RONA wins a Retail Council Of Canada Award for its "Mike chez RONA" Campaign
Boucherville, Québec, June 3, 2026 – RONA inc., one of Canada’s leading home improvement retailers, operating and servicing over 425 corporate and affiliated stores, won the Retail Council of Canada’s “Retail Marketing Award” at the Excellence in Retailing Awards Gala on June 2. This award is a testament to RONA’s leadership in marketing in the retail sector and, more particularly, celebrates the “Mike chez RONA” campaign that revitalized the company’s iconic brand in Québec.
In the spring of 2025, in collaboration with its creative agency partner, Sid Lee, RONA dared think outside the box to achieve its goal: reconnecting with the people of Québec. That’s how “Mike chez RONA,” a humorous and endearing hometown character, became the star of the company’s advertising campaign, which featured a nostalgic and witty cover of the hit 70s song “My Sharona”.
“We took a risk and it paid off. The campaign generated strong notoriety, record engagement, unprecedented media coverage and an increase in both in-store and online traffic, in addition to over 100 million organic impressions, representing more than 12 times the population of Québec,” said Catherine Laporte, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at RONA inc. “Mike chez RONA revitalized our brand. Much more than a simple campaign, Mike became a cultural icon and reestablished RONA’s position as a trusted partner.”
From campaign to cultural phenomenon
By featuring a character that the public could easily identify with, delighting them with humour and a purely “Québécois” style, the campaign transformed engagement into concrete action while becoming a cultural phenomenon. Between March and December 2025, the campaign and the actor who plays “Mike” were all over the media; they were featured on Québec’s most popular television and radio shows, while countless comments on social media suggested that Mike become the province’s official handyman. Various performers even sang the campaign jingle during Fête Nationale celebrations in Québec.
“The numbers speak for themselves: for the spring 2025 campaign, ad recall was measured at 70% and brand awareness reached 90%. With those results, the highest ever recorded by our research partner, Adhoc, there’s no doubt that “Mike chez RONA” left his mark on Québec’s pop culture. This initiative is a great example of how strategic vision, creative execution and authenticity can combine to generate commercial impact and increase brand awareness,” added Ms. Laporte.
For the fall of 2025, RONA had no choice but to fully embrace and capitalize on the cultural phenomenon it had created. This led to “MikeMania,” with surprise collaborations with the OSM and McDonald’s, as well as the launch of limited-edition merchandise, such as a Halloween costume and a figurine, to meet customer demand. This ability to listen, react and create cultural moments is at the core of RONA’s brand strategy in Québec. And to kick off the 2026 home-improvement season, the company and its creative agency came back strong with a new campaign based on the famous “Macarena” dance.To share this news on social media, please use @RONAEN (Facebook), @RONA (LinkedIn), and @RONAinc (X).
About RONA inc.
RONA inc. is one of Canada’s leading home improvement retailers, headquartered in Boucherville, Quebec. The RONA inc. network operates and services over 425 corporate and affiliated dealer stores under the RONA+ and RONA banners. With a long and rich history, RONA inc. has been supporting Canadians in their home improvement and construction projects since 1939. To achieve this, the company relies on a team of 21,000 employees, to whom it strives to provide an inclusive workplace where everyone is invited to contribute. As a result of its ongoing efforts in sustainable development, the company is recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers. To learn more about the company, visit https://www.ronainc.ca/.