2021 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Challenge & Objective

BMO was about to launch one of the biggest product innovations in its history: the BMO Eclipse VISA Infinite card. A unique card specifically designed to provide reward points for spending in categories that connect with urban millennials, including rideshares, coffee, takeout, gas, and groceries.

It was an important moment for BMO to stand out as a brand. One problem: Millennials are skeptical of advertising. Especially advertising from BANKS. In addition, many millennials don’t see a big difference between big bank brands.

Business goals were to drive awareness, purchase intent and new card acquisitions. But to get there, it would be critical for BMO to break through the clutter in a meaningful way and differentiate itself from the pack.

Insight & Strategy

More than any generation before, millennials are interested in partnership, transparency and authenticity when choosing a product or service. Indeed, "42% of millennials will make or break their relationship with a brand based on their corporate ethics or social stance". Many feel that their real lives and values are excluded from the traditional banking conversation and simply disengage from communications.

The bank’s strategy was based on this key insight. The opportunity also aligned perfectly with BMO's purpose, which at its core includes a commitment to driving positive change and supporting inclusivity.

So how do you reach jaded millennials tired of being told the same cliched stories about banking? You flip the script. Instead of just telling BMO’s story, the brand used its platform to tell their stories. All 281 of them.

Execution

The brand’s goal was to connect through personalization and inclusion. Leveraging a brilliant content distribution strategy, it used hundreds of pieces of rich, personalized content to reflect voices of its audience and to drive customized interactions along their purchase journeys.

BMO started the conversation with a fresh, new voice, Priyanka, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race in Canada. She became BMO’s charismatic lead among a chorus of diverse millennial influencers.

It created 281 pieces of content via Google's YouTube Director's Mix, one of the first times globally that influencer content was used with this platform. This ensured that each of the card’s rewards categories had dedicated custom creative, optimized by platform.

To jumpstart engagement, the brand used a high impact, blast strategy across social media, leaning heavily on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, focusing budget on BMO’s first week in market to deliver high reach and big impact content.

Then, it took engagement to the next level, launching compelling Influencer Stories to drive personal connection and relevance. Building off Priyanka’s dynamic presence, BMO expanded reach and credibility through a host of influencers, including Montreal TV personality Valérie Robert and fashion blogger, Ashkan Hobian.

Next, the brand pulled millennials into the BMO story through Facebook Instant Experience Ads, boosting audience involvement through innovative poll ads and sprinkling Priyanka GIFs throughout Instagram. It also removed purchase friction from the card application process by embedding innovative ‘apply now’ buttons directly into ad units.

Finally, BMO drove applications through Facebook conversion ads and paid search, with an innovative twist: it identified consumers when they were searching for “earn” categories – like looking to buy a coffee – and served them a contextually customized ad.

Precision audience targeting underpinned everything, leveraging first party and market data. This approach allowed us to reach qualified audiences - BMO Eclipse was a premium card with an annual fee - and nimbly address the strict policies limiting targeting capabilities for credit products.

Results

The campaign prompted a massive wave of positive feedback from millennials, delighted to see their voices and values so authentically reflected for the first time in banking advertising.

The campaign also drove outstanding results. It increased ad recall by 29%, an impressive lift 3X category norms; increased site traffic +651% vs. pre-campaign; drove total card applications up +353% vs. previous period; and, critically, boosted BMO purchase intent by 4.1%, which was 44x the FI category launch average.

Ultimately, the brand demonstrated its commitment to inclusivity in a way that engaged urban millennials, resonated with their values and allowed BMO to successfully make a connection and stand out against competitors’ traditional banking approaches.

Credits

BMO
Chief Marketing Officer, Banking -- Maja Neable

Head, Personal Banking and Payments Marketing -- Michelle Feeney

Senior Manager, Credit Card Marketing -- Louise Adams

Senior Manager, Digital Performance Marketing -- Jenna Eager

Senior Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing -- Kimberly Bushell

Director, Canadian Credit Card & Risk-Based Marketing -- Caspian Yu

Vice President & Head of Product, Partnerships and Innovation -- Andras Lazar

Senior Manager, Proprietary Credit Cards -- Tilila Idbalkassm

UM
VP Client Business Partner – Kate Mateer
VP Strategy – Richard Fofana
Group Director, North America – Tim Davies
Director, Connection Planning – Ryan Hunter

REPRISE
Director, Digital Strategy – Pierre Babineau
Director, Search & Social – Hailey Smith
Director, Performance – Alana Diehl
Senior Digital Performance Strategist – Maeve Findlay-Shields

FCB
Chief Creative Officer: Jeff Hilts & Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
Group Creative Director: Jennifer Rossini
Copywriter: Caleb McMullen
Art Director: Hussein Rumaithi
Copywriter: Etienne Soucy
EVP, General Manager: Tracy Little
VP, Group Account Director: Jessica Lax
Account Director: Kait Babin & Julie Simon
Account Supervisor: Leore Davids
Account Executive: Simrath Singth & Veronique Rompe
Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown
VP, Strategy: Eryn LeMesurier
Strategist: Audrey Zink & Maryse Sauve