekends. The ‘Long Weekend Survival Guides’ were a joint venture between Mediaedge:cia and the Toronto Sun, to deliver an integrated piece that provided value to both the Toronto Sun’s readers and the Molson Canadian beer brand.

The series of summer long weekend guides were developed for Molson Canadian to combine both thematic/ image based copy with tactical promotional/ event copy in one comprehensive piece.

These guides are an excellent example of how it is possible to bridge both editorial and advertising to deliver a common goal between the media supplier and the client – without compromising the integrity of the communications and always putting the reader first.

Our brief was to devise a media strategy that helped position Molson at the heart of Canadian life; one which associated it with the summer long weekends (in particular Canada Day), of long lazy days, when consumers would be in their most relaxed and therefore most receptive state of mind to receive these messages. We wanted to find a tangible way of making this association.We developed the idea of a joint editorial/ advertising venture with a leading Canadian newspaper for its client Molson, to produce a series of co-branded ‘Long Weekend’ guides to be distributed prior to each summer long-weekend.As well as contributing to the editorial content (without impinging on the newspaper’s own editorial integrity), the media team negotiated a pre-promotional package and additional distribution at local events to ensure maximum exposure for the client.Whether you were heading out of town or looking for something to do in the city, we provided a source for our target to refer to and plan their weekends.