Leveraging a landmark anniversary to elevate individual and shared ambition

THE CHALLENGE

To mark its 125th anniversary, Desjardins set out to turn a historic milestone into a defining brand moment. The goal: proudly assert its strength and position itself as a catalyst for shared ambition while cementing its Quebec roots and boosting brand awareness in other parts of Canada. For an organization that’s active in nine business sectors in both Quebec and the rest of Canada, the challenge lay in going beyond a simple commemoration. We needed to create a clear before/after shift in brand perception while aligning commercial, institutional and social communications under a unifying vision that resonated on a national level.

OUR PERSPECTIVE

Rather than celebrate the institution’s history, we chose to focus on its founding value, ambition: ambition shared by 7.8 million members, embodied by more than 55,000 employees and expressed in all kinds of ways depending on the context and audience. It’s an idea that sparked a campaign designed to resonate in every corner of the country.

THE SOLUTION

The campaign was built around two complementary messages. In Quebec, 32 portraits of real Desjardins members embodied ambition on TV, video and OOH in every major city. And to take the conversation further, a French-language podcast was developed in association with Radio-Canada, featuring ex-NFLer Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. In the rest of Canada, the message “We’re bigger than you think” highlighted Desjardins’s strength and wide range of services. To ensure coherence at every touchpoint, the campaign brought together long- and short-form ads, trusted editorial partners, sponsored activations, social platforms, proprietary channels and marketing performance levers.