It’s hard to believe that exactly six months ago in March I was travelling among three Canadian cities happily promoting San Antonio. Murmurs about the virus were minimal, and only one journalist asked about the impact to the city. Otherwise it was almost business as usual. “I’d love to visit when things calm down, maybe in May?” said some journalists. But that was not to be.
At the time we decided to proceed with this media mission to Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and I had no doubt about safety. Things were changing so quickly from day to day that the week after I returned the office was almost entirely working from home.
During the planning stages and the mission itself, things were executed and received as they normally would have been pre-pandemic. I want to give you some insight into how it all came together. These tactics can apply for future Canadian media promotion.
1) Timing - Since March is still very much the throes of late winter for Canadians, they’re more likely to be receptive hearing about great (sunny! warm!) places to travel. Just note their spring break timing.
2) Food Is Always Interesting - Tying in a food component always piques interest. We planned two major culinary components for this trip: I brought a San Antonio partner—a French bilingual pastry chef—to do an on-air cooking demo for a major morning show in Ottawa, then organized a chef-led group cooking lesson media event in Montreal.
3) Hire Local, (Snow Boots) On-the-Ground Experts - We were fortunate enough to have the budget to retain a Toronto-based agency who helped organize logistics and facilitate deeper connections to Canadian media and influencers in these markets. Their help was also invaluable when it came to purchasing things like cooking equipment for the TV segment and sourcing ingredients. We spent much time planning shopping lists and ensuring things could be sourced in Canada because we could not risk crossing the border with any food.
4) Bilingualism - When conducting any business in Montreal, it’s always respectful and expected that materials will be bilingual. We had our invitation and keepsake media event book (recipes, pitches, info) with side-by-side English and French Canadian copy.
These are just some quick points on how we structured a successful media mission in Canada. In future posts I’ll elaborate on a few components.