Atlantic Chamber of Commerce /ACOA - Forge Ahead Atlantic
Advanced manufacturing isn’t rocket science - that’s the message manufacturing companies Atlantic-Canada wide needed to hear.
Forge Ahead Atlantic (Aller de l’avant Atlantique) is a bilingual campaign funded by ACOA and led by the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce, targeting students and manufacturing companies throughout Atlantic Canada.
We partnered with Lynwood Strategies on this project, taking the lead on creative and marketing strategy development. Lynwood took the lead on project management, public relations and government relations.
The message: Industry 4.0 isn’t waiting. The manufacturing world is global, and our companies must invest now in advanced manufacturing strategies, tools and techniques if they are to remain competitive.
Our campaign helped both our student audience (our future workforce) and our business audience (entrepreneurs, project managers, business leaders) through the following stages of behaviour change:
What is Advanced Manufacturing?
What’s in it for me?
How do I get on board?
We were able to pivot the campaign during the pandemic lockdown by offering animated videos to explain key advanced manufacturing concepts, an infographic/personality quiz, and additional materials to reach students in learn-from-home mode.
When the Atlantic bubble opened, we identified manufacturers in each province who are already using advanced manufacturing tools to build their businesses - and we hit the road to film their stories.
Once the ground was tilled, we invited both audience groups to a virtual workshop webinar featuring Stephanie Mehta, Editor in Chief of Fast Company magazine, and local leaders speaking on funding, education and leadership topics. What an inspiring morning!
The campaign’s final phase included two sponsored spreads in Atlantic Business Magazine, liaison with government agencies in each province, and an ad campaign targeting both audience groups. We pushed our student group to a podcast featuring leaders from educational institutions around the region, and our business group to a comprehensive guidebook for businesses looking to implement advanced manufacturing but don’t know where to start.
