The Grey Cup is ready for its close-up in an extensive marketing campaign for the 104th edition of the Canadian Football League’s annual championship game on Nov. 27.
Among the campaign elements this year is a social media-led initiative called “Grey Cup in the 6ix,” consisting of images of the championship trophy at an iconic Toronto landmark, attraction or neighbourhood. The images are appearing on social media platforms including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook leading up to the championship game.
“The Cup and the city have never looked better,” said Sara Moore, chief operating officer of the 2016 Grey Cup Festival and senior vice-president of business operations for the Toronto Argonauts (the host franchise is responsible for each season’s Grey Cup marketing campaign).
“It’s an absolutely beautiful ode to the Grey Cup and to the city,” she added. “Whether you’re a football fan or not, you’re going to be taken aback by just how beautiful the city looks.”
Moore said the use of social media channels, as well as other non-traditional creative elements, was designed to speak to a broader range of people beyond core football fans. The initiative reflects an ongoing effort by the league itself to appeal to younger fans.
“I think the Argos have been successful at getting a younger and more diverse crowd out to the games, and we absolutely want to get all of those new fans out to the Grey Cup,” said Moore. “The league has done a phenomenal job of reaching out to a younger crowd, and now we want to get them in the stadium.”
The campaign consists of numerous traditional media elements including a 30-second TV spot created by Bell Media’s in-house creative team that is running nationally on CTV, Global and TSN, as well as on local channels such as CP24.
Radio ads will also run on Virgin Radio, Newstalk 1010, CHUM-FM, TSN 1050, Boom 97.3 and Sportsnet The Fan 590, as well as on stations in CFL markets with teams in the playoffs.
Print ads will appear in the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Metro, 24 Hours and National Post, while a direct mail campaign is targeting approximately 30,000 previous Grey Cup attendees across the country, with a particular emphasis on the Toronto market.
The campaign also includes digital ads on a broad array of properties including Facebook, Twitter, team websites, Ticketmaster.com, TSN.ca, TheStar.com, Postmedia websites and Sportsnet.ca/590, as well as in-stadium video boards in all CFL stadiums and Air Canada Centre. The league is also setting up Grey Cup ticket booths at all Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors home games during the month of November.
Out-of-home includes banners in high profile locations throughout the city, including the Princes’ Gate leading into Exhibition Place (home of BMO Field), as well as digital ads on billboards alongside the Gardiner Expressway.
The out-of-home component also includes 30-foot high by 7-foot wide banners representing each of the six teams in the CFL playoffs, which will be hung on the Union Station façade alongside an image of the Grey Cup. The banners will be removed as individual teams are eliminated from the playoffs, until only the two Grey Cup combatants remain.
Toronto is hosting the Grey Cup for the first time since 2012 and it is the first time the event will be held at BMO Field, which is wrapping up its first season as the home of the Toronto Argonauts.
Capacity for Argonauts games at BMO Field is 26,000 though Moore said approximately 8,000 temporary seats are being added to the stadium for the championship game.
While there have been some complaints about ticket prices for the game, Moore said the league was “absolutely expecting” the game to be a sell-out. Tickets for the game start at $89, with the league saying thousands of seats for the game can be had for less than $150.
“We love big events in this city, and with the Grey Cup being played outdoors, we think we’ll do really well,” she said. “We did a great job selling to our season ticket-holders, with the vast majority attending. You want to be there because it’s a great event.
“You always hope your team’s in it, but you buy tickets for the event itself.”
