Go RVing Canada launched its 2023 Wildhood campaign, titled: “Find Your Wildhood.”
Created on the heels of the pandemic, the group said the material shows why the RV industry is needed now more than ever. Watch the extended video here.
Go RVing Canada’s award-winning creative agency, Broken Heart Love Affair, developed the new campaign. The company said the new platform speaks to the power of surrendering who you pretend to be every day, to who you truly are at your core.
The message is delivered through a cinematic spot directed by Natalie Rae. The ad follows the hero character’s journey as he is able to find himself again when he breaks free from the drudgery of daily life and is surrounded by nature.
“Wildhood is more than a campaign; it is a state of being that exists in all of us, if we are willing to look,” Go RVing Canada President Christopher Mahony said. “We are all explorers, motivated by wanderlust, and our most powerful memories tend to be of the moments shared with loved ones, of discovery, of places that fill us with awe and wonder. This is where the magic lies. Big or small, these moments enrich our lives.”
The History of Wildhood
According to Go RVing Canada, the new campaign, “Find Your Wildhood,” marks the evolution of the platform, which launched in 2015 with “Bring Back Wildhood,” focusing on the child-like desire to venture off the beaten path. That was followed five years later by “Live Your Wildhood,” highlighting the importance of keeping that adventurous spirit alive.
2015: The Launch
The notion of “helicopter parenting” was extremely relevant during this time period. Parents felt as though they had no choice but to be overly protective of their children, but were also left with an unshakable feeling that by doing what they believed was necessary to ensure their children’s safety, they were also depriving them of a “free range childhood.” The tagline at the time urged people to “Bring Back Wildhood.”
2018: Bring Back Wildhood
In the second installment of the Wildhood series, the campaign expanded its appeal to address a much broader demographic, ranging from millennials to boomers. Many were either just feeling the weight of having entered the “rat race” or were looking for an escape, and the campaign posed the question, “would the child you were be happy with the adult you have become?”
The nostalgic appeal encouraged people to reconnect with childhood freedoms and also used the tagline: “Bring Back Wildhood,” Go RVing Canada said. In 2018, the campaign had a much more robust social and online presence. Toward the end of the two-year campaign cycle, however, the pandemic began, and Go RVing developed the “Visitor’s Centre” a content hub dedicated to helping people “get out there” when they were homebound.
2021: Live Your Wildhood
The third refreshed installment of the Wildhood series took a slightly new tack. Though developed before the pandemic, the campaign proposed that campers not wait to make memories with loved ones. The tagline became more active, encouraging people to “Live Your Wildhood,” highlighting a younger group of people while leaning on family’s importance.
