Carnaval de Québec

The Largest Winter Carnival in the World

Since the beginning of our French colony, the habitants of New France created a rowdy tradition of getting together just before Lent to eat, drink and be merry. At this time, this intense period of revelry was already designated as the Carnival - a word of Italian origin meaning Mardi Gras. The custom of celebrating from the end of January until mid-February has long been popular.

The first large winter Carnival in Québec City, the world's snow capital, took place in 1894. Often faced with winter’s hardships, the city's population reinvented this popular tradition with a winter celebration that warmed up the hearts of all of it revellers. Interrupted by two wars, then the economic crisis of 1929, the Carnival was held sporadically until the second half of the century. In 1954, in the context of the economic development of the Old Capital, a group of business people re-launched the festivities. That year, Bonhomme was born and elected the event’s representative. The first official edition of the Québec Winter Carnival took place in 1955. The Carnival snowballed into an undeniable manifestation for the entire Québec City population, and was an important vehicle for tourism and economical activity in the city.

From one winter to the next, the Carnival enriched its activity program. We have since added even more popular activities, such as winter sports, snow sculptures, and activities based on the traditional Québec lifestyle, such as canoe races and dogsled races. The Québec Carnival is the largest winter carnival in the world today, and is third on the List of Top Carnivals after the famous carnivals in Rio and New Orleans.

Institute for Sport Marketing

Laurentian University’s School of Sports Administration (SPAD) started a unique project in 2001 to analyze Canadian sport, recreation and physical activity funding.

Committed to the development of the sport system, Royal Bank Financial Group, Pepsi-QTG, Frito Lay, Toronto Blue Jays, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Alouettes and IMG joined with the federal and Ontario government to support the activities of the Institute for Sport Marketing (ISM). The ISM Founding Partners committed $505,000 plus $75,000 VIK through June 2006 in the initial contract phase.

Background

Dr. Robert Wanzel (Founding Chairman, SPAD) created the Institute for Sport Marketing after discussion with sport system professionals revealed that a needed Canadian database of sport marketing/sponsorship statistics did not exist. Canada has many examples of successful corporate partnerships with sport but detailed information and the trends for the Canadian sport marketing/sponsorship industry require further research. The sharing of results is necessary to expand the pool of Canadian corporations that understands the value of investing in sport as an effective business strategy.

ISM Results

Conducted funding research surveys with national and provincial sport governing bodies
Hired Dr. Cantelon, Queen’s University, and Dr. Seguin, University of Ottawa, to develop over 100 sponsorship case studies

Partnered with the Conference Board of Canada to survey Canadian business companies on sport sponsorship and then recently created and delivered an invitation-only Summit on the State of Sport Sponsorship in Canada in Toronto.

TrojanOne

Founded in 1991 and with offices in Halifax, Saskatoon, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, TrojanOne is a leader in the business of delighting consumers through the creation and delivery of innovative and meaningful consumer brand experiences.

With a view to interacting with consumers where they work, live and play, TrojanOne’s full scope of Integrated Brand Activation services includes event, sport, mobile, entertainment and promotional marketing as well as promotional marketing consulting and creative services.

Working closely with our clients, such as Nike, Hbc and the Calgary Stampede, we create, develop, staff, execute and evaluate regional and national programs aimed at elevating our clients, products and services in the hearts and minds of targeted consumers living in communities across North America.

For more information on how TrojanOne can help you find the solutions your brand needs, contact Mark Harrison at 416-920-5191 or mark.harrison@trojanone.com