Sikh Heritage Museum. A Canadian past, a Canadian presence.
Brand Strategy & Development
Digital Marketing
Print Advertising
Production
Project Overview
The Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada (SHMC) preserves and promotes and honours Sikh Canadian history and the richness and complexity of Sikh spirituality and identity. While most Sikhs are aware of the history and contributions of the community in Canada, most non-Sikhs are not. More people from more communities need to know these stories.
Details
Objective
Increase awareness of Sikh Canadian history among South Asians
Increase traffic to shmc.ca web exhibits
Increase in-person visits to the Museum.
Underlying Strategy of the Campaign
Lack of awareness is a primary barrier to museum visits as the Museum is not widely known outside the Sikh community. Additionally, visits are limited by the Museum’s hours — it is open on weekends and by appointment only on weekdays.
Our strategy: instead of inviting our audience to the museum, what if we took the museum to them? We created an advertising campaign that looked like advertising but behaved like an exhibit. An exhibit that takes Sikh Canadian stories and SHMC itself out into the public in order to invite the public back into SHMC.
The campaign is a series of curated messages. It covers typical SHMC subjects, many of them already memorialized in the museum.
Creative solution
1. Campaign: A Canadian past, a Canadian presence.
2. Print Ad (Komagata Maru): The voyage of no return
3. Print Ad (Baltej): Fight the law to keep the law.
4. Digital Display Ad 1 (Komagata Maru - apology): Turned away
5. Digital Display Ad 2 (Komagata Maru - deaths): Killed on arrival
6. Digital Display Ad 3 (Baltej): Baltej, Before and After
The print ads celebrate the history of Canada’s Sikh community from the first arrivals to the present day.
In print advertising (the lead medium for this campaign), long-format text delivers detail-rich historical narratives much like a museum exhibit.
The first ad in the series (left) tells the story of the Komagata Maru, a ship with 337 Sikh immigrants that was turned away from Vancouver in 1914, and sent back to India, where 19 were killed and 202 imprisoned.
The headline contrasts the hope with which all immigrants arrive, and the open racism and xenophobia these early immigrants faced.
The second ad in the series (left) tells the story of RCMP Officer Baltej Singh who fought for the right to serve in his turban and beard and won.
Ads close by reminding readers why it is important for us to honour these stories: we must remember our past, so our presence endures. In doing so, we enrich Canada’s future.
The campaign engages South Asian audiences with Canadian history, by delivering it, for the first time, through a Sikh/South Asian lens.
Provocative headlines draw readers into the story and classic storytelling keeps them absorbed. While illuminating the human rights violations suffered by Sikhs, the ads always end with a celebration of Sikh achievements to give readers a sense of community pride. The campaign tagline resounds with the same sense of against-all-odds accomplishment:
Sikh Canadians. A Canadian past, a Canadian presence.
Digital
Our digital advertising campaign was designed to look like it was advertising an exhibit but it was the exhibit. An exhibit that takes Sikh Canadian stories and SHMC itself out into the public in order to invite the public back into SHMC.
The powerful digital ads celebrate the struggles and achievements of Canada’s Sikh community from the first arrivals in Canada to the present day.
The first two ads in the series (below) tell the story of the Komagata Maru, a ship with 337 Sikh immigrants that was turned away from Vancouver in 1914, and sent back to India, where 19 were killed and 202 imprisoned, in a mini-exhibit slideshow format.
The third ad in the series (below) tells the story of RCMP Officer Baltej Singh who fought for the right to serve in his turban and beard and won.
The ads create deep interest and engagement between the audience and Canadian history, by serving it, for the first time, through a Sikh/South Asian lens.
The tagline reinforces the sense of against-all-odds accomplishment celebrated across the campaign: Sikh Canadians. A Canadian past, a Canadian presence.
Results
The campaign was considered to be extremely successful by SHMC engagement benchmarks. It acquired 2776 views on social media and video received over 200 repeat viewings. Online engagement rates reached a high of 16%, and clickthrough rates hit 7.62 — nearly 100 times the industry benchmark of 0.08. The campaign went on to win two awards at the 2020 Marketing Awards.
Increase awareness of Sikh Canadian history among South Asians
Increase traffic to shmc.ca web exhibits
Increase in-person visits to the Museum.
Underlying Strategy of the Campaign
Lack of awareness is a primary barrier to museum visits as the Museum is not widely known outside the Sikh community. Additionally, visits are limited by the Museum’s hours — it is open on weekends and by appointment only on weekdays.
Our strategy: instead of inviting our audience to the museum, what if we took the museum to them? We created an advertising campaign that looked like advertising but behaved like an exhibit. An exhibit that takes Sikh Canadian stories and SHMC itself out into the public in order to invite the public back into SHMC.
The campaign is a series of curated messages. It covers typical SHMC subjects, many of them already memorialized in the museum.
Creative solution
1. Campaign: A Canadian past, a Canadian presence.
2. Print Ad (Komagata Maru): The voyage of no return
3. Print Ad (Baltej): Fight the law to keep the law.
4. Digital Display Ad 1 (Komagata Maru - apology): Turned away
5. Digital Display Ad 2 (Komagata Maru - deaths): Killed on arrival
6. Digital Display Ad 3 (Baltej): Baltej, Before and After
The print ads celebrate the history of Canada’s Sikh community from the first arrivals to the present day.
In print advertising (the lead medium for this campaign), long-format text delivers detail-rich historical narratives much like a museum exhibit.
The first ad in the series (left) tells the story of the Komagata Maru, a ship with 337 Sikh immigrants that was turned away from Vancouver in 1914, and sent back to India, where 19 were killed and 202 imprisoned.
The headline contrasts the hope with which all immigrants arrive, and the open racism and xenophobia these early immigrants faced.
The second ad in the series (left) tells the story of RCMP Officer Baltej Singh who fought for the right to serve in his turban and beard and won.
Ads close by reminding readers why it is important for us to honour these stories: we must remember our past, so our presence endures. In doing so, we enrich Canada’s future.
The campaign engages South Asian audiences with Canadian history, by delivering it, for the first time, through a Sikh/South Asian lens.
Provocative headlines draw readers into the story and classic storytelling keeps them absorbed. While illuminating the human rights violations suffered by Sikhs, the ads always end with a celebration of Sikh achievements to give readers a sense of community pride. The campaign tagline resounds with the same sense of against-all-odds accomplishment:
Sikh Canadians. A Canadian past, a Canadian presence.
Digital
Our digital advertising campaign was designed to look like it was advertising an exhibit but it was the exhibit. An exhibit that takes Sikh Canadian stories and SHMC itself out into the public in order to invite the public back into SHMC.
The powerful digital ads celebrate the struggles and achievements of Canada’s Sikh community from the first arrivals in Canada to the present day.
The first two ads in the series (below) tell the story of the Komagata Maru, a ship with 337 Sikh immigrants that was turned away from Vancouver in 1914, and sent back to India, where 19 were killed and 202 imprisoned, in a mini-exhibit slideshow format.
The third ad in the series (below) tells the story of RCMP Officer Baltej Singh who fought for the right to serve in his turban and beard and won.
The ads create deep interest and engagement between the audience and Canadian history, by serving it, for the first time, through a Sikh/South Asian lens.
The tagline reinforces the sense of against-all-odds accomplishment celebrated across the campaign: Sikh Canadians. A Canadian past, a Canadian presence.
Results
The campaign was considered to be extremely successful by SHMC engagement benchmarks. It acquired 2776 views on social media and video received over 200 repeat viewings. Online engagement rates reached a high of 16%, and clickthrough rates hit 7.62 — nearly 100 times the industry benchmark of 0.08. The campaign went on to win two awards at the 2020 Marketing Awards.
