CTC enlists 35 million directors

Nobody is better equipped to tell a genuine story about Canadian experiences than Canadians. So Tribal Worldwide and the Canadian Tourism Commission turned the country into a giant film set and handed the job of camera operator to Canucks.

The "35 Million Directors" project and contest invited people to take photos and film short videos of their uniquely Canadian experiences, then upload them to a microsite. Visitors could vote for their favourite footage and share the content on social media.

The CTC partnered with CTV for daily features on the channel’s morning shows, such as Canada AM, as well as with French-language station TVA. On-air personalities and celebrities such as Douglas Coupland also contributed footage. It was all promoted via online advertising, social media cultivation, PR, outreach to film schools and tourism industry partners.

The campaign achieved the highest social media engagement of any CTC initiative. More than 8,000 entries were received, including 65 hours of video footage and thousands of photos. The final video (with submitted footage pieced together) was viewed more than 3.6 million times.