600 marketers in the crowd at SocialEast 2026 | Photo by Mathieu Higgins-Savidant, Rightwell Media
Welcoming more than 600 marketers, designers, communicators, business owners, and professionals, is the largest marketing event in Atlantic Canada. Since 2019, SocialEast has inspired Atlantic Canada’s marketing community with speakers from the world’s biggest platforms on trends, cutting-edge AI, and practical advice for an ever-changing field.
These insights help connect regional practitioners to the global community. But the four Atlantic provinces on Canada’s east coast are in a unique position, and not just geographically. There are distinct cultural norms that give Maritime marketers a distinct Atlantic Canadian edge.
Joe Teo on stage at SocialEast 2026 | Photo by Mathieu Higgins-Savidant, Rightwell Media
A Sense of Community
Based in St. John’s, Newfoundland, cloud-based content management platform HeyOrca was founded by Joe Teo. As an immigrant to the province, Teo was instantly impressed by a sense of community that permeated the remote North Atlantic island. “There’s still a strong culture of gathering together, knowing your neighbours, and showing up for people,” he observes.
Taking inspiration from the supportive and trusting environment around him, Teo built HeyOrca into a world-class software that is served with Newfoundland warmth and hospitality. This means that community is at the heart of HeyOrca’s product development and marketing vision.
“Community-led marketing is about building relationships and creating opportunities for people to connect, participate, and contribute to your brand,” Teo explains. “This gives Atlantic marketers a real advantage – the goal isn’t to just grow an audience but turn that audience into a community of people who genuinely care about one another and the brand. An audience consumes your content, but a community contributes, shares ideas, and builds relationships.”
When done well, community-led marketing also means brands can leverage that sense of community to reach new customers. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer:
84% trust the opinion of family and friends when interacting with a new brand, and
73% want brands to provide them with a sense of community.
“It’s not just about promoting your own brand,” says Teo. “It’s about investing in the people and communities around you, knowing that when the community grows, everyone benefits.”
Ingrid Deon on stage at SocialEast 2026 | Photo by Mathieu Higgins-Savidant, Rightwell Media
A Sense of Place
Along with a sense of community, the Atlantic region has a distinct sense of place. Teo observes that Newfoundland brands like Newbornlander and Mernini, for instance, “Embrace local culture, use local people and scenery, and celebrate what makes Newfoundland unique.”
Strong placemaking and identity sets brands apart among national competitors.
Based in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Ingrid Deon’s social media marketing agency word-craft has launched successful campaigns for international brand Crosby’s Molasses, which was first founded in Yarmouth in 1879. Deon leaned into emotional attachment and nostalgia on Crosby’s social channels to inspire UGC while evoking an authentic sense of time and place. For many Maritimers, Crosby’s molasses was a kitchen staple – drizzled on brown bread, swirled through Christmas cookies, and a symbol of Canadian heritage, family ownership, and tradition.
“I’m really proud of the work we do for Crosby’s,” Deon shares. “It’s really honest, and it’s also because we use the products; we’re not only the marketers, we’re the consumers.”
Taking inspiration from a place is something an out-of-market competitor can’t easily replicate. “The very things that make you different are your greatest competitive advantage,” Teo says.
“Atlantic marketers lean into our culture and identity instead of trying to be like everyone else.”
Robert Newcombe on stage at SocialEast 2026 | Photo by Mathieu Higgins-Savidant, Rightwell Media
A Sense of Taste
Only 7% of Canada’s total population is located in the Atlantic region and small-scale enterprises make up more than 95% of Atlantic business. The Atlantic Economic Panel’s Final Report, a growth plan for the Atlantic provinces, set a goal for 80% of businesses to adopt AI by 2035.
Robert Newcombe, Founder and CEO of Halifax’s AI-First, notes that today roughly 15% of Atlantic businesses with 10 or more employees are using AI, compared with about 20% nationally. This unique demographic feature creates opportunities for Atlantic marketers to be faster adopters of tech while maintaining a strong identity. With federal investments in Atlantic business AI adoption, “Small teams really have an advantage on this climb,” Newcombe adds.
Since 2024, AI-First has facilitated over 50 Atlantic Canadian organizations to adopt AI. “The risk is that everyone uses AI to produce more of the same,” Newcombe says.
“The way to stand out is to put your taste and personal touch back into the work. For regional marketers, that taste is the edge. National competitors can’t copy your relationships, your community knowledge, or your voice,” he adds. Altogether, the Atlantic Canadian marketing edge is simply being in Atlantic Canada - community-oriented, place-forward, and authentic.
Written by Adria Young.
Adria Young is a communications and marketing professional based in Halifax.
