RONA, in partnership with its agency Sid Lee, are awarded $1 million worth of media for its gender equity “Build Boards” campaign.
The ICA and Bell Media announce that RONA and its agency Sid Lee have won the 2024 Inclusivity, Diversity, and Equity in Advertising (IDEA) Competition. This year’s focus was on gender equity, with the winner awarded $1 million worth of inventory on Bell Media platforms. In the winning concept, RONA aims to address the imbalance, lack of awareness, and limited encouragement regarding opportunities in the trades for women.
Studies by RONA and Sid Lee find that despite an increase in apprenticeship applications from young Canadians, women still only make up 5% of all tradespeople in Canada. From a young age, women are traditionally steered toward other careers.
This campaign idea utilizes creative with great copy in just the right places to get the message across. Existing tradespeople and those looking at future career choices will find it difficult to avoid the obvious gender imbalance in the sector.
said Scott Knox, President & CEO, ICA.
This is a well-deserved win for RONA and Sid Lee, whose campaign brings a compelling message to an area where progress is overdue. Using our platforms to elevate initiatives like this is at the heart of Bell Media’s role in the IDEA Competition. It’s about providing the reach and support to spark awareness and, ultimately, change.
said Perry MacDonald, VP, Advertising Sales and Partnerships at Bell Media.
The RONA campaign surpassed competition from another finalist entry by Fuel Logistics, also by agency Sid Lee.
The winning entry was selected by a specially curated jury comprised of 10 established female leaders from the Canadian marketing and media sector. These leaders bring a breath of creativity, experience, and vision toward increasing diverse and inclusive representation in advertising and across the media industry at large.
Open to national and international brands and their agencies, the IDEA Competition seeks to create meaningful change in the media industry and encourage greater representation of diverse communities in Canadian advertising campaigns, while also encouraging diversity and inclusivity in the creative process.
We look forward to the IDEA Competition 2026. Register here to keep up to date or email scott@theica.ca.
