Selling Churchill: N.L. spending $300K in ad blitz to sell new power deal

As soon as the new Churchill Falls hydro deal was announced in St. John's this month, the campaign to win over the public was launched — with the Newfoundland and Labrador government pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into a media blitz.

N.L. Premier Andrew Furey and Quebec Premier François Legault announced the terms of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at a news conference in St. John's over the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant and other projects. It's estimated it could bring in hundreds of billions of dollars into the N.L. economy over the next 50 years, as well as create thousands of jobs.

Within hours, ads boasting of the future results of the non-binding deal began to appear on social media.

The campaign also includes television spots, electronic billboards, online advertising and bus ads. 

A website — ourchapter.ca — went live shortly after the announcement, as the government promised the numerous benefits that deal would generate and posted the MOU itself for download.

The provincial government is defending the marketing campaign for a non-binding MOU that's not set to be formalized until April 2026.

"Our marketing campaign is designed to help educate residents and businesses on the scope of our recent MOU with Quebec and how it will transform Newfoundland and Labrador for generations to come," said the government in an emailed statement to CBC News.

It added that N.L. had hired Toronto-based ad agency Crestview Strategy and St. John's-based M5 to "plan, develop and execute" its media campaign. Elements of the campaign include television, radio, out-of-home, and digital media, as well as Furey's state-of-the-province address.

"In total, we have invested a little more than $300,000 plus taxes on the campaign. Of which, $150,000 is for the actual paid advertising costs and the remaining amount supporting plan and creative development. Total costs will be cost-shared between the provincial government and N.L. Hydro," said the statement.

Furey also did a series of one-on-one media interviews, and the day after the announcement hit the road and travelled to Labrador to meet with people — including Indigenous groups — in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and then to the power-generating town of Churchill Falls.

Newfoundland and Labrador is using a variety of similar online ads on Facebook to focus on specific messages, and perhaps target specific audiences. 

A series of creatives all launched on the social media platform on Dec. 12. 

As of Friday, eight different campaigns were still active — seven panels and one video. When clicked, Facebook users are taken to the government's Our Chapter website. 

According to analytical data available from Facebook, the impressions for those ads — the number of times the ad was viewed by users — each ranged from under 2,000 to more than 100,000.