Barack Obama in Halifax, NS

An impossible idea turned into an integrated marketing campaign that spanned four provinces across traditional and digital media.

The Nova Scotia Co-operative Council (NSCC), which ensures that co-operatives and credit unions play a vibrant and creative role in addressing the challenges faced by local communities, enlisted BrainWorks Marketing to commemorate its 70th anniversary. They wanted an event that epitomized cooperation. This is why enlisting the 44th President of the United States to address a crowd of 9,000 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, came as a natural fit to mark the occasion.

From the announcement press conference to the day of the event, everything was at a world-class level. With only 6 months to plan and execute, every one of our resources was put to good use.

We created a distinct design that was approved by Obama's team directly, recruited 60 corporate sponsors as well as many donors to cover the costs of the event, made sure that over 3,000 youths were able to attend thanks to a special sponsorship category that covered the cost of their tickets, and created outstanding video content to capture the essence of the occasion. In addition, we created personalized email blasts for 29 Atlantic Canada Chambers of Commerce and more than 25 sponsors, plus personalized emails were sent to every Atlantic Credit Union cardholder.

All of our efforts resulted in the public sell-out of the event in 21 minutes, the immediate creation of a waiting list, completely sold-out sponsorship levels, a world-class guest experience from beginning to end as well as praise from the Obama team on the efficiency and professionalism of the execution.

100% of the proceeds went into the NSCC’s Community Impact fund, returning the money directly into the newly inspired communities all around Atlantic Canada.