Growing up, a white Countach LP 5000S poster hung above my bed. This super-car was a superstar to me; often the last thing I looked at before closing my eyes each night. I dreamt about driving cars, racing them, even building them.

Many years later, I remain the same kid at heart. I spent over a decade’s worth of my career in the automotive industry in Canada, the USA, and Mexico; and, in 2009 made the leap into the agency world—to create 7 Communications, a luxury and lifestyle marketing agency. Today, I lead an uber talented group of humans who serve a vast array of clients in multiple categories—the automotive category, however, has always been our sweet spot. Over the years, our team has been incredibly privileged to have shaped programming for a vast roster of world-class OEMs and Dealer Groups.

Since the company was founded, we have experienced many memorable moments. But it was the first day of spring 2019 that is etched forever in my mind. It was March 20th of that year.

Ten months earlier, we’d been invited to respond to an RFP to become agency of record for Automobili Lamborghini Canada. On that day at 10:39am, their Head of Procurement congratulated our team on earning the multi-year opportunity to represent their storied brand in Canada. But that is not where this epic day ends—while on the phone with Lamborghini, I heard a huge cheer from our boardroom. Within minutes of earning the opportunity to represent Lamborghini in Canada, we also received an email from Milwaukee informing us that we had just earned the opportunity to represent the Harley-Davidson brand across Canada as well. There are no words to wrap around the emotion our team experienced in the moment. Within the hour, we were celebrating in a neighbourhood pub, grateful for the win, and proud of the team that got us there.

I like to think the 1982 Countach that hung on my childhood bedroom wall was a talisman of what was to come. Our Automobili Lamborghini Canada mandate was to represent the renowned brand here in Canada and ignite both the passion and sense of adventure amongst Lamborghini’s most beloved customers. Since that day in 2019, we have helped shape spirited, limitless programming for some of the most remarkable customers across the country.

Brave, unexpected, and authentic are steadfast values of Lamborghini—the company Ferruccio Lamborghini created 60 years ago. Expect the Unexpected has become not only the brand narrative, but the core of the experiences owners have come to expect and delight in.

If I had to choose the top three experiences to share with you since we began our work together, it would be these from 2023:

1. The Lamborghini Giro: a multi-day customer driving event on Canada’s East Coast
2. Lamborghini Terra: an adventurous off-road event on the edge of Muskoka in Ontario
3. Lamborghini Neve: a multi-day ice-driving event north of Montreal

1. Lamborghini Giro

In 2023, in celebration of the brand’s 60th anniversary, Automobili Lamborghini Canada entrusted 7 Communications with their first-ever Canadian Esperienza Giro. Lamborghini ownership is an invitation to adventure; and previous Giro programs legendary amongst Lamborghini owners—so, the bar was set high for the Canadian program. Our team focused on delivering a once-in-a-lifetime driving tour through epic landscapes, illuminating driving performance, while serving up some of Canada’s finest hospitality, culinary, and lifestyle experiences.

To deliver a uniquely Canadian camber on the Esperienza Giro, our team orchestrated a picturesque route—a journey through the striking beauty and ruggedness of Canada’s East Coast. Under the keen guidance of professional Squadra Course Drivers, the drive route showcased the charm and culture of the Maritimes, with luxury accommodations and fine dining at each pit-stop.

And then, Hurricane Lee appeared on the weather forecast. Our team got to work creating contingency plans to ensure an impeccable brand experience even amidst an approaching hurricane.

Guests flew into Halifax to begin the epicurean-spirited Giro journey from the homebase of the MUIR waterfront hotel. A private dinner in the hotel’s art gallery was first up on the expect the unexpected agenda. With the tempest hovering off the coast, and to ensure the safety of drivers and vehicles, our team transformed the first planned day of road driving. Instead of rallying to a whale-watching excursion on the Bay of Fundy, guests enjoyed the rich offerings of the Fox Harb’r Resort, followed by a dining experience in their Founder Lodge Mansion, a notable bookend to Day One.

Safely out of Lee’s path, night turned into day, and our group pivoted back to the original planned itinerary—guests sojourned to a small island with a big heart, PEI, to enjoy an authentic down-home seafood feast, sea-salt air, and unhurried East Coast charm.

On the final day, the guests adventured over to Cape Breton Island to experience the cultural odyssey of one the world’s most awe-inspiring drives—the 298-km legendary Cabot Trail. If you have ever been to this part of the country, you know how remarkable and wondrous The Island is. Lamborghini Giro concluded with a connection-fostering bonafide Maritimes feast amongst the Lamborghini owners.

Would you like to be part of the 2024 program? Join Lamborghini on the Canadian West Coast this time, with your own Lamborghini, for the first-ever International Giro held on North American soil. Canadian and US dealers have all the details.

2. Lamborghini Terra

The Lamborghini Terra mission was to create luxury lifestyle programming that delivered on the brand’s vivacious spirit, while providing attendees with an incomparably unique and exclusive opportunity to experience Lamborghini on unexpected terrain. Our team curated a bold off-road adventure that exalted the fervent energy of the brand.

The vehicles showcased included the Urus—whose soul is an amalgam of a super-sports-car and SUV; and the Huracán Sterrato—a powerhouse made for off-roading. The course chosen, of course, had to be extraordinary. Oro Station Motor Circuit once complete will be a FIA Grade 3 motorsports venue. Located north of Toronto, it was the first North American stop of Lamborghini’s international Terra campaign. The Canadian guests invited were the first to ever experience the virtuosity of this circuit—a circuit still in its pre-build infancy.

Our team collaborated with the Oro team to rework some of the raw terrain, optimizing the course for off-road driving. Squadra Corsa instructors were flown in from Italy to deliver an international driving experience that showcased the remarkable potential of the Urus to overcome any obstacle. And the guests had the great fortune of being amongst the very first to ever drive this soon-to-be infamous motorsports track.

Read more about Terra here.

3. Lamborghini Neve

For the first time since 2018, Automobili Lamborghini returned to Northern Québec, to host their winter on-ice driving program. This multi-day program put 48 North American participants through a thrilling academy, where they learned the necessary skills to handle the Lamborghini fleet on both ice and snow under the esteemed guidance of Lamborghini Squadra Course instructors.

The allure of a cold weather driving program to Canadians was less than anticipated. American clients, however, quickly seized the chilling opportunity. Specific focus went to dealerships in the warm south—with spots snatched up by clients in Orlando, Miami, Nashville, Austin, and Puerto Rico. For the American clientele, Lamborghini Neve presented an uncommon opportunity to test the limits of Lamborghinis in an extreme environment and on unexpected terrain, unlike what they are accustomed to at home.

A custom 2.1-km track was created specifically for the program. Clients were coached through 360°, figure-eight, and full-track lapping modules, and had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of multiple Lamborghini models, including the EVO RWD, Huracán STO, Urus, Urus S, and the Urus Performante. As you read this, we are finalizing the details for the February 2024 program at the majestic Lac Sacacomie.

Read more about Neve here.

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To close out this piece, let me share a final full-circle moment with you. In August 2022, I was at the Quail in Monterey—the penultimate car event that anchors Monterey Car Week. There, I stood next to the most recent sibling of the Countach to the one that hung over my bed all those years ago alongside Doug Brown, Head of Automobili Lamborghini Canada, and I could not help but smile. A full-circle moment.

My team and I feel very lucky to work with such a legacy brand, and to have opportunities as exhilarating and rich as the ones noted above. We are incredibly proud of the work we have done and continue to do, and will never not be intrigued by the way life writes collective stories surrounding our passion, history, and journey.