CTC USB Drop
This execution was created to allow young Americans to experience what a trip to Canada would be like through the eyes of their peers. To create the content, we sent a young couple to three major Canadian cities: Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. We then told them to pose as tourists and have as much fun as they could while capturing it all on their digital camera and camcorder.
The images and video footage were loaded on to 1000 USB keys, along with MP3s of Canadian indie bands and an authentic travel itinerary outlining the details of their trip. The keys were then scattered throughout selected neighbourhoods in the key market of Chicago. This was done in such a way as to make it appear as though their owners had lost them.
In order to maintain authenticity, no Canadian Tourism branding was included either on or in the keys. Instead, imbedded links would appear when playing MP3s and, when clicked, would take a viewer to a Canadian Tourism Commission landing page (www.unknowncanada.com), which gave other target-specific options for things going on in Canada and also allowed us to track the success of the drop.
Agency: TribalDDB, Toronto
Agency Partner: DDB
Creative Directors: Bruce Sinclair, Andrew Simon
ACD: Dre Labre
Art Directors: Mark Bovey, Dre Labre, Ryan Semeniuk
Copywriter: Shane Ogilvie
Posted in Guerilla 
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September 25th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I think this is a truly great guerilla marketing campaign. I really like the fact that an “on the down low” approach was used in not plastering the Canadian Tourism branding over everything.
My only question is how the drops specifically targeted people in the demographic? Were they done: On campus? At record stores? If an old lady was about to pick-up one of the keys was she tackled on the spot? After all, old ladys might like Canadian Indie bands too!
September 25th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
All I have to say is GO CANADA!
September 25th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
this is REALLY COOL BUT…
would the average person pick up a lost USB drive and stick it into their own computer? would they actually look through all the photos of other people, and listen to their music? honestly, i dont know if i would. maybe im too paranoid about weird stuff ending up on my hard drive.
if they actually got over the hurdle of people plugging in the USB drive, then kudos! this is really great.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
That was my first thought too, grace… and i decided that it would depend entirely on the appearance of it. Based on the image of the drive above, I would not have picked it up.
It seems this would be great for a younger demographic - think “starving college student” and below. I do wonder though - it seems the largest chunk of people who would choose to pick the device up would be a much younger demographic and not necessarily be the most financially stable demographic. As such, an unlikely group to be able to afford a trip to Canada.
I’m guessing the campaign was effective for those who DID pick up the drive, however… It is the type of campaign that would cause a lot of chatter on the internet for very little initial impact (only 1000 drives)
September 25th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Having fun in Ottawa?! LoL
September 25th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
A free unbranded USB drive? Hello!
September 25th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Those things are as cheap as twinkies.. the trick is wasting 1000 hours uploading the crap up onto each one. And the other thing besides virus threats. Who the heck knows if they’ll delete the crap on it first. I think its a great idea and its ambitious. I like how sneaky it is. But. for the dollar value it might difficult and incredibly tough to track the success of. And I think the biggest hurdles for canada is really a destination? where do 18-23 year olds know about that they’d want to go too?… i mean the driving force was drinking destinations… like montreal, which their public campaign in boston was overly cultural i bet its a nice place but out of the whole campaign i didnt learn a single specific driving factor that would pull me in…. See the trick is with these travel things.. is that you need to sell a specific spot not a look and feel. Maybe this usb idea could deliver on that specificness.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:12 am
I really want to love this idea, but I’m not sure it’s enough just to get people to look at the photos and listen to music. Did it really shift perception? Was there real engagement? I think that I would just look through some of the photos, then delete the files to have a blank thumbdrive. I wanted to be some mystery when I see whats on the drive, something that might pique my interest and make me search for places in Canada.
I like the risk you took, however.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:40 am
I enjoy the Canadian twist on it, but I can’t help but feel this is a copy of what Nine Inch Nails did back in the spring to promote Year Zero.
Who knows, maybe that was a copy of something else, too!
September 26th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
cool idea, I do think people would pick it up and check out some of the mp3s and pics (if anything at least to look for something naughty), but doesn’t anybody think that not letting you that this a marketing strategy is kind of unethical?
great blog btw.
September 28th, 2007 at 2:41 am
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September 28th, 2007 at 9:02 am
This is very creative and an interesting approach to guerilla marketing. It’s a great way to reach out to computer savvy people in Chicago. I’m curious in seeing the results…could go well or not. Probably more time spent then the result will bring, unless this is turned into a wider marketing campaign.