Reintroducing Canadians to What’s Been There All Along
Canada’s grasslands are among the country’s most endangered ecosystems, but they’re also among the most overlooked. Grasslands remain largely invisible in the public imagination, frequently misunderstood as empty or uneventful landscapes. The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) partnered with Cinnamon Toast to change that perception through a national awareness campaign designed to transform how Canadians see, understand, and value grasslands.
The result was The Secret Life of Grasslands: an integrated campaign and immersive microsite experience built around curiosity, discovery, and emotional connection. The campaign invited Canadians to look closer, uncovering the rich ecosystems, biodiversity, and hidden life thriving both above and below the surface.
Goals:
Build national awareness and appreciation for Canada’s disappearing grasslands by reframing them as a vital part of the country’s national identity.
Create a digital campaign that resonates with Canadians across regions, bridging geographic and identity-related differences through accessible, curio
Develop an immersive microsite experience, featuring interactive and multi-sensory elements designed to educate, engage, and inspire meaningful conser
Hidden in Plain Sight
Cinnamon Toast and CWF shifted conservation messaging from urgency to curiosity. Research showed Canadians felt disconnected from grasslands, meaning education needed to be engaging and action-oriented. This shaped the strategy: instead of focusing on loss, the campaign reveals what is hidden in plain sight. Anchored by "The Secret Life of Grasslands," the campaign blended storytelling and education through an interactive microsite with animated statistics and a discovery quiz. Ongoing media optimization kept the work responsive and effective.
The Impact
The Secret Life of Grasslands successfully transformed awareness into meaningful national engagement and drove strong performance.
Beyond the metrics, the campaign repositioned Canada’s grasslands as a vital part of the country’s identity, demonstrating the power of curiosity-led storytelling to build connection and inspire conservation action.
70,000+ ad engagements across campaign platforms
54,000+ visitors driven to the campaign microsite
2,000+ users participated in the interactive discovery quiz
