RONA Wins ICA and Bell Media’s 2024 Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity in Advertising Competition

The Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA) and Bell Media announced today 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 utilises creative with great copy in just the right places to get the message across,” said Scott Knox, president and CEO, ICA. “Existing tradespeople and those looking at future career choices will find it difficult to avoid the obvious gender imbalance in the sector.”

“This is a well-deserved win for RONA and Sid Lee, whose campaign brings a compelling message to an area where progress is overdue,” said Perry MacDonald, VP, Advertising Sales and Partnerships at Bell Media. “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.”

The RONA campaign surpassed competition from another finalist entry by Fuel Logostics, 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.