The Bank Of Montreal (BMO) debuts its new NBA Canada sponsorship with a new commercial asking what, if anything, the bank really knows about basketball.
The spot, called ‘Bank That Knows Ball‘, revolves around kids on courts across the country sceptically questioning if BMO even knows any basketball terminology or trash talk.
The bank’s own answer to the question ‘What does a bank like BMO know about basketball?’ isn’t about dropping dimes, double doubles, double dribbles, backdoor or alley-oops, but rather about the brand understanding of the effect of the sport on those who play it and on the human condition
‘We know one thing about basketball: it teaches kids the skills they need to win in sport and in life. That’s why BMO supports the NBA and youth basketball.’
Thus the activation focus is on teaching young people essential life skills, thus dovetailing its major new sports sponsorship with its ongoing CSR strategy of supporting youth programmes.
The campaign was also amplified across BMO’s social channels.
Launched in October to leverage the start of the new season, the lead 60-second ad first debuted during TSN’s broadcast of the Toronto Raptors versus Los Angeles Lakers preseason game and continued throughout the games of the NBA Canada Series.
BMO is an associate partner of the NBA Canada Series: which itself is a set of preseason games played across Canada that celebrates basketball with live NBA action, interactive fan events and community outreach programs.
The campaign was developed in harness with FCB Toronto and marks the agency’s first work for BMO Harris since it won the account during the summer.
‘We wanted to demonstrate our authenticity by asking a provocative question,’ said BMO’s Chief Marketing Officer, Connie Stefankiewicz.
“We are establishing with Canadians that this is the beginning and there is more to come.’
‘Just as BMO strives to bring the human touch to banking, this spot focuses on the human side of a corporate sponsorship,’ explained FCB Toronto chief creative officer Jon Flannery.
‘The spot stars real kids and real basketball players who are passionate about the game…’
The BMO team, which included CMO Connie Stefankiewicz, plus brand advertising and sponsorship marketers Justine Fedak, Jennifer Carli, Michael Sanders and Deny Soto, worked in tandem with FCB’s Jon Flannery, Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Shelley Brown, Tracy Little, Carmen Steger and Tony De Sousa.
The production house was United Films (with executive producer Peter Davis and director Phil Brown), editorial was handled by Panic & Bob, online/transfer by Smith Creative Finishing and audio by Grayson Matthews.
BMO’s basketball strategy looks set for a familiar path to its soccer strategy: leveraging its elite rights to support programs for kids.
It was back in March that BMO signed the deal to be the first official bank of NBA Canada – a deal which marked the league’s first partnership with a Canadian bank and also makes BMO an official partner of the Jr NBA program in Canada.
Jr NBA is an intro basketball program providing kids in 125 communities across Canada with health, fitness, and basketball instruction.
The program is expected to launch in the fall of 2015, following NBA Canada’s successful pilot Jr. NBA program in 50 Canadian communities in 2014.
This moved expanded BMO’s existing basketball sponsorship portfolio in Canada beyond its ongoing team relationship with the rapidly improving Toronto Raptors.
New season, new BMO @Raptors toque. Visit us @ the Air Canada Centre to pick yours up before the home opener! #RTZ pic.twitter.com/A0v1nb3Xnw
— BMO (@BMO) October 28, 2015
What a way to kick off the season! Congrats, @Raptors – you always make us proud to be a fan. #RTZ pic.twitter.com/uR96MuA82c
— BMO (@BMO) October 29, 2015
The sponsorship includes BMO activation rights at the NBA All-Star 2016 in Toronto (which marks the first NBA All-Star to be held outside of the USA).
The banking brand has also been busy in the early days of the new season activating its NBA Canada rights through the backing of the #NBACanadaSeries, via baller brand ambassadors, education and community game-related programmes and with basketball content across its social channels
Behind the scenes of the @BMO fantasy camp with @mopete24 & @raptorsdancepak #NBACanadaSeries pic.twitter.com/5NgeNgQbd6
— NBA Canada (@NBACanada) October 23, 2015
Some lucky clients got the courtside upgrade of a lifetime for the @chicagobulls & @Timberwolves! #NBACanadaSeries pic.twitter.com/hhcKqT9NJG
— BMO (@BMO) October 11, 2015
As former NBA star Bill Wennington (@34billy42) told @BGCWinnipeg, anything's possible with hard work. pic.twitter.com/hU3xCfGwfO
— BMO (@BMO) October 10, 2015
‘As the official bank of the Toronto Raptors in Canada and through local partnerships with the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks, this agreement further builds on BMO’s commitment to fostering the sport of basketball,’ said BMO Financial Group Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Strategy Joanna Rotenberg.
‘Basketball has established itself as one of the most popular participation sports among Canadian youth, and the future of the game in communities across Canada is even brighter.’
‘With the popularity of basketball at an all-time high in Canada and NBA All-Star 2016 coming to Toronto, this is the perfect time to partner with a leader like BMO,’ adds NBA Canada Managing Director Dan MacKenzie.
‘In addition to aligning with our games and events, BMO will work with us to inspire Canadian youth around the country to live a healthy and fit lifestyle through our Jr. NBA program.’
Comment
It’s a question that many consumers and strategists often ask about sponsorship: what does this brand have to do with this game?
Sponsors around the world, not just in Canada’s $3bn sponsorship space, usually argue that they choose to associate their brands with certain properties with which they share synergies, similarities, knowledge and values.
But being this clear about overtly questioning one’s own property credibility is certainly unusual.
Interestingly, there was plenty of buzz at Cannes Lions 2015 about naivety being the new authenticity.
Is this a vignette of that very approach?
Links:
BMO Website
http://www.bmo.com/
BMO Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BMO
BMO Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BMOcommunity?_rdr=p
BMO Google+:
https://plus.google.com/103387820209283092324
NBA Canada Website:
http://origin.nba.com/canada/
NBA Website:
http://global.nba.com/
