For the most part, the nearly $3-billion that marketers spend on sponsorships in Canada each year is designed to associate their brands with the best attributes of that property – whether it is an arts organization, a sports team, or a charitable cause. So it's unusual for a company to advertise its sponsorship ties by undercutting their own credibility.
At first glance, that's just what Bank of Montreal's first commercial touting its sponsorship of NBA Canada appears to do. The ad, which aired for the first time on Sunday during the TSN broadcast of the preseason game featuring the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers, features a number of young people playing basketball; in driveways, concrete courts in urban centres, and gyms. Each of the kids turns straight to the camera with a skeptical look, asking, "What does a bank like BMO know about basketball?"
It's a question some people might ask themselves about any sponsorship: when running a marathon, attending an opera, or cheering for a sports team, they may consider the brands that have paid for the privilege of borrowing some of that goodwill to be shoehorned into the experience. The sponsors themselves rarely encourage people to think about that, however.
"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."
In the ad, the children on basketball courts ask whether the bank even knows how to talk about the sport: Do terms like "rock" (slang for the ball), "dropping dimes" (making assists), and "backdoor" (when a player scores by going behind the defence while they're unaware of an opening) simply mystify the suits claiming to be the bank of basketball? The commercial then ends with narration emphasizing the bank's understanding of how the sport teaches young people skills that help them succeed throughout their lives.
"It's really the question everyone has in their heads – what's this big brand got to do with the game? Is it just a business deal? Part of a marketing plan? There's nothing wrong with business or marketing, but it's got to be more than that if authenticity matters to you," said Jon Flannery, chief creative officer of FCB Toronto, the ad agency behind the spot. "… So we asked it, and gave our answer: While we like an amazing dunk or a buzzer-beating three-point shot as much as anyone, what we're most about is the positive human effect of the game."
It is the first work since BMO appointed FCB its new lead advertising agency. The banking sector has undergone some turmoil in relationships with advertising agencies in recent years, with many of the biggest financial institutions putting their ad accounts up for grabs. None has done so lately quite as much as BMO, which changed its agency for the second time in less than two years in July. In 2013, BMO ended its decade-long relationship with ad agency Cossette, shifting its business to Young & Rubicam, which had already produced work for BMO Harris Bank in the United States. This summer, FCB took over the account, saying that its Montreal and Chicago offices would also be responsible for shepherding the advertising strategy.
Promoting the NBA sponsorship was the first task for the agency. In March, BMO signed the deal to be the first official bank of NBA Canada, extending its basketball sponsorship in Canada beyond its existing relationship with the Raptors. The improving fortunes of the Raptors, and the increasing popularity of the sport in Canada, have led the NBA to double its number of marketing partnerships in this country in the past five years.
BMO says its strategy for basketball will be similar to what it has done with soccer, supporting programs for kids, in addition to the more high-profile connection to the league and its stars.
The ad will run on the Canada series of preseason games, and will also be promoted through social media, with more to come, Mr. Flannery said. BMO has also said that part of the appeal of the sponsorship is the coming NBA all-star game, which will be held in Toronto.
"We wanted to capture an authentic look," Ms. Stefankiewicz said. "The footage of real kids playing basketball on neighbourhood courts reinforces the human element of BMO's brand, and provides a grassroots look at the sport."