Right to play (in social media)

In November Roots Canada got involved in the Right to Play campaign, changing the lives of children in disadvantaged regions in the world through the power of sport and play. The official press release outlined this would be a partnership of Roots Canada, Mastercard and Right to Play.

Proceeds from the Canada Collection by Roots would go to Right to Play programs; donations were also accepted. This campaign was made most memorable by the television spots such as the following:

This commercial was very much overtaken by Mastercard, with its classic "priceless" format. Roots' involvement was briefly mentioned, although it has an entire collection dedicated to raise money for this cause. Since commercials did not scream Roots, I decided to look into other social media outlets to discover how Roots promoted its involvement in this campaign.

And then there was Twitter. Looking since Nov. 4, @RootsCanada has posted or retweeted 13 tweets mentioning the Right to Play campaign. That's 13 tweets in nearly five months. Amongst the 13 tweets, there were product suggestions, photos of favourite products, calls for donations, and photographs of Canadian collection-clad celebrities.

Roots Canada has a Facebook page with 12,912 fans; significantly more than the 2,499 followers it has on Twitter. The Facebook page is interactive with pictures, polls, and promotions. The Facebook fan page had 22 mentions by Roots Canada about the Right to Play campaign, and it was more than mentions. The posts included photos of the Canada Collection, celebrities wearing the clothing, links to the commercials, and most importantly information about the Right to Play foundation. Overall, I think Facebook was better utilized in this campaign than Twitter. Especially for the type of campaign it was, Facebook was better because it was visually dynamic. Viewers did not need to click elsewhere to be directed to videos and images.


Threat: Roots and the Right to Play campaign is in competition with every other company raising money for every other charity. It needs to step up communication on every platform to make sure people get the message. Roots is not alone in trying to make a difference in the world, and we need to know more about what makes this campaign special.

Weakness: This campaign is not cohesive over all platforms. The Roots website is the best source of information about Right to Play and the Canada Collection. Facebook is second, followed by Twitter, then by YouTube. In order to get a full picture of this campaign, you'd have to use all these channels equally to maximize viewership. The platforms are skewed in the sense, that one platform gives significantly more information than another.

Having said all this, I think Roots is a wonderful company involved in many positive initiatives including community involvement and environmental sustainability. I feel with the Right to Play campaign, Roots has been overshadowed by Mastercard, which seems to be a bigger sponsor of this campaign. But Roots is supplying the product that donates money to the foundation, therefore, I believe it should be more visible to the public.

For different takes on the Roots' Right to Play campaign, please see my colleagues Jenna's and Ali's blogs.