CHEVROLET × TELUS WORLD SKI & SNOWBOARD FESTIVAL
First Integrated Social + Experiential UGC/INFLUENCER Campaign
(BEFORE “UGC” & “INFLUENCER" MARKETING” HAD A NAME)
The BRIEF
In 2010, Chevrolet wanted to “use social media” to activate their sponsorship of the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival.
At the time, social media wasn’t yet being taken seriously, brands didn’t know how to use it, and “UGC” and “Influencer Marketing” wasn’t yet a recognized tactic.
Chevrolet needed something brand new:
a way to turn an in-person sponsorship into digital engagement, drive buzz, gather leads, and connect live experience with measurable marketing outcomes.
THE CHALLENGE
The gap was clear:
Chevrolet’s on-the-ground activation wasn’t translating into any meaningful digital presence, storytelling, or customer engagement.
The brand was showing up — but no one was seeing it unless they were at the event.
No content.
No amplification.
There was also limited connection between experience → marketing → measurable results, using only in=person high cost data collection methods to drive outcomes.
The sponsorship was high-value, but the execution was fragmented.
Social media offered an opportunity to engage with the audience at a lower-cost and relevant way.
MY ROLE
As a junior account lead, I diagnosed the real problem before anyone else was articulating it:
Chevrolet wasn’t extending live activations into digital presence — and social content could bridge the gap.
I built the solution from scratch.
CREATED A BRAND-SPECIFIC MODEL FOR UGC + BRAND STORYTELLING
Before “UGH Creators’ or “Influencers” were a thing, I:
sourced and selected a team of emerging photographers, videographers, and writers
built content workflows for Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blog platforms
designed how content moved from mountain → onsite edit → brand approval → live publishing
coached creators on storytelling aligned to Chevrolet’s goals
set up tagging, data capture, and cross-channel integration
This was the first program of its kind for Chevrolet Canada,
Directed Onsite Content Operations
I ran the team on the ground:
coordinated daily deliverables under tight event timelines
directed video/photo capture
edited and optimized copy so it could be published the same day
aligned every piece of content to Chevrolet’s brand and sponsorship goals
ensured speed + accuracy + consistency
This turned a festival activation into a real-time brand storytelling engine.
Built the Foundation for the Chevrolet Insider Program
The program worked so well that what began as a one-off idea became:
The Chevrolet Insider Program — adopted across Chevrolet’s sponsorship portfolio for years.
This program:
connected real-world brand activations with digital storytelling
used content to drive email collection and test-drive leads
scaled into a repeatable playbook for national sponsorships
transformed how Chevrolet leveraged events across Canada
What started as an experiment became a national brand strategy.
THE RESULT
The campaign exceeded deliverables and became a blueprint for Chevrolet’s future sponsorship activations:
massive increase in digital engagement and brand visibility
measurable uplift in lead capture and event-to-digital conversion
a new integrated model for content + experience + sponsorship
adoption across all future Chevrolet activations
formalized as a multi-year brand asset
This work predated the entire UGC and creator-marketing era (2009-2010) and positioned Chevrolet as an early leader in real-time experiential content.