Canada's most memorable Twitter brand campaigns of 2019

Twitter was the pulse of the public conversation in 2019. This was true across Canada and around the world.

For Canadian brands, Twitter is the perfect platform to launch something new or connect with what’s happening in the world. It offers brands a blend of dynamic content, real-time conversation and a true connection to culture that can’t be found anywhere else. Over the past 12 months, we saw many top partners take advantage and run campaigns that made us laugh, made us think and kept us engaged.

Handpicked by our newly-minted Canadian Twitter Next (#TwitterNext) team, here is a selection of top Canadian brand campaigns that stood out in 2019.

Best Purpose Driven Launch

The brand that took a stand and connected to culture in a genuine, authentic way when launching something new.

The annual #BellLetsTalk initiative has leveraged Twitter to raise funds and awareness across its four key pillars: anti-stigma, care & access, research and workplace health. 5 cents is donated to these initiatives every time the hashtag is used. Conversations on Twitter have grown so strong since its inception in 2011, that the most Retweeted Tweet in Canada for 2019 was a #BellLetsTalk Tweet (as shown above).

Best #OnlyOnTwitter Launch

The brand that creatively used Twitter - as their only/primary media partner - to launch something new. 

CIBC Aventura Visa, in partnership with the Food Network (@FoodNetworkCA) , launched the first ever interactive cooking series (#DestinationDishes) on Twitter. Each week, Aventura gave the people of Twitter the power to pick a travel destination of their choice, which ultimately determined the content for the week. Based on the poll responses, new video content was rolled out with a @FoodNetworkCA celebrity chef preparing a dish inspired by the travel destination picked in the poll.

Best Connection to Culture

The brand that was able to connect to a big cultural events and drive rich conversation during a launch

McDonald’s Canada (@McDonaldsCanada) drove rich conversation on Twitter around the launch of their #BeyondTheArch campaign, by leveraging the excitement of Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) fans across the country. As @Raptors fandom grew, so did conversations around McDonald’s as they kept their Twitter content topical and highly connected to the NBA playoffs.

Best Pre-Launch Tease

The brand that got people excited about an upcoming launch ahead of the big reveal

Schitt’s Creek (@SchittsCreek),the most Tweeted-about Canadian TV show of 2019 on Twitter, was back for a fifth season in 2019 and wanted to give fans an exclusive behind the scenes. Each week, the show started a conversation with fans by reminding them when a new episode aired and had the cast tease out a sneak peek video of the upcoming episode.

Best Brand Launch

The new kid on the block that made a splash on Twitter

No Name (@NoNameBrands) had no social media presence and picked Twitter to launch their social persona. Within the first two months, they gained more than 23,000 followers and became one of the most talked-about Canadian brands on Twitter. They have been able to give their brand personality through their unique and clever Tweet copy, paired with sassy interactions with followers and others on Twitter.

Best Use of Creators

The brand that leveraged influencers and creators to spread the word during a launch in new and interesting ways

Samsung Canada (@SamsungCanada), in partnership with Director X (@iDirectorX), created a new original video content series, exclusive to Twitter. The series paired @iDirectorX with three up-and-coming Canadian directors creating music videos on Samsung’s latest mobile innovation, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.

Best Digital to Physical Activation

The brand that brought the magic of Twitter into real life by converging digital and experiential to launch something new

Nissan Canada (@nissancanada) took to Twitter to connect with football fans and audiences around the 107th Grey Cup. The #NissanGreyCupContest ran exclusively on Twitter. Giveaway winners were gifted prize packs from CFL and Nissan in real-time, delivered directly to their homes in Nissan vehicles. Nissan also surprised (and delighted) four lucky participants with Samsung 4k TVs!

Best way to Fuel Fans

Using Twitter to elighten and engage a large fanbase in a creative manner

Budweiser became an official sponsor the Professional Women Hockey Players Association (@PWHPA) this year. They used Twitter to connect to culture in a genuine way, Tweeting stories of women hockey players affected by the lack of funding within the sport. Positive conversation about the brand and its purpose grew, as users thanked Budweiser for building a future for women’s hockey in Canada. This campaign was just one aspect of their broader #LayItOnTheLine campaign, which got hardcore hockey fans applying for their Chief Hockey Officer role.

Best use of Twitter products

The organization that took advantage of innovative Twitter product features to create an original, interactive campaign to reach audiences in Canada  

Biggest takeaway for Elections Canada (@ElectionsCan_E) from the 2015 federal election was that Canadians find voting confusing and difficult. For the 2019 Canadian election, @ElectionsCan_E created a reminder program that not only reminded Canadians to go vote on Election Day but also directed them to the official Elections Canada website where they were able to learn more about how to register and how to vote.