Fidolatry

As we reported in the Daily last week, Fido has begun a series of art, travel and design events called "Fido Sessions," in an effort to convert Toronto hipsters into fans of the brand. The wrap party for the first Session, which focused on art, was held last night, following three smaller weekly events that each featured a different local artist.

The event wasn't branded in the usual Fido way. In the days leading up to it, the mobile provider stationed two 30-foot tall characters - white and featureless, one male and one female - in various places around the city, along with smaller versions of the creative. The only information on these "Fidolls" was a call to action prompting citizens to text their way to a mobile site promoting the event. Not a dog in sight.

Fido's Ontario marketing manager, Sebastien Moise, told me last week that his company, knowing the the hipster allergy to overt branding, wanted to drum up support for the Sessions concept before crowing about Fido's involvement. Smart in one sense, confusing in another. Kind of like last night's event itself.

On one level, it seemed like mission accomplished for Fido. The turnout was strong, and the crowd was well populated with twenty and thirtysomethings sporting the requisite skinny jeans and ironic mustaches. So the right people were there, and quite a lot of them. Just what those people are going to do for the Fido brand isn't clear, however. As they did during the leadup, Fido underplayed its sponsorship role, so it was possible to go to the event and still not know what brand was behind it. This, in turn, makes it unlikely that a group of influential brand ambassadors was created.

Also, if one was expecting Fido Art Sessions to emphasize art, one would be sorely mistaken. I counted precisely three pieces, one by each of the artists featured in the previous, smaller events, on the wall in the main room. With only a tenuous connection to its supposed theme, it didn't feel substantially different than most promo parties.

That said, it was the first incarnation of a new Fido strategy to micro-target Toronto's cool contingent, and they managed to gather an impressive number of those people. The seed is planted, but it remains to be seen whether it'll grow.

- Matt Semansky