Campbell’s Chunky soup brand and the Coaching Association of Canada have teamed up to honour Canada’s coaches with a new campaign that asks athletes, parents and community members to nominate coaches for the Chunky MVC title: Most Valuable Coach.

The company will accept entries at Chunky.ca/MVC until late January, when four finalists will be chosen. TSN, Campbell’s media partner, will then create spots featuring the finalists and ask consumers to vote for a winner online.

The Chunky MVC winning coach will be determined by the highest number of online votes. He or she will be the focus of the Chunky MVC Tribute Day on TSN, which will include a breakfast with a TSN personality and a nationally recognized coach from the winner’s sport. The team of the coach will also get a VIP training camp, and award ceremony and Chunky soup and chili feast while the team’s community organization will get $5,000.

David Allard, a senior brand manager at Campbell who works with the Chunky Soup and Chunky Chili brands, said it is pairing with the Coaching Association in hopes of reaching sports fans at a more grassroots level than a large-scale sponsorship.

“We wanted something that was going to allow us to connect with consumers,” he said. “Coaches play an important role for a lot of consumers, and often they are the unrecognized heroes behind the sport.”

“Everyone seems to have a story of coach who inspired them,” he added, noting that the coaching initiative is an evolution of Campbell’s past sponsorship of grassroots sports programs, as well as big leagues like the NHL, the NFL and the most recently the CFL.

The initiative should also remind consumers of the soup’s nutritional value, he said. “Chunky is known for being a hearty soup,” said Allard. “Its relationship with sports reinforces that it is hearty as a product.”

Campbell has also put coach testimonials, tips and information about Canada’s Food Guide on Chunky.ca/MVC. In addition to the website Campbell’s will be airing spots related to the promotion on TSN starting in late December. The company will also be adding point-of-sale, PR and e-mail marketing to support the campaign in the weeks ahead.