To launch the platform, we wrote a story about rediscovering the importance of entertainment in your life. For many, this joy was first discovered during childhood, before life’s demands.

Written and produced with the intention of being as entertaining as the films shown at Cineplex theatres, we created a short animated film entitled “Lily & the Snowman”. The film told a parable of entertainment in a woman’s life, from childhood to adulthood.

The film features a cover of Genesis’ “Follow You Follow Me” performed by singer Adaline. The song was streamed on Spotify and Apple Music and could be downloaded on iTunes with all proceeds going to Cineplex’s charity Free the Children.

We chose to release the 2-minute film on Facebook, YouTube and Cineplex.com during the holidays when people would be most likely to share its message, “Make time for what you love.”

The film launched with virtually no online media weight as we were certain the film would quickly resonate with people not only in Canada, but across the world.

During the film's first 12 days with an online media budget of only $150,000, the film received:

• 21,800,000 views Facebook and YouTube.

• 300,000+ shares

To date:

• 30,000,000+ views (92% organic)

• 620,000+ shares

• 51% increase in visits to Cineplex.com (Dec ‘14 vs. ’15)

• +1596% increase in Facebook impressions (Dec ‘14 vs. ’15)

• Named one of the best Christmas Ads of the year by Digital Arts UK

• The Most Watched Canadian Ad on YouTube in December

• +37.5% increase in brand affinity for Cineplex

Cineplex also enjoyed a 24.7% increase in ticket sales (Dec‘14 vs.’15)

“Lily” became a part of pop culture. There were memes, reaction videos and fan art. Its song made Billboard’s Top 50 Most Played Adult Contemporary songs in the country.

On social, many expressed “Lily” was better than some of the Hollywood films Cineplex played during the holidays.

Cineplex wanted to remind hardworking Canadians that the busyness of everyday life can consume us, and over time, we lose perspective on the things that are most important. People of all ages need to remember the bigger picture—that there is more to life.

We need more of this perspective—and what better place than Cineplex to rediscover it. So when we ask people to "See The Big Picture" we are not only reminding them of the theatre chain’s unrivalled entertainment experience, we are also asking them to rediscover the meaningful role entertainment can play in their lives.

Cineplex, Canada’s largest theatre chain, faced a fundamental difficulty. They had a strong rational affinity, but they were surprisingly weak on emotional affinity. Any emotional connection Cineplex had with Canadians was attributed to the Hollywood films they played, and not the brand itself.

We thought Christmas 2015 was the perfect time to start changing Cineplex’s relationship with Canadians. We did so with the launch of a new brand platform: “See The Big Picture”.

Cineplex believes entertainment is meaningful and we could all use more of it in our lives. Our objective then was to inspire people to rediscover the importance of entertainment and, through the power of storytelling, go from being a company that plays other people's stories to a brand that tells its own.