The DIYctionary

Quebec doesn't just have a different language — it has a different vocabulary for fixing things, and for years that gap quietly killed conversion every time someone searched for a 'plogue' and got zero results. RONA and Sid Lee diagnosed a UX failure hiding inside a cultural one: the distance between how Quebecers actually talk about renovation and the sanitized technical terminology baked into e-commerce search infrastructure. The DIYctionary solved it by mapping over 225 regional expressions and colloquialisms directly onto RONA's product catalog — turning 'gosses de bois' and 'osti de robinet' into functional search queries that return real results. It's a search engine optimization project reimagined as a cultural statement. What elevates this beyond a smart UX fix is the creative framing: by naming it a 'DIYctionary' and treating Quebec renovation vernacular as something worth documenting, RONA positioned itself as a brand that doesn't just operate in Quebec but genuinely belongs there. That's a meaningful distinction in a market where cultural authenticity is both fiercely valued and easily faked. The campaign earned its results through genuine utility rather than performance — 22K new search terms activated, traffic up 125%, and 5.3 million organic impressions from a product improvement that happened to be brilliant brand strategy.