Canada Day ticks all of these boxes. If you are a business based out of Canada or have a prominent customer base in Canada, odds are you are already wondering what to do for July 1st. And you should be too. This is a holiday that brings the whole country together and presents the perfect opportunity for you to be a part of the country-wide celebrations. 

Are you prepping for this upcoming marketing campaign? Wondering how to connect with your audience and stand out too? 

Well, you have come to the right place for everything you need to know to design and launch a successful Canada Day campaign. 

Let’s begin with a little history surrounding the day and take it from there. 

A brief history of Canada Day

Just as the 4th of July marks an important milestone for the U.S, July 1st is an important day for the country of Canada. While we would not want to support the colonial mindset that Canada, as we know it, suddenly came to be that day, it is an important date nonetheless. It is the day when “Canada ” officially got its name and also marks the anniversary of the British North America Act came into effect. 

This was also a date that marks the occasion of the country no longer being a British Colony. 

This day brings out a sense of pride, happiness, and patriotism among Canucks resulting in them sporting flags, enjoying delicious Canadian treats, and dressing up in red and white. 

So be sure to keep all this in mind as you work on your Canada Day designs. It is important for brands and small businesses to know why we celebrate Canada Day so that they can emulate the right tone, emotions, and voice in your marketing campaigns. 

Designing your Canada Day campaigns 

Now we have the context and it is time to start focusing on creating your Canada Day designs. What are the elements to keep and what are the elements to avoid? You may think that all you need is a couple of templates from the other Canada Day campaigns to emulate.

While that is one approach, we are not so sure that it is the right approach. 

Audiences today are very aware, educated, and politically sensitive. Not to mention they spend 10+ hours on the internet so they have literally seen and dissected every Canada Day campaign there possibly can be. If you go the “tried and tested” template route, you run the risk of delivering unimaginative and run-off-the-mill campaigns to your audience. And nobody wants that. 

So how do you ensure that your Canada Day campaigns are consistent but unique? You understand each design element and integrate it with your brand’s identity for the best results. 

What are those design elements? 

Color 

Even if you do not live in Canada, or this is your first time working on a Canada Day campaign, odds are you know this one. Yes, it is the famed red and white combination that everyone is dressed in for the July 1st celebrations. These colors represent Canada in the best possible manner. And if you can find a way to use these colors organically in your Canada Day campaign creatives, then it is a huge win. 

Want to use a larger color palette? Consider including colors that represent the other famed identities of the country – the red from the maple leaf is a good example. Since the month of July also signifies the onset of summer, including summer colors such as sea blue, green, orange, and so on can also spruce up the design. 

Font 

There is a little leeway when it comes to font usage in your Canada Day marketing campaigns than color. You can use any suitable font style as long as it works with the messaging of the marketing campaign. Each font type conveys a particular emotion and it is important that you pick one that suits your agenda.

In case you want to use the official font of the Government of Canada, or something similar, then you can consult their branding guidelines as available on their website. It is a modified version of the Baskerville typeface. 

Images 

A good design ensures that every little detail is in place and it speaks of a story. So it is important that you look beyond the color and the font. Use images that represent the emotions and values of Canada Day so that your audience instantly connects with your message. Moreover, this way, your customers can understand that your design is related to Canada Day without having to spend a lot of time on it. 

Just be sure that if you are going to include Canada’s flags, emblem, or any other official symbol, that you follow the directions laid in the official website. 

Bear in mind that with a colonial history, Canada Day can be a sensitive subject and bring out a lot of different emotions, ranging from joy to sorrow. So depending on how your target audience feels about the day, try to choose inclusive visuals from stock images or create custom illustrations to connect with your customer base the right way in your campaigns. 

4 Canada Day Design Ideas Your Brand Needs

The context is there. And we have a handle on the design elements, so it is time to explore the marketing ideas that you can leverage for the upcoming Canada Day. When you are launching a campaign like this, it is important to take some time and craft some thoughtful messages. 

In a typical Canada Day campaign, the approach can be a promotional sale, a way to connect with the customers via their Canadian identity, or a combination of both. Whatever idea or route you choose to go down, ensure that you stay true to the holiday, your brand identity, and the campaign’s intent. 

And before beginning with the campaign, analyze your most profitable engagement channels and see if they are a fit to launch the Canada day campaigns on. 

To make this process easier, here is a list of the most popular and effective marketing ideas to celebrate Canada Day through your brand. 

1. Launch meaningful sales campaigns 

Community events help retail businesses a lot. July 1st is one of the biggest community-led events in Canada, so if you are a retail brand, now is the time to shine. Canada Day sales campaigns are quite popular and routine, so you must craft something meaningful and engaging to truly stand out. 

For best results, aim to sell a story rather than your product. Customers are much more likely to connect with a story over a 40% discount (of course that helps too). With a story, they feel compelled to buy the product to forge a connection with a holiday. And that feels much better than going on a random shopping spree.

But how do you turn a sale into a Canada Day commercial? Well, that is where the principles of branding and marketing come into play. Surround your product with colors and images that connect with Canada Day. 

The best example is to launch a Canada Day themed packaging design for your product. Packaging design has a direct impact on the customer’s impression of the product and you can leverage that to your advantage this Canada Day. 

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2. Brew engagement on Social media 

As Canada Day nears, you are going to be fighting for your customers’ attention across all channels, especially on social media. Everyone wants to be part of the trending hashtag and that means an imminent increase in content volume. So what do you do to avoid being lost in the crowd? 

Choose to talk with your customers during your Canada Day campaign instead of talking at them like most brands on social media too. Yes, solicit engagement and force your customers to take a minute or two from their endless scrolling schedules for you. How? 

• Launch an Instagram Q&A session so that customers can reach out to you to know more about your ongoing sales, discount campaigns, or products. 
• Interact with your audience to know their Canada Day plans. If their plans could be better with your products, provide that information in real-time. 
• Post interactive content such as Canada Day-themed quizzes, crosswords, or puzzles to improve your engagement rates. 
• Host a Twitter space on Canada Day with a subject matter expert, to boost brand awareness and stay relevant during the holiday. 

By boosting engagement across social media channels, you improve brand awareness which can result in a higher turnout for your Canada Day sales. 

Kimp Tip: Always remember that informal communication on social media can be branded too. For example, if you have a Canada Day puzzle scheduled for Instagram and Twitter, ensure that you include your brand’s logo and other elements of brand identity. It takes 5-7 impressions for the brand to stick to your customers’ memory, so every small inclusion helps. Including logo and brand identity elements also build consistency across all channels. 

3. Bridge the gap between online and offline channels 

Canada Day is a very offline event. Especially in 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic rules are relaxed and people have been eagerly waiting for the onset of summer to spend more time outdoors. While the COVID-19 pandemic may have permanently changed some consumer behavior, brands and marketers must not ignore any one medium in favor of the other. As much as possible, it is important to devise a holistic marketing plan. 

And that is why we are a huge fan of combining online and offline experiences. Just like the debate between remote work and in-person work is endless, online vs in-store shopping debates are endless too. So leave the choice to the customer and make it easy for them to access your products. 

A few easy ways to do this include:  

• Adding the information about your retail store on your product pages online 
• Upgrading your print materials such as flyers, posters, brochures, and billboards to include an easy-to-access QR code for your online information 
• Building campaigns that span across the online and offline channels to boost participation 

These few extra steps ensure that your online or offline channels do not get overwhelmed and you retain your customers by making the process easier on them.

Read our blog on combining online and offline marketing campaigns to know more about this topic! 

4. Invest in video marketing 

We spoke of how crowded marketing channels get during the holiday marketing season. Canada Day is definitely no exception. So if you want an edge over your competitor, it is time to consider investing in video marketing. 

Video works wonders on all channels right from email marketing to social media. In fact, the presence of video on ecommerce product pages is known to boost conversions too. That is why it makes perfect sense for you to devise a video-first content strategy for your Canada Day marketing campaigns. 

Looking for video ideas for your Canada Day campaign? Do not worry, we got you covered. 

• Bring back the golden days back with a TVC-style video for your brand covering all the significant elements of Canada Day
• Animate your announcement posters to turn them into video announcements 
• Create tutorials or how-to videos for your products to boost their sales during the Canada Day promotions 
• Repost testimonials and reviews to demonstrate social proof for your brand 
• Share videos of your Canada Day preparations 
• Live-stream any in-store events to include your online audience too
• Include product videos and informational content in your campaign newsletters to improve engagement and CTR. 

Kimp Tip: Video marketing can seem quite intimidating but it does not have to be. Even if you do not have the budget to shoot production heavy videos, you can still leverage the power of videos on the internet. Videos shot on mobile are extremely popular and if you edit them well, they work even better than professionally shot videos. 

Wondering how to design, create, or edit videos on a budget? Try Kimp Video to access an unlimited video design subscription at a flat monthly fee today. 

Create the best Canada Day designs with Kimp 

Some campaigns feel like cliches. But they do not have to. You can add your own stamp to them if you have the right ideas and the right team to back it up. We hope with this blog you have the ideas, and if you are looking for a team to make your vision come to life, the design teams at Kimp Graphics and Kimp Video are just a click away. 

Outsourcing design can be a huge expense but with Kimp’s affordable, and flat-fee, monthly subscriptions it doesn’t have to be. And the benefits they bring to the table in terms of unlimited designs, revisions, user profile access, brand buckets, and services spanning 100+ design categories completely justifies the investment.

Want to know more? Head to our website to hop on the live chat or sign up for the free trial to experience it firsthand.