BrandHealth wins international Clio advertising award for Cross Country Ski Canada's Completely Pure campaign

    July 23, 2014


     
    Peterborough-based advertising agency BrandHealth was a big winner at the inaugeral Clio Sports Awards announced Monday.
     
    BrandHealth and Cross Country Ski Canada won the top award in the print category, a Grand Clio, for the Completely Pure campaign that rolled out in ski clubs nationwide in the fall of 2013.
    The campaign was shortlisted for the award in June in a category that included entries from brands such as: ESPN, the NFL and the Boston Red Sox.
     
The campaign was ultimately chosen by a jury of five industry leaders including Mark Ford, executive vice-president/president of the Sports Group, Time Inc., which publishes Sports Illustrated and Golf.
Geared towards increasing awareness as well as participation levels for the sport, the campaign consisted of a half-dozen separate ads designed to remind people that cross-country skiing is a sport like no other: bold, unpretentious and ageless.
 
Using a few evocative phrases and dramatic photos, the ads are both tongue-in-cheek and on the mark.
"We wanted to give cross-country skiing the 'cool factor' that it deserves. Cross-country skiing is unlike any other sport. It's completely pure," BrandHealth executive director Rick Kemp stated in a press release. "There is something about being in a forest in the middle of winter gliding across the snow that refreshes your body and mind. Are other sports envious of crosscountry skiing? We think so."
 
The winners of the Clio's first sports category awards represent the dynamic impact sports have on global marketing and advertising.
 
The10 Grand Clio winners were honoured at a ceremony Thursday at Cipriani Midtown in New York City, hosted by ESPN Radio's Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg of Mike & Mike in the Morning and sponsored by Citi and History.
 
The complete short list of finalists can be found at www.cliosports.com.
 
Brandhealth employs about 30 full time staff. It works on local, national and international brands for clients based in Torontno, Ottawa, Montreal, London and New Yorok.

The agency has won national and international creative awards, including a 2013 Clio Award for its Stop the Stigma campaign on behalf of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Cross Country Ski Canada is the governing body of cross-country skiing in Canada. Its 55,000 members include athletes, coaches, officials and skiers of all ages and abilities, including those on Canada's national ski teams and para-nordic ski teams.