Home renovation and gardening retailer Rona nailed down Best of Show honours at the seventh annual Sponsorship Marketing Awards (SMA) in Toronto last night, courtesy of a multi-faceted program constructed around the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
The comprehensive Rona program, “How Rona Clinched Top Five on the Corporate Reputation List,” saw the company provide $4 million in funding for 100 Canadian Olympic athletes; donate building materials, hardware and paint for both Olympic venues and affordable housing units throughout British Columbia; and create a program for at-risk youth called the Vancouver 2010 Fabrication Shop program, which provided carpentry training. In addition, 87 Rona employees served as volunteers throughout the Vancouver Games.
The company’s activities were supported by its “Made in Canada” TV advertising campaign that reached more than 90% of Canadians, as well as online campaigns on the CTV and RDS websites, nine million flyers, branded trucks, in-store signage and extensive use of the Olympic logo on employee uniforms and Rona products,
The program is credited with helping Rona move up to fifth place in Léger Marketing’s 2010 corporate reputation survey from 21st place in 2006. It also earned a gold award in the dedicated 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games & Paralympic Games category.
SMAs were presented in eight other categories:
• Laurentian Bank of Canada won gold in the Media Sponsorship category for its “Mortgage” program. An award of distinction in this category went to Ford‘s Fiesta and CBC for the former’s involvement in the prime time show Being Erica.
• Awards of distinction in the Sports category went to Coca-Cola Canada for its “Coca-Cola Zero Fans First Game,” a free pre-season game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, and the Societé de Transport de Montréal (STM) for its program “The STM Sponsorship of the Rogers Cup.”
• BMO won gold in the Special Interest category for its “BMO Power of Blue” loyalty program, which rewards users with exclusive access to events as well as discounts on tickets and merchandise. An award of distinction went to TD for its program “TD’s Diversity Portfolio and the GLBT Community.”
• Scotiabank won gold (the Marilyn Michener Excellence in Arts & Entertainment Award) in the Arts & Entertainment category for its contemporary all-night art event “Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, while TD won an award of distinction for its program “TD: The Bank of Music.”
• Awards of distinction in the Cause category went to Purolator for its “Purolator Tackle Hunger,” a program developed in conjunction with the Canadian Football League that last year saw more than 700,000 lbs of food donated to people in need, and the Pepsi Refresh Project – CFL Challenge.
• Lotto Max won an award of distinction in the Small Budget category, which honours work done with an annual budget of less than $100,000, for its “Lotto Max – Making the Brand Promise Reality” promotion
• Kraft Canada won gold in the Sustained Success category, which recognizes sponsorship programs running for three or more years, for its “Kraft Hockeyville 2010” promotion with CBC Television (the promotion was named Best in Show at the 2010 awards). Scotiabank’s “Scene” program was given an award of distinction.
• Awards of distinction in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games & Paralympic Games category went to RBC for the “RBC 2010 Olympic Torch Relay Campaign” and Wrigley Canada for its “Wrigley Canada – C.H.E.W. to Win” program.
Presented by the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada, the annual SMAs recognize innovative sponsorship programs that drive standout business results.
