OUR ROLE
Strategy, Creative, Design, Content Production, Tech Development, Media
Challenge
Canadian veterans are passing. Our military is shrinking. And the population is growing. It’s why Canadian youth and those new to the country often find it difficult to connect with Remembrance Day. Most don’t have a personal connection – someone to remember when they place a Poppy over their hearts. Without this, the relevance of both the Poppy and Remembrance Day are waning over time. Poppy distribution data has made this clear.
Strategy & Solutions
Poppy Stories was a campaign designed to help every Canadian develop a personal connection with November 11th. Building a strong bond meant building around Remembrance Day’s most iconic symbol – the Poppy. Canada adopted these little red flowers in 1921 and, for the first time in over a century, Salt helped the Royal Canadian Legion give them a voice. Using a smartphone, we turned millions of Poppies into personal introductions to Canadian veterans.The solution was a simple web application that could recognize any regular Poppy. The entire experience was two steps: go to Poppystories.ca and point your phone at a Poppy. Upon scanning, a Poppy would magically transform into an image of a Canadian veteran on the user’s screen – someone with a story to remember.
Impact
Poppy Stories put the Poppy top of mind in November, generating over 20M impressions and over 120K page views. The campaign also directly led to incremental donations, through a link that appeared after users scanned their Poppies.Ultimately though, the goal of the initiative was to help Canadians put someone in their hearts, just under the Poppies they pinned there on Remembrance Day. So, perhaps the most powerful proof point was an unexpected one. The average time spent on the site, which was just over two minutes. Or nearly the exact amount of time we stand in silence on November 11th reflecting on those who gave their lives for us.
Like what you see?
Why not take a look at a few of our other projects.
