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Canadian Explorers

Somehow we missed the launch of Canada's "Keep Exploring" campaign. We came across a three-page print ad devoted to it in the July 1 issue of the Canadian news magazine Maclean's.

The campaign, which can be viewed at www.keep-exploring.ca, is conceptually driven. It breaks personalities down into eight categories: Aficionado, Anthropologist, Chameleon, Epicurian, Improv Artist, Mingler, Thrillster, and Trailblazer.

The site then, predictably, affixes these personalities to various interests. In turn, these interests are linked to activities, itineraries, and particular places across Canada. So, for example, if you're a Thrillster, you dig pubs, roadtrips, and zipline adventures, right? The site links your thrillster ass to a range of 'hood and nightspot sites, 18 roadtrip itineraries, and Whistler-Blackcomb Ziptrek Ecotours.

We're sure that the whole thing annoys academics and aesthetes, but we like this campaign, if only because it puts into practice the Canadian habit of trying to accommodate everyone in one or another way. Plus, there's something exciting about a travel campaign that is able to connect a range of ideas to a national brand as opposed to, say, sticking one image or concept or feeling to a territory's brand like a gold star the in-house strategists hope won't lose its adhesive.