Travel Manitoba has won another award for its brand refresh that launched almost two years ago. Canada’s Heart is Calling received a bronze Effie Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements in marketing effectiveness in Canada. Other bronze-level honorees include McDonald’s Canada, CIBC and Volkswagen Canada. The Travel Manitoba campaign was the only travel and tourism work to make it to the finals in this year’s Effie Awards.

Colin Ferguson, President and CEO of Travel Manitoba, said:

We’re incredibly proud that Manitoba is getting the recognition it deserves. Our province has undeniable beauty and personality, and this brand refresh really showcases it. We have always known how special Manitoba is, and we’re thrilled that the rest of the world is seeing it now too.

The Canada’s Heart is Calling campaign captures the emotions one feels when exploring Manitoba, whether it’s viewing the northern lights dancing in the sky, participating in an authentic Indigenous experience or visiting a world-class museum. In collaboration with local artists and retailers, Travel Manitoba and its marketing and public relations agency UpHouse created impactful videos, user-generated social media ads and eye-catching merchandise to launch the refreshed brand.

Kiirsten May, co-owner of UpHouse said:

Travelling isn’t about simply going to a destination — it’s about learning, adventuring or unwinding. We wanted to tap into that emotional impact people experience when they travel. We’re honoured to be part of such a big campaign that showcases our home province. Being a Manitoba-made company makes it all the more special, and we’re looking forward to seeing the tourism sector continue to flourish in the heart of Canada.

In the year following the launch of the new brand, tourism spending hit $1.82 billion, surpassing pre-pandemic spending levels and positioning Travel Manitoba to achieve its target of $2.5 billion in visitor spending by 2030. In addition to the Effie Award, the Canada’s Heart is Calling campaign has won several other awards, including an Hermes Creative Award 2023 and a NYX Award. Last year the campaign was also a finalist at the World Media Awards, where it was up against travel and tourism campaigns from London, Wales and Abu Dhabi. The new This is Tourism campaign — which piggybacks off the Canada’s Heart is Calling campaign to inspire locals to see how tourism improves our quality of life — recently won gold at the Travel Weekly Magellan Awards.

Ferguson added:

We hope Manitobans take a moment to celebrate how loved and recognized our province is and feel proud to boast about all Manitoba has to offer.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. is an award-winning, diverse owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the mandate to inspire social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands, campaigns and stories and elevate messages that needs to be heard. The agency works to make communications authentic, accessible and diverse.

Survivor’s Hope Crisis Centre and marketing and public relations agency UpHouse won three awards for a campaign developed to increase awareness about sexual assault resources in Manitoba’s Interlake-Eastern Region. ‘Let’s Talk About SARAH’ received the Silver Shorty Impact Award in Public Service Announcement, the Silver Anthem Award in Local Awareness and the Bronze Anthem Award in Grassroots Efforts.

The Anthem Awards and Shorty Impact Awards are both international, mission-driven competitions focused on work that cultivates positive change. This year, the Anthem Awards had more than 2,300 submissions across 34 countries, including submissions from organizations such as T-Mobile, The Museum of Modern Art and MTV Entertainment Studios.

Coral Kendel, Executive Director at Survivor’s Hope Crisis Centre said:

We came to UpHouse after struggling to reach survivors in the communities we serve. There’s a general lack of education around sexual assault resources in rural areas, and because these communities are so tight-knit, survivors would often stay silent instead of reaching out for help. This campaign created by UpHouse was an incredible collaboration that was meaningful to so many. We really believe it made an impact in reducing the stigma experienced by sexual violence survivors.

Leveraging the close-knit connections of rural communities, the three-phase campaign focused on increasing awareness and education around sexual assault, as well as providing information about how to become an ally to survivors. Referencing Survivor’s Hope’s Sexual Assault Recovery and Healing (SARAH) program, the campaign incorporated blunt and unbranded taglines like “Did you hear about SARAH?” and “Let’s talk about SARAH” to draw viewers in.

The creative was plastered across small towns in the form of posters, magnets, bus shelter ads and newspaper ads. Over the campaign period, there were over 900 interactions with the Survivor’s Hope website, and the non-profit saw a 200 per cent increase in files opened compared to last year.

About two weeks after the campaign ended, the federal government cut funding for the program, putting it at risk of shutting down. ‘Let’s Talk About SARAH’ created strong community awareness and media relationships, leading to $30,000 in crowdfunding before the government restored funding in another three-year contract.

Kathleen Phillips, UpHouse’s creative manager on the project added:

We strongly believe as communicators that we have a unique opportunity to put messages out into the world that need to be heard. This is why we do what we do. It’s incredibly fulfilling to see marketing and public relations create real change in a community.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. is an award-winning, diverse owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the mandate to inspire social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands, campaigns and stories and elevate messages that needs to be heard. The agency works to make communications authentic, accessible and diverse.

UpHouse co-founder Alex Varricchio has won the Entrepreneur of the Year award at both the 4th annual Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) Black & White Gala, held in Toronto on November 8, 2019, and the Annual Chamber Awards, held in Winnipeg on November 21, 2019, by the Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce.

The awards are presented to an LGBT+ entrepreneur who displays outstanding leadership and innovation, a commitment to LGBT+ community advocacy and exceptional social, cultural and environmental consciousness.

Varricchio launched UpHouse, a brand and marketing agency, with business partner Kiirsten May in 2017, assembling a predominantly female and queer team with seven full-time members and a network of 20+ creative partners.

Their business model is “half agency, half in-house,” as they recognized a trend in businesses reducing their agency spend and instead building in-house creative teams. UpHouse’s collaborative approach to working with businesses helps to fill in the gaps instead of replacing in-house talent or duplicating efforts.

To date, UpHouse has surpassed projected growth targets and secured major clients across Canada. They continue to foster a collaborative and inclusive company culture with a we-won’t-say-no approach to community and not-for-profit work.

Varricchio and the UpHouse team have provided more than a quarter-million dollars of in-kind and pro bono marketing support to not-for-profit organizations like Pride Toronto, Reel Pride Film Festival, Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba, United Way, Sexuality Education Resource Centre, imagineNATIVE, Society for Manitobans With Disabilities and Main Street Project. Their work has earned awards at the national and international levels.

Together, Varricchio and May have developed a crowdsourcing brainstorming tool, Crainstorm, championing great ideas through diverse viewpoints and collaboration. They recently published a book, The Proximity Paradox, to be released internationally in March 2020.

About The CLGCC

The CLGCC helps LGBTTQ* entrepreneurs thrive by improving accessibility and building relationships between LGBTTQ* businesses and the corporate world. Their Black & White Gala celebrates remarkable leaders in all industry sectors who cultivate diversity and inclusion in their business and entrepreneurship.

About the Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce

The Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce recognizes individuals and organizations that are making a positive impact on Manitoba’s LGBT* and business communities.

About UpHouse

UpHouse is a brand and marketing agency. The company works collaboratively with clients to invigorate their brand position, create achievable marketing plans and cultivate the skills of their creative people.

Travel Manitoba’s brand refresh getting noticed by multiple international awards competitions. 

As Travel Manitoba approaches the first anniversary of its new brand, the verdicts are coming in from around the globe: the campaign is a hit. Manitoba was recognized on a global stage when the Travel Manitoba brand refresh campaign Canada’s Heart Is Calling received a finalist nomination at the World Media Awards.

The World Media Awards recognize international brands, agencies and media partners who create the most effective, content-driven advertising campaigns in various sectors. This year’s nominees included notable names such as adidas, Volkswagen and Visa. In the Travel & Tourism category, Manitoba was up against campaigns from London, Wales and Abu Dhabi. The awards show in London is represented by major media outlets including The New York Times, Forbes and The Washington Post, and the panel of judges consisted of 37 marketing, advertising and business professionals from around the world.

Alex Varricchio, Co-Owner of UpHouse, the marketing and PR agency who worked with Travel Manitoba on the brand refresh, said:

I can’t describe what an honour it is to be considered for such an amazing award. It’s really special to see our medium-sized, Manitoba-made agency up against some of the largest brands in the world. I couldn’t be prouder of our team and the work we put forward in partnership with Travel Manitoba to represent our home province.

Travel Manitoba’s marketing has won many other awards, including an Hermes Creative Award 2023 and a NYX Award.

The Canada’s Heart is Calling campaign captures the emotions one feels when exploring Manitoba, whether that includes viewing the northern lights dancing in the sky, participating in an authentic Indigenous experience or visiting a world-class museum. In collaboration with local artists and retailers, Travel Manitoba and UpHouse created impactful videos, user-generated social media ads and eye-catching merchandise to launch the refreshed brand at a media event in January 2023.

Colin Ferguson, President and CEO of Travel Manitoba, stated:

It’s no easy task to stand out in an incredibly competitive tourism market, so being finalists and winners at these competitions shows how big of an impact Manitoba has on a global scale. We’re thrilled that international marketing experts recognize how we are effectively showcasing our beautiful province.

The digital campaign generated 26.8 million impressions, 40,000 digital ad clicks, 1.8 million video views and 512,000 visits to travelmanitoba.com. The launch event generated 240+ media clippings with a reach of 140+ million total potential audiences from online, print, radio and TV.

Cody Chomiak, Travel Manitoba’s Vice President of Marketing, added:

We’ve loved seeing the response to the campaign from Manitobans, Canadians and beyond. We’re very proud of all the work UpHouse and Travel Manitoba have done to put this province on the map, and we can see how much it’s excited travellers. We’re looking forward to creating more campaigns that embody the beauty of Manitoba.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. is an award-winning, diverse owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the mandate to inspire social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands, campaigns and stories and elevate messages that needs to be heard. The agency works to make communications authentic, accessible and diverse.

About Travel Manitoba

Travel Manitoba is a Crown Corporation under provincial legislation that leads and stimulates sustainable tourism growth in Manitoba’s $1.8 billion tourism industry. In partnership with the tourism industry, the agency is responsible for tourism marketing, visitor information services, research and public information.

Winnipeg marketing and public relations agency UpHouse announced today that it has won Assiniboine Credit Union (ACU), a fellow B Corp, as a client.

Kim Champion Taylor, Chief People and Brand Officer, said:

We were very impressed by the creativity the UpHouse team showed during our review. It captured the spirit of the company and how well they already align with our brand. We can’t wait to see what we create together as we continue to build ACU into one of Canada’s leading and most purpose-driven financial institutions.

ACU is a financial co-operative that offers a full suite of personal and commercial banking products and services. The company has over $6 billion in assets and 140,000 members with locations in Winnipeg, Gillam and Thompson. ACU became Manitoba’s only B Corp-certified credit union in 2020 and the province’s first carbon-neutral credit union in 2019.

Last year, UpHouse also became a B Corp after years of prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion in its business ventures and marketing campaigns. This model has led the agency to producing award-winning campaigns such as Consent at Work, Locked out of Life and Huddle. UpHouse Co-Owner Alex Varricchio said he’s excited about how well the two organizations’ values are aligned.

Varricchio continued:

We always strive to work with organizations whose values match our own. We knew right away that ACU would fit that bill, so it’s fair to say that we really wanted this one and I think our proposal and enthusiasm showed that. We feel grateful ACU decided to trust us with their brand. This is an exciting moment for UpHouse, and we’re looking forward to working with such a great Manitoba institution.

About ACU
ACU is a financial co-operative with over $6 billion in assets. It offers a full suite of personal and commercial banking products and services, and a team of financial and wealth advisors to help its members succeed. It has seventeen branch locations in Winnipeg, two northern branches in Thompson and Gillam, and it’s owned collectively by 140,000 Manitobans who use its services today.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. Is an award-winning, diverse owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the mandate to inspire social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands and marketing and elevate messages that needs to be heard. We work to make communications authentic, accessible and diverse.

Marketing and public relations agency UpHouse continues its reputation for creating award-winning, purpose-driven work with two Anthem Awards wins. The agency’s marketing campaigns “Let’s Grow to Work” and “Barrier Town” were Bronze Anthem Winners in the Hiring Initiative and Local Community Engagement categories, respectively.

This year’s Anthem Award Winners were selected from a pool of over 2,000 submissions from 44 countries by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Anthem judges are intellectually diverse leaders from across the impact industry with expertise that spans across the Anthem cause areas.

Brenlee Coates, creative director for both campaigns, said:

It’s an incredible honour to be named winners at the Anthem Awards. We appreciate being recognized for the work we do at UpHouse—but having real impact with these campaigns and getting to work with the kinds of clients we do is our true motivation. Wins like these show the power of inclusive, diverse and equitable marketing, and we’re excited to attract more projects like these in the future.

“Let’s Grow to Work” for Direct Support Profession Manitoba was created to increase recruitment of support workers for people with disabilities. Direct support professionals (DSPs) support people with disabilities to live the lives they want — in work, at home and in the community. The campaign message emphasized the relationship between DSPs and the person they support, showing them growing together and the positive impact being a DSP has in someone’s life. The results included over 10,000 visits to Direct Support Profession Manitoba’s website during the campaign period.

“Barrier Town” for Abilities Manitoba used satirical humour to display the challenges people with disabilities face when interacting with businesses. Working with folks with lived experiences, Coates and the UpHouse creative team built a set with three scenarios that illustrated some of the common barriers people with disabilities face. This showed some of the ways organizations put up barriers in their business—making it so obvious, it’s almost farcical.

Alex Varricchio, co-owner of UpHouse stated:

One of our goals when starting UpHouse was to use marketing as a tool to make the change we want to see in the world, and it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come doing just that. As creatives who put work out with the intention of having millions of people see it, we know we have a responsibility to represent all groups of people. When organizations trust us with projects like these ones, it feels really special.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. Is an award-winning, diverse-owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the purpose to inspire the social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to elevate messages that need to be heard—ensuring their communications are authentic, accessible and diverse.

About The Anthem Awards

Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards honors the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, we’re defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities. The Anthem Awards honors work across seven core causes: Diversity; Equity & Inclusion; Education; Art & Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Responsible Technology; and Sustainability, Environment & Climate. Founded in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, Glaad, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF, and XQ.

AiEO Launches to Help Organizations Stay Visible Inside AI Answers

As artificial intelligence reshapes how people search, AiEO has launched as one of the first agencies in North America built entirely around a new reality: people are asking AI for answers, not clicking through websites.

Founded by award-winning marketing and PR leaders Alex Varricchio and Kiirsten May, AiEO (pronounced ay-oh) helps organizations appear, be cited and be trusted inside AI-generated responses across tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity.

With more audiences bypassing traditional search and turning directly to AI tools, brands face a new visibility challenge. If they are not referenced inside AI answers, they risk becoming invisible at the moment decisions are made.

The Shift: AI Platforms Are Becoming Primary Search

People increasingly prefer conversational answers over long lists of links.

According to the Associated Press:

• 60 per cent of Americans use AI to find information,
• Among people under 30, usage rises to 74 per cent,

“We are stepping into a new version of the internet,” says Varricchio. “If your brand is not part of those answers, you are essentially invisible.”

A Natural Evolution From UpHouse

AiEO builds on the foundation of UpHouse, the Certified B Corporation co-owned by Varricchio and May. UpHouse has grown into a 40-person team working with organizations across North America in marketing, communications, tourism, energy and public sector strategy.

“AiEO is a natural extension of how we support clients,” May says. “We do not want AI to remove the human element. We want it to work in service of it.”

Where AiEO Begins: The AiEO Audit

Most organizations do not know how they currently appear inside AI tools or if they appear at all.

The AiEO Audit provides a factual 30-day snapshot of:

• How often a brand is referenced across leading AI platforms
• Where misinformation or outdated details appear
• Where competitors show up instead
• What AI tools pull from your website and what they ignore
• Which essential facts AI is missing entirely

The Audit gives organizations a clear visibility baseline before making any changes.

Fixing the Foundation: AiEO Optimize

After the Audit, many organizations discover that their own website is the biggest barrier to AI visibility.

AiEO Optimize focuses on fixing that foundation by:

• Correcting inaccurate or outdated content
• Adding missing facts AI tools expect to see
• Restructuring pages so AI can parse, understand and cite them
• Cleaning up duplicate or confusing sections with low signal value
• Ensuring important information is clear, surfaced and repeated in the right places

Optimize is not about publishing new content; it is about improving what already exists so AI tools can finally use it. This is the stage where most clients see the fastest improvements.

Ongoing Visibility: The AiEO Engine

Once the foundation is fixed, organizations can maintain and expand their presence through the AiEO Engine. This is AiEO’s proprietary system for ongoing AI visibility.

The Engine runs on four coordinated flywheels.

1. Produce
Create structured, high clarity content that AI tools can reference and reuse accurately.

2. Amplify

Mirror and distribute that content across high trust networks and platforms that AI systems routinely scan.

3. Diversify

Repurpose top performing content into formats and surfaces that strengthen authority.

4. Recirculate

Use live AI visibility tracking to correct inaccuracies, update sources and feed insights into new content.

The Engine helps brands stay visible as AI systems evolve rather than showing up once and disappearing.

Already Active With Expansion Ahead

AiEO is already deployed for UpHouse and select clients, with availability expanding to certified partner agencies later this year.

“Marketers are under pressure to keep up with AI,” May says. “AiEO gives organizations confidence that their brand will show up where people are actually looking, inside AI answers.”

About AiEO

AiEO is one of the first agencies in North America dedicated entirely to AI Engine Optimization. Its suite, the AiEO Audit, AiEO Optimize and the AiEO Engine, helps organizations stay visible, accurate and cited inside generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google SGE, Gemini and Perplexity. AiEO ensures brands do not simply publish content. It ensures they appear in the places where people now search.

What does AiEO do?

AiEO helps organizations appear, be cited and be trusted inside AI-generated answers across tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity. It ensures brands stay visible as people turn to AI for information.

What is the AiEO Audit?

The AiEO Audit is a 30-day assessment that shows how your brand appears inside major AI tools. It identifies missing citations, misinformation, outdated details and visibility gaps. It provides a factual baseline before any optimization begins.

What is AiEO Optimize?

AiEO Optimize focuses on fixing the content that already exists on your website. It clarifies, restructures and corrects information so AI tools can interpret and cite your content accurately. Optimize strengthens your foundation before any new content is created.

What is the AiEO Engine?

The AiEO Engine is AiEO’s ongoing visibility system. Built on four flywheels, Produce, Amplify, Diversify and Recirculate, it helps organizations publish AI-ready content, distribute it across trusted surfaces, expand high performing pieces and use real-time AI visibility tracking to correct inaccuracies.

How is this different from SEO?

SEO helps you appear in traditional search results.
AI Engine Optimization helps you appear inside AI-generated answers.
Both matter, but AI tools interpret content differently and rely on different signals.

Why does AI visibility matter now?

A growing number of people prefer asking AI tools directly instead of browsing websites. If your organization is not referenced in those AI answers, you may not be found at the moment decisions are made.

How do organizations get started?

Most begin with the AiEO Audit. It provides the clarity needed to determine what to fix, what to restructure and whether ongoing AI visibility through the AiEO Engine fits their goals.