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Client: The Royal Canadian Legion/HomeEquity Bank
Product: The Royal Canadian Legion/HomeEquity Bank
Title: Letters Home
Media: Website, Letters
Country: Canada
Date Of Campaign: November 2, 2022

Background: BackgroundIn honour of Canadian veterans who served their country in the Canadian Armed Forces, HomeEquity Bank was the proud presenting partner for the fourth consecutive year of the Legion National Foundation’s Digital Poppy Campaign for Remembrance Day. Since the end of the First World War, November 11th has been a day to honour veterans around the world and to raise funds to support veterans in need. This year, the Legion National Foundation and HomeEquity Bank presented the Letters Home campaign – a unique way to help share with Canadians of all ages a poignant reminder of the many wartime sacrifices of Canada’s veterans.

Idea: IdeaMany soldiers wrote letters to loved ones, but didn’t get the chance to send them. “Letters Home” helped connect current homeowners to residents from the past by sending replica letters from Canadian soldiers who fought in the First and Second World Wars to their originally intended addresses across Canada in the weeks leading up to November 11. These genuine letters were sourced from the Canadian Letters & Images Project at Vancouver Island University, the largest online archive in the country, which makes them available to the public.The campaign featured a thought-provoking 30-second video that included authentic quotes from real letters and conveyed both the importance and power of wartime letters. Canadians could also see the letters brought to life in their own neighbourhoods, courtesy of national out-of-home advertisements across the country.Letters Home offered a unique and insightful window into the past, bringing a human face to war beyond stats and names, while also effectively using QR code technology of today to help drive poppy donations.

Results: The Letters Home campaign immediately drew attention to Canadian veterans and their experiences. Despite a limited media budget, the campaign generated significant online media coverage across Canada with over 23.4 million media impressions, including Toronto Sun, Postmedia, and the front page of the Times Colonist. CBC Radio-One Toronto aired an extended five-minute segment featuring the letters and its goals, and influencer content from Jennifer Valentyne shared on Instagram and Facebook created additional reach of over 80,600. Most importantly, HomeEquity Bank helped raise over $189,029 in individual donations for veterans and their families.