2021 Winner
BronzeBest in OOH/Ambient/Place-Based Media - Budget Under $100,000
BMO
"#FanFini Jersey Swap"
UM & FCB
"#FanFini Jersey Swap"
UM & FCB
It’s hard being a soccer fan in Quebec. Living in the constant shadow of Quebec’s most popular and broadly covered sports team, The Montreal Canadiens, makes it really tough for fans of the Montreal Impact soccer club, who never seem to get their fair share of attention. Quebec soccer
fans needed a little love.
That’s when BMO stepped onto the field. As the lead sponsor of the Montreal Impact, BMO needed to engage soccer fans and demonstrate that they were more than just a title sponsor, but a true fan that lived and breathed the game just like the #FanFini do, the local term for “superfans.”
How do you become a superfan? You wear your pride the same way a fan does. You put on your game-day “face-paint:” your team jersey. And that’s what BMO set out to do. In addition to breaking through the hockey barrier, they were challenged to support a season-long campaign for 20 weeks with a minimal budget and no dedicated TV/video assets. They needed a game changer.
The goal of the campaign was to demonstrate that BMO is more than just a sponsor by highlighting its passion and engagement towards Impact fans and the local community. The objective was to drive BMO brand affinity, engagement and consideration among Quebecois.
How do you create a bond with Quebec sports fans and get them excited about soccer when they’re mostly thinking about hockey? Give fans a chance to feel like they are part of the home team.
Leveraging the insight that there’s nothing that drives passion for the home team more than feeling like you belong, the strategy was to “be there for the soccer fan.” BMO would use communications to champion Quebec fan and amplify their passion on the big stage, super charge the #FanFini, reach them when it counts most and support their communities.
Quebec fans would see their own story and passion for soccer reflected in the media and feel a stronger connection to each other, to the Montreal Impact team, and ultimately to BMO
for making it all happen.
Their unique approach leveraged the greatest symbol in soccer, the famed team jersey. For #FanFini, proudly wearing the jersey is the ultimate show of pride for their team and BMO offered fans the chance to exchange their jersey for a brand new one. This highly innovative activation, with hundreds of #FanFini participating, served as the foundation for their powerful content and distribution strategy.
They also orchestrated activity around Impact club matches to capitalize on fans’ infatuation and spontaneity in energy-packed moments right before or after games. They connected with fans when they were most passionate and also targeted communications at the start of the Impact season in March to stand out in the face of hockey media bias. The BMO #FanFini Jersey Swap was born.
They set out to celebrate the Quebec soccer fan like never before, not only elevating the profile of their cherished soccer club, but providing a unique platform for the spotlight to shine on both the team and the #FanFini themselves.
An emotional category first, BMO gave 500 Montreal Impact fans the chance to exchange old jerseys for the new team jersey. All campaign activities centred on the jersey swap concept.
Filming the events documentary style, they forged a unique partnership with sports powerhouses RDS and TVA Sports to create multiple live TV and website integrations to share the #FanFini Jersey Swap story as it progressed through the 2019 season. They complemented TV integrations with digital, allowing fans to follow the evolution of the Jersey Swap story from start to finish on social media.
But they didn’t stop there. Next, they literally transformed fans’ old jerseys into community soccer nets for neighbourhoods around Montreal. Phase 1: Game On. They grabbed fans’ attention and invited them to Jersey Swap events with live, high visibility TV and FIFA game app integrations, social media, digital OOH bus shelters in targeted communities. Phase 2: Teaser. They leveraged targeted social media to build anticipation and super-charge fans, using mobile geo-fencing during home matches to collect data from potential fans for retargeting in phase 3. Finally, phase 3: Big Reveal. They created digital and live TV integrations to celebrate the new community soccer nets, built by BMO from fans’ old jerseys, which included 90 second coverage presented during the Impact game on TVA Sports.
BMO #FanFini Jersey Swap created mass impact and won the hearts of fans. Leveraging the emotional power of belonging, they tapped into Quebecois’ desire to support the home team, soccer, not hockey!
Importantly, BMO stirred the passions of Impact fans and earned widespread recognition as a genuine supporter of soccer and community in Quebec, enabling 20,000+ young players to stay on the field with its community soccer nets. The campaign exceeded expectations and delivered outstanding business results like boosting BMO brand equity, favourability went up 40% YoY, consideration was up 35%, it had a 98% fan ‘appreciation rate’ and it drove outstanding engagement. Video Completion Rate (VCR) on social media was 4x higher than norms with a high of 90% for the ‘big reveal’ post with a click Through Rate (CTR) that was 3.5x higher than norms. It also saw increased BMO website traffic, a massive 800% YoY, it generated significant incremental ROI, added +40% media investment value, it created 12 unique TV integrations, including 17 minutes of premium, live programming, it won industry recognition and BMO #FanFini Jersey Swap named 2019 Best Sponsorship Campaign by
MLS (Major League Soccer).
It’s game on and the expectations are very high for next season!
fans needed a little love.
That’s when BMO stepped onto the field. As the lead sponsor of the Montreal Impact, BMO needed to engage soccer fans and demonstrate that they were more than just a title sponsor, but a true fan that lived and breathed the game just like the #FanFini do, the local term for “superfans.”
How do you become a superfan? You wear your pride the same way a fan does. You put on your game-day “face-paint:” your team jersey. And that’s what BMO set out to do. In addition to breaking through the hockey barrier, they were challenged to support a season-long campaign for 20 weeks with a minimal budget and no dedicated TV/video assets. They needed a game changer.
The goal of the campaign was to demonstrate that BMO is more than just a sponsor by highlighting its passion and engagement towards Impact fans and the local community. The objective was to drive BMO brand affinity, engagement and consideration among Quebecois.
How do you create a bond with Quebec sports fans and get them excited about soccer when they’re mostly thinking about hockey? Give fans a chance to feel like they are part of the home team.
Leveraging the insight that there’s nothing that drives passion for the home team more than feeling like you belong, the strategy was to “be there for the soccer fan.” BMO would use communications to champion Quebec fan and amplify their passion on the big stage, super charge the #FanFini, reach them when it counts most and support their communities.
Quebec fans would see their own story and passion for soccer reflected in the media and feel a stronger connection to each other, to the Montreal Impact team, and ultimately to BMO
for making it all happen.
Their unique approach leveraged the greatest symbol in soccer, the famed team jersey. For #FanFini, proudly wearing the jersey is the ultimate show of pride for their team and BMO offered fans the chance to exchange their jersey for a brand new one. This highly innovative activation, with hundreds of #FanFini participating, served as the foundation for their powerful content and distribution strategy.
They also orchestrated activity around Impact club matches to capitalize on fans’ infatuation and spontaneity in energy-packed moments right before or after games. They connected with fans when they were most passionate and also targeted communications at the start of the Impact season in March to stand out in the face of hockey media bias. The BMO #FanFini Jersey Swap was born.
They set out to celebrate the Quebec soccer fan like never before, not only elevating the profile of their cherished soccer club, but providing a unique platform for the spotlight to shine on both the team and the #FanFini themselves.
An emotional category first, BMO gave 500 Montreal Impact fans the chance to exchange old jerseys for the new team jersey. All campaign activities centred on the jersey swap concept.
Filming the events documentary style, they forged a unique partnership with sports powerhouses RDS and TVA Sports to create multiple live TV and website integrations to share the #FanFini Jersey Swap story as it progressed through the 2019 season. They complemented TV integrations with digital, allowing fans to follow the evolution of the Jersey Swap story from start to finish on social media.
But they didn’t stop there. Next, they literally transformed fans’ old jerseys into community soccer nets for neighbourhoods around Montreal. Phase 1: Game On. They grabbed fans’ attention and invited them to Jersey Swap events with live, high visibility TV and FIFA game app integrations, social media, digital OOH bus shelters in targeted communities. Phase 2: Teaser. They leveraged targeted social media to build anticipation and super-charge fans, using mobile geo-fencing during home matches to collect data from potential fans for retargeting in phase 3. Finally, phase 3: Big Reveal. They created digital and live TV integrations to celebrate the new community soccer nets, built by BMO from fans’ old jerseys, which included 90 second coverage presented during the Impact game on TVA Sports.
BMO #FanFini Jersey Swap created mass impact and won the hearts of fans. Leveraging the emotional power of belonging, they tapped into Quebecois’ desire to support the home team, soccer, not hockey!
Importantly, BMO stirred the passions of Impact fans and earned widespread recognition as a genuine supporter of soccer and community in Quebec, enabling 20,000+ young players to stay on the field with its community soccer nets. The campaign exceeded expectations and delivered outstanding business results like boosting BMO brand equity, favourability went up 40% YoY, consideration was up 35%, it had a 98% fan ‘appreciation rate’ and it drove outstanding engagement. Video Completion Rate (VCR) on social media was 4x higher than norms with a high of 90% for the ‘big reveal’ post with a click Through Rate (CTR) that was 3.5x higher than norms. It also saw increased BMO website traffic, a massive 800% YoY, it generated significant incremental ROI, added +40% media investment value, it created 12 unique TV integrations, including 17 minutes of premium, live programming, it won industry recognition and BMO #FanFini Jersey Swap named 2019 Best Sponsorship Campaign by
MLS (Major League Soccer).
It’s game on and the expectations are very high for next season!
Credits
BMOSenior Manager, Brand & Sponsorship advertising – Mélanie Miron
Manager, Brand & Sponsorship advertising – Ann-Marie Beauchemin
UM
VP, Group Account Director – Sebastien Houle
Supervisor, Media Buying – Nancy Asselin
Connection Planner – Eloise Bissonnette
FCB
VP, Head of Creative – Sylvain Dufresne
Concept Designer/Editor – Joël Letarte
Artistic Director – Sébastien Robillard
Account Manager – Krystelle Ruest
Account Manger – Julie Simon
Account Manager – Renée-Maude Dostie
Project Manger – Paul-André House
Strategy – Marie-Nathalie Poirier
Strategy – Audraine Houel
Production – Anick Rozon