Timing of Campaign: October 2016 – May 2017

The Goal

FCB was tasked with create awareness of BMO’s sponsorship of the Toronto Raptors to increase brand consideration and build positive sentiment towards the bank. The bank wanted to exceed its average favourability score of 25% and its average consideration score of 25%, while lifting brand sentiment by 10%. The challenge was: how does a bank spark excitement in an environment dominated by sports brands?

Target

FCB looked to target young, diverse and digitally-savvy basketball fans – a very attractive target for the bank, but a group that normally doesn’t engage with bank brands on anything other than customer service issues.

The Insight and Strategy

About 86% of Canadian millennials second-screen while they watch TV – especially sports fans looking to experience live moments with others who share their passion online. To embody the goal of “act like a fan, not a bank,” the team had to go where the fans were: online.

Social listening and analytics helped determine key moments in the NBA season that our target would be talking about on social. Rather than overwhelming fans with an abundance of always-on, mass content, BMO was an active presence at the right times, in the right places – showing that the brand truly understands what it means to be a fan.

But what fans crave above all is insider information and access. They want to get as close as they can to the game, the team and the players they love. The agency developed a strategy to give consumers the inside access they craved through #BMOBallAccess.

The Plan

BMO launched the season by bringing back fan-favourite, the “BMO Ball-Star,” and promoting his role to official “spokes-ball” of the 2017 Raptors season. Television, online video, in-venue and print drove awareness of #BMOBallAccess and kept it top-of-mind throughout the season. Thirteen videos gave fans bite-sized content featuring exclusive areas of the Air Canada Centre (ACC) and their favourite players hanging out with Ball-Star.

The team used Twitter at key moments in the season, connecting BMO to fans while they were most active online. NBA.com takeovers, Facebook carousel ads and additional social content pushed fans to BMO’s YouTube page, which housed more videos to further fans’ second-screen experience during games.

To end the season, the team created the ultimate #BMOBallAccess experience. After a two-day teaser on social, 12 special “Ball Access Passes” were handed out pre-game, live on TSN. These granted access to an exclusive suite overlooking Maple Leaf Square. Former Raptor, Morris Peterson, hosted the night and BMO provided courtside highlights via VR. Live content and highlights from the suite were shared on Twitter, Instagram and TSN during the game, giving all Raptors fans the “Ball Access Pass” experience.

Technology and tools

The campaign was executed on multiple platforms to reach the right people in the right places. Twitter was used to connect with fans during key games and moments – including live-tweeting during the Raptors’ final game. Partnerships with TSN, Peterson and Cabbie Richards lent BMO credibility among sports fans. During the final playoff game, VR headsets heightened the experience by giving lucky fans a courtside view of the game.

User Experience

The season-long campaign and its multiple touch points laddered up to a single, cohesive idea – #BMOBallAccess. Regardless of what stage of the consumer journey a fan was in, they were given the full Ball Access experience.

Supporting channels

The TV spots brought #BMOBallAccess to a national audience during each game. During regular-season home games, select BMO cardholders were given a “Ball Access Pass” for a tour of the ACC and a meet-and-greet with some of the Raptors.

The Results

The “Ball Access Pass” campaign connected Ball-Star and BMO with this elusive target.

-37% of Raptors fans feel more favourable about BMO (exceeded average BMO score by 12%)
-34% of Raptors fans are more likely to consider BMO (exceeded average BMO score by 9%)
-Drove 24% positive sentiment change toward the BMO brand (versus a goal of 10%)