How Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism Turned the Edge of North America Into an Invitation
Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism's 'Most Easterly Point' is a 2013 Canadian television campaign created by St. John's agency Target that positions Cape Spear — the most easterly point in North America — as the emotional and geographic anchor for the province's long-running 'Find Yourself' travel platform, inviting audiences to reach the continent's edge as a transformative leisure experience.
The campaign launched in January 2013, produced in both 60-second and 30-second formats, and formed a deliberate chapter within the 'Find Yourself' brand platform that Target first introduced for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism in 2006. Rather than repositioning the province from scratch, 'Most Easterly Point' deepened an existing narrative proposition: that travelling to Newfoundland and Labrador is an act of genuine self-discovery rather than passive leisure. The strategic logic rested on a single geographic fact — Cape Spear sits at the most easterly point in North America — and treated that physical reality as proof that the province occupies genuinely singular territory in Canada's travel landscape.
The campaign operated in the competitive Canadian travel and tourism market, where provincial and territorial destinations compete for domestic visitor spend as well as international arrivals. In Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador's tourism sector contributed approximately C$1.6 billion annually to the provincial economy at the time of the campaign's release, according to Releases Gov Nl Ca. That economic context gave the 'Most Easterly Point' execution clear commercial stakes beyond its creative ambition. The film medium allowed the campaign to carry the narrative weight and visual grandeur that the 'Find Yourself' platform had consistently demanded across its seven-year lifespan, making it a natural vehicle for the transport and leisure themes that define the province's destination identity.
The 'Find Yourself' platform rests on a consumer insight that distinguishes Newfoundland and Labrador from virtually every other Canadian destination. Travel to the province is never incidental — no one passes through on the way to somewhere else — and Target built the entire strategic architecture of the campaign around that irreducible fact. 'Most Easterly Point' sharpened this insight by anchoring it to Cape Spear's cartographic reality, framing the journey as far east as you can physically go in North America as the defining metaphor for purposeful, transformative travel rather than convenient leisure.
In the broader Canadian travel market, provincial tourism boards compete intensely for the domestic visitor's attention and spend. Destinations such as Destination BC and Tourism Nova Scotia each invest heavily in narrative-led television advertising to differentiate their provinces on emotional grounds. What Target gave Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism was an argument that required no comparison: a geographic superlative that neither competitor could claim. The strategy treated transport — the deliberate act of travelling to the continent's edge — not as a barrier but as the journey's first meaningful act.
The global context reinforced the strategic stakes. International tourism arrivals reached 1.087 billion in 2013, an increase of approximately 52 million visitors year over year, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The UNWTO's long-term forecast projected approximately 3.8 percent annual growth from 2010 to 2020, as reported by researchers at Macquarie University citing UNWTO data. Within that expanding market, Canada's provincial destinations faced the dual pressure of capturing returning domestic travellers and persuading international visitors that the country's Atlantic edge warranted a dedicated journey. 'Most Easterly Point' answered both audiences simultaneously by making the distance the point, not the problem.
Director and cinematographer Alar Kivilo shaped the visual language of 'Most Easterly Point' for production company Sons & Daughters. Kivilo's dual role as both director and director of photography gave the film a unified perspective that is relatively rare in Canadian advertising production, allowing decisions about light, framing, and movement to emerge from a single creative sensibility rather than a negotiation between two departments.
The creative team at Target was led by creative directors Tom Murphy and Jenny Smith, with Graham North and Jenny Smith sharing creative director and copy responsibilities, and Tom Murphy serving as art director. Account management was handled by Catherine Kelly and Ernie Brake, while producers Heikki Kuld, Dan Ford, and Andrew Sulliman oversaw production. Post-production was led by editor Mick Griffin of Rooster, whose cut shaped the pacing and narrative rhythm that the cinematography demanded. Music was composed by Eric Harry Music, grounding the emotional register of the film in something that felt native to the landscape rather than imposed upon it.
The colour grade became the craft element that earned the campaign its most prominent industry recognition. Colourist Eric Whipp of Alter Ego brought a tone to the finished film that the industry judged exceptional by any standard. The 2013 Bessie Awards granted the campaign a Gold in Colour Grading — recognising Whipp's work specifically — and named the film a Finalist in Cinematography, according to the Bessie Awards records cited via Roosterpost Wordpress. The Advertising and Design Club of Canada awarded the campaign a Silver for Cinematography in November 2013, as reported by roosterpost.wordpress.com. These recognitions placed 'Most Easterly Point' among the most craft-distinguished Canadian travel advertisements of the year and contributed to Newfoundland and Labrador's total of 207 awards for its marketing efforts as of December 2013, according to releases.Gov Nl Ca.
'Most Easterly Point' earned verifiable industry recognition across multiple award bodies in 2013. The campaign received a Gold at the Bessie Awards for Colour Grading, a Bessie Finalist citation for Cinematography, and a Silver from the Advertising and Design Club of Canada for Cinematography, as documented across roosterpost.wordpress.com and releases.gov.nl.ca. These awards placed the campaign within the top tier of Canadian advertising craft for the year, recognising both the colourist Eric Whipp's grade and Alar Kivilo's cinematographic work as genuinely distinguished contributions to the television advertising form.
The campaign's structural effectiveness rests on several compounding strengths. The geographic superlative at its core — Cape Spear as North America's most easterly point — is immediately verifiable and impossible for a competitor to replicate, giving the campaign durable distinctiveness rather than a tone or mood that any destination could approximate. The decision to extend the 'Find Yourself' platform into its seventh year rather than introduce a reset demonstrated strategic discipline, building brand equity through consistent narrative logic rather than novelty. The dual-format release across 60-second and 30-second lengths optimised the campaign for different broadcast contexts without fragmenting the creative idea. 'Most Easterly Point' contributes to Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism's marketing legacy in Canada as both a craft achievement and a demonstration of how geographic specificity, sustained over time, can produce a destination brand with genuine authority in the North American travel market. Clapboard Score: 73/100.
'Most Easterly Point' is a 2013 Canadian TV campaign created by agency Target for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism. It positions Cape Spear as North America's most easterly point within the province's long-running 'Find Yourself' platform, using geographic extremity as a metaphor for purposeful, self-discovering travel in Canada.
Alar Kivilo directed and photographed the 'Most Easterly Point' campaign for production company Sons & Daughters. His dual role as director and cinematographer gave the film a unified visual perspective. Creative directors Tom Murphy and Jenny Smith led the work at agency Target in 2013.
The campaign won Gold for Colour Grading at the 2013 Bessie Awards, recognising colourist Eric Whipp of Alter Ego, and received a Finalist citation for Cinematography. It also earned a Silver for Cinematography from the Advertising and Design Club of Canada in November 2013, according to roosterpost.wordpress.com.
'Most Easterly Point' is one chapter within the 'Find Yourself' brand platform that Target launched for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism in 2006. Rather than a standalone reset, the 2013 campaign deepened the platform's core proposition by anchoring self-discovery to Cape Spear's specific geographic identity in North America.
Target built the campaign around Cape Spear's status as North America's most easterly point, treating the deliberate act of travelling to the continent's geographic edge as proof of purposeful leisure. The strategy made distance an asset rather than a barrier, distinguishing Newfoundland and Labrador from competing Canadian provincial tourism destinations.
Eric Whipp served as colourist on 'Most Easterly Point', working from Alter Ego in Canada. His colour grade earned the campaign a Gold in Craft Awards for Colour at the 2013 Bessie Awards. Editor Mick Griffin of Rooster handled post-production, with music composed by Eric Harry Music for the television spots.
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