The NOW Group

Christina Day

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Choosing a bottle for the BBQ this weekend?

If you’re in Nova Scotia and shopping at the publicly owned NSLC, then no matter what you pick, you’re making the perfect choice!

NSLC liquor stores put 100 percent of profits back into Nova Scotia’s communities. That’s over $280 million a year for schools, hospitals, and roads.

And this summer, NSGEU is working to keep it that way with a fresh campaign to protect public liquor from privatization.

From delivering crucial funding for public services to supporting social responsibility and good jobs in small communities, publicly owned liquor means there’s more in every bottle.

But in recent months, the provincial government has announced that it’s opening the door to potentially privatizing liquor sales, a decision that would put all the benefits of public liquor in jeopardy. And if the government proceeds with privatization, families and communities will wind up paying for it.

Public liquor is working for Nova Scotians. Why mess with a good thing?

Working with NSGEU, the union that represents 700 members working at NSLC, our team designed an eye-catching new campaign to let Nova Scotians know the value of public liquor sales – and how privatization would put it all at risk.

Launched in June, the campaign taps into the summer vibes to celebrate all the good that public liquor delivers for Nova Scotia.

A new radio spot, airing province-wide throughout July, leans into BBQ season. And the campaign features a suite of beautifully designed digital and social ads with a range of tones – some are cheerful and celebratory of the benefits of public liquor, while others deliver a cheeky contrast: “Privatization? Put a cork in it.”

Our team couldn’t be prouder to support NSGEU’s work to keep liquor public and keep it working for all Nova Scotians. It’s about protecting the public services that people count on – and the public ownership that makes our communities stronger.

Want to talk to our team about your next campaign to support good jobs and public services? We’d love to hear from you.

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Ce blog est disponible en français ici.

The first-ever campaign from the Montréal Firefighters’ Association is getting noticed by our international ad industry peers, winning the award for Best Canadian Outdoor Advertising at the 2025 Reed Awards, sponsored by Campaigns & Elections, as well as the Gold Award for Best Outdoor Advertising at the 2025 Pollie Awards!

The campaign launched in September with eye-catching digital ads calling for fair pay and safer working conditions for local firefighters. And it grew to include high-profile ads at Montréal’s busiest metro stations, as well as street corners, transit shelters, and BIXI bike stands across the city.

Firefighters are there for us in the most dangerous moments of our lives. We count on their courage and professionalism to help the rest of us during fires, floods, car accidents, and natural disasters.

But every day, firefighters face life-threatening risks on the job. Responding to any call can come with profound mental and physical health impacts, including exposure to toxic substances that cause serious illnesses. And those toxins can contaminate firefighters’ equipment, travelling back to the fire stations and to firefighters’ own vehicles, homes, and families.

As the Montréal Firefighters’ Association—the union representing over 2,300 firefighters in Montréal—prepared for its next round of collective bargaining, it decided to launch its first-ever public advertising campaign to raise awareness of the challenges facing its members and encourage city leaders to deliver a fair deal. While Montréal has the second-largest fire service in Canada, its firefighters’ salaries rank 153rd out of 170 fire departments across the country—and that needs to change.

We designed and produced eye-catching out-of-home and digital ads—featuring original photography of a member of the Montréal fire service.

It’s a striking image that highlights the vulnerability of people in a profession known for selfless strength and heroism. And the message is simple and direct: “Courageous. Reassuring. Dependable. But at what cost?”

The campaign ran in French with digital ads online and out-of-home ads on major bus routes and inside the city’s busiest downtown metro stations—Berri-UQAM, Champ-de-Mars, and Place-d’Armes.

By securing these coveted locations, we ensured that tens of thousands of commuters could see the ads each day during a campaign that was scheduled to run for two months, but received significant additional bonusing from vendors. And the digital ads directed viewers to the campaign’s website, ButAtWhatCost.ca, where visitors can send an email directly to city councillors.

As a result of the campaign, nearly 5,000 emails were delivered to local leaders, helping to raise the profile of the city’s firefighters and highlight the importance of their health, safety, and well-being.

Want creative advertising that raises attention for the issues that matter to your members—and helps drive support for your union’s collective bargaining efforts?

Give us a call. Our team is here to help!

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Find the blog post in English, here.

La toute première campagne publicitaire de l’Association des Pompiers de Montréal obtient une reconnaissance de nos pairs internationaux ! Elle a remporté le prix d’or aux Pollies 2025 pour la Meilleure publicité extérieure, commandité par l’American Association of Political Consultants, ainsi que le prix Reed 2025 pour la Meilleure publicité extérieure au Canada, commandité par Campaigns & Elections.

La campagne, lancée en septembre grâce à des publicités numériques captivantes, appel à un salaire juste et des conditions de travail sécuritaires pour les pompiers de la ville. La campagne s’est transformée en publicités haut de gamme et étendue aux stations de métro les plus fréquentées de Montréal, ainsi qu’aux coins de rue, aux abris d’autobus et aux stations BIXI de la ville.

Les pompiers et pompières répondent présents aux moments les plus dangereux de nos vies. Nous comptons sur leur courage et leur professionnalisme pour nous aider durant les feux, les accidents de la route et les catastrophes naturelles.

Chaque jour, les pompiers risquent leur vie au travail. Répondre à n’importe quel appel peut avoir de profondes répercussions physiques et mentales. Par exemple, l’exposition à des substances toxiques peut mener à des maladies graves. Ces toxines peuvent contaminer l’équipement, et se rendre jusqu’aux casernes, aux véhicules personnels, aux maisons et aux familles des pompiers.

L’Association des Pompiers de Montréal, un syndicat représentant plus de 2 300 pompiers et pompières à Montréal et se préparant à la prochaine ronde de négociations collectives, a décidé de lancer sa toute première campagne publicitaire pour sensibiliser les gens aux difficultés de ses membres et pour encourager la Ville à conclure une entente juste. Même si le service d’incendie de Montréal est le deuxième en importance au Canada, le salaire de ses pompiers se classe au 153e rang sur 170 services d’incendie au pays – et cela doit changer.

Nous avons conçu et produit des publicités numériques et extérieures captivantes – mettant en vedette des photos d’un membre du service d’incendie montréalais.

C’est une image saisissante qui souligne la vulnérabilité des membres d’une profession connus pour leur force et leur héroïsme. Le message est simple et direct : « Courageux. Rassurants. Fiables. À quel prix? »

La campagne a été déployée en français par l’entremise de publicités numériques et de publicités extérieures (itinéraires passants d’autobus, stations de métro achalandées du centre-ville : Berri-UQAM, Champ-de-Mars et Places-d’Armes).

En déployant la campagne dans ces lieux prisés, nous avons fait en sorte que des dizaines de milliers d’usagers du transport en commun voient les publicités quotidiennement durant une campagne prévue pour deux mois, mais qui a reçu beaucoup de visibilité supplémentaire de la part des fournisseurs. Les publicités numériques ont dirigé les gens sur le site Web de la campagne, aquelprix.ca, et les visiteurs ont pu envoyer un courriel directement aux conseillers municipaux.

Résultat des courses? Près de 5 000 courriels ont été envoyés aux dirigeants locaux, permettant d’améliorer l’image des pompiers de la ville et de réitérer l’importance de leur santé, de leur sécurité et de leur bien-être.

Vous avez besoin d’une campagne créative qui met en lumière des enjeux importants pour vos membres, et qui attire du soutien envers les efforts de négociation de votre syndicat?

Donnez-nous un coup de fil. Notre équipe vous donnera un coup de main!

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The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) has launched its first national, bilingual ad campaign for the FireSmartTM Canada program to help prevent fires and reduce the risk of damage to our homes and communities.

Building on three decades of experience working with governments and public agencies to make life better for Canadians, The NOW Group is proud to help CIFFC deliver the campaign to millions of people this spring.

With a fresh creative approach that puts a new spin on one of the most well-known phrases for campers and rural vacationers, the new ads call on people to ‘Please Don’t Feed The Wildfires’.

It’s a polite, firm, and very Canadian reminder to make sure we don’t ‘feed’ wildfires the fuel they need to grow and spread.

With a changing climate, the threat of wildfires continues to increase. And Canadians have witnessed the devastating impacts they’re having on communities across the country. Every year, the fire season is starting earlier and ending later. And more homes and communities, in more places and regions, are finding themselves at risk from wildland fires, in ways they never imagined.

It can feel overwhelming. And it can be hard to know if there’s anything we can do to help.

CIFFC’s FireSmartTM Canada program is working to change that by developing practical tools for Canadians to prevent fires from starting, reduce the damage to our communities, and increase the resilience of our neighbourhoods.

Learn what you can do to protect your home at FireSmartCanada.ca.

Whether we’re looking after our own home or vacationing in the great outdoors, the new campaign lets Canadians know that there are simple steps we can all take to reduce the risk of wildfires – from planting fire-resistant shrubs to cleaning our eaves and moving firewood away from our homes.

The new campaign is live in regions across the country this spring on digital channels, social platforms, and billboards. And the ads have already been viewed on YouTube over 500,000 times – and counting.

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And the award goes to… BC Teachers!

We’re thrilled to announce that BCTF’s latest campaign – Hire More Teachers – has been recognized by our peers in the advertising industry with the award for Best Canadian TV Ad at the 2025 Reed Awards in Austin, Texas, sponsored by Campaigns & Elections.

Haven’t seen the ad? Check it out!

BC Teachers’ Federation – Hire More Teachers

Helping kids find their way is what teachers do. They’re highly trained professionals, devoted to spotting the unique needs of every child and doing all that they can to help every student learn.

But BC’s schools are facing significant challenges. Students have complex needs. Many require additional supports – from special educational supports to mental health needs. But a shortage of teachers and inadequate levels of classroom resources are making it harder to reach every student.

To raise awareness of these challenges, the BCTF launched a powerful series of ads in 2024 that show the realities facing students and teachers inside BC’s schools – and call for real action to address those challenges. The message is powerful and direct:

It’s time for BC to hire more teachers, so they can help more students.

The ads build on the BCTF’s reputation for thoughtful and effective public campaigns on the issues that matter most to parents, students, and teachers.

In 2023, BCTF launched a campaign to raise public awareness of the teacher shortage in BC schools. Since then, public opinion research has shown a significant increase in the number of people in BC who are aware of how the shortage is impacting students.

As Canada’s leading advertising agency for social good, our team is proud and honoured to work with BCTF to advocate for greater investment in public education – so teachers can meet the needs of every student. And we’re thrilled that the BCTF’s latest campaign is receiving international recognition for advertising excellence and helping to deliver positive change for BC students.

Want to talk about the next ad campaign for your union, non-profit, or public advocacy organization?

Give us a call or say hello! Let’s do some good, together.

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Health care is complex. It can feel overwhelming. But Manitoba’s allied health care professionals are united by one focus: you.

When you need health care, you need highly trained and specialized experts at every step of the journey, from emergency response to diagnosis, treatment, rehab, and recovery. And across Manitoba, thousands of professionals are dedicated to delivering those services and the best health care possible — in hospitals, community settings, and at home.

MAHCP, the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, represents over 7,000 members working to deliver the best care for Manitobans. From paramedics to physiotherapists, dieticians, mental health workers, and so many more, the union has grown to represent members working across 45 professions. And together, they are united in advocating for a healthier Manitoba and the solutions that will improve public health care for everyone.

But MAHCP faced a big challenge. Members decided that the union needed to raise its profile, strengthen its public image, build greater recognition, and improve communications both internally and externally to help support bargaining and advocacy efforts.

The goal? To make MAHCP a stronger, more prominent, and more influential voice for solutions that improve health care for all Manitobans.

At The NOW Group, we’re proud to help make it happen. As Canada’s leading creative agency for unions, non-profits, and public advocacy organizations, our team was ready to dive into the brief and deliver the collaborative branding process that the union needed to look its very best.

Our team partnered with MAHCP to refine, strengthen, and revitalize the union’s visual identity. With the right brand tools, we knew we could equip the union with a visual identity that’s both more user-friendly and more easily recognizable to members, the public, and decision-makers alike.

Working with designer Nancy Wu, our creative team helped guide MAHCP through an iterative process to discover a fresh look-and-feel that’s uniquely suited to the union and its objectives.

While the previous logo featured differing fonts and visual elements, the new logo emphasizes MAHCP’s unity of purpose that brings allied health care professionals together.

A prominent circle in the wordmark provides an easily recognizable symbol and a flexible graphic element. And it symbolizes the focus of MAHCP members on delivering the best health care at every patient touchpoint.

It also perfectly reflects MAHCP’s slogan: Our focus is you.

As a union, MAHCP is focused on bargaining and advocating for the well-being of its members. And as health care professionals, MAHCP members are always focused on patients, the people at the heart of health care.

Today, MAHCP has never looked better. With its new brand tools, the union is equipped with the unified and up-to-date brand identity it needs to advocate effectively and confidently for the solutions that will make health care better for patients – and make working conditions better for its members.

Thinking of a brand refresh for your union or non-profit organization? Say hello! We’d love to talk. And we’re always ready to help.

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It’s been a challenging year for students, teachers, and parents across Saskatchewan. Families and educators have been working together to demand that the provincial government start investing in public schools—and do more to deliver the supports that students need to learn, grow, and reach their potential.  

With the provincial vote fast approaching, STF has seized the opportunity to ensure education is on voters’ minds this election—and to force political leaders of all parties to deliver for our kids and their public schools.

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation’s new campaign has a powerful message:

The choices we make at the ballot box live with our kids for years to come.

Ballot Box – Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation

The ad takes an unexpected and eye-catching approach to show a simple truth: elections matter, not just to us but to our kids.

When a government makes the wrong choices for students—by failing to properly invest in public education, cutting classroom supports, and ignoring the calls of parents and teachers to provide the resources that students need—our kids pay the price.

Launching province-wide on digital, social, Connected TV, and broadcast channels, the new ads put the spotlight on the impacts that government cuts are having on Saskatchewan’s kids. And the power of voters to demand change.

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation is the leading voice for great public schools in every corner of the province, advocating for public education as a common good and the universal right of all children and youth. STF represents over 13,500 teachers working in pre-kindergarten through Grade 12 in communities across Saskatchewan.

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In 2023, CUPE BC launched a fresh digital campaign to build public support for Seamless Childcare Now. And this month, the Government of BC has announced it’s moving forward on the plan—with a new pilot project for fully-integrated before- and after-school child care options at BC public schools.

It’s great news for parents and kids across the province.

We all know what a struggle it is to find child care. And, once you’ve got it, how difficult it can be to navigate that hectic daily routine.

That’s why CUPE BC, the largest union in British Columbia, has been campaigning for better public childcare for years. And Seamless Childcare is one of the best ways to make life easier for parents, while making use of the existing school space, resources, and trained staff at BC’s public schools.

On May 16, the Government announced that a pilot project will start this fall at school districts in Chilliwack, Nanaimo-Ladysmith, and Nechako Lakes.

Instead of letting classrooms sit empty before- and after-school, the new program will see Education Assistants, Early Childhood Educators, and other trained support staff provide learning and care for children in school classrooms.

It’s a practical solution—and a big relief for parents. The plan means more work for school support staff, more childcare options for parents, fewer pickups and drop-offs for families throughout the day, and the confidence of knowing that your kids are getting the care they need, at school, all day long.

If implemented across the province, Seamless Childcare could create thousands of new spaces for school-aged childcare without building a single new facility.

At The NOW Group, we love building fresh and engaging digital campaigns that connect with parents, and help build support for the public services that make life better for people. And every day, we work with our clients to support and improve public education for millions of kids across Canada.

Want to talk about new tools for your next digital campaign? Reach out here or give us a call. Our team is ready to help!