The story of how startups get launched is pretty well-understood by now. Come up with a great idea, put together your business plan, and go find a venture capitalist who will make an investment on your future. Michel Bergeron would like to add one more step in the journey: a conversation with the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Today, BDC will launch a new integrated ad campaign that tries to reposition the financial institution among Canada’s growing number of entrepreneurs. This includes a TV spot that helps explain exactly what the BDC is and what it is not. For example, it’s not a traditional bank with tellers and ATMs that’s open to everyone. Instead, it’s an organization focused on the small and medium-sized firms that make up the vast majority of Canada’s business sector.
The TV spot speaks to this by showing a series of companies with a bank-like sign above their buildings with taglines such as “Bank of Early Risers,” “Bank of Whiz Kids,” and so on. As the campaign develops, the mission is to showcase how the BDC can help with loans, venture capital, subordinated debt and private equity as well as advisory services.
In an interview with Marketing, Bergeron (who is BDC’s senior vice-president of marketing and public affairs) said the rebranding comes at a time when more Canadians than ever are considering starting their own venture, but who may not be aware of how best to establish themselves. Though BDC has been around for more than 70 years, he said it tended to be thought of as a “lender of last resorts,” when in fact it had been acting since the mid-90s as more of a complementary lender — contributing to loans that can get new businesses off the ground that may have been part-way there already.
“In some entrepreneur’s minds the BDC is sitting somewhere in a corner,” he said. “In reality, the organization has changed quite a bit. On the financing side, we now are the biggest investor in Canada serving the high-tech businesses.”
The need for more Canadian companies to demonstrate breakthrough thinking has been a growing concern among government leaders and other experts. In part, it explains the recent federal innovation strategy, but Bergeron suggested innovation is most likely to come from entrepreneurs who feel empowered to pursue their ideas.
“There are still too few that are aware how we can help. In the end, if we increase awareness in our service, this can have an impact on Canada’s performance,” he said. “What the BDC does is not just of benefit for commericla purposes, the benefit impacts the country.”
Besides the TV spot, BDC worked with its AOR Cossette to create print ads, radio spots and various digital elements. A tagline of “financing. advising. smarts.” has been introduced along with a new logo.
“Our challenge was to be very explicit about BDC’s mandate,” said Antoine Bécotte, Cossette’s chief creative officer. “We wanted something that still captures people’s imagination while creating an emotional connection that would embed the bank in people’s minds as the entrepreneurs’ bank across Canada.”
Bergeron said he would be looking at awareness metrics such as site visits, but also repetitional perceptions of the BDC as the campaign unfolds. Internally, part of Bergeron’s role is ensuring the rebranding reflects the organization’s culture.
“This is not just changing and updating the logo. As we’re rolling this down, obviously we will need to embody that message,” he said. “There’s a bit of an aspirational element here. Our clients are facing multiple challenges and sitting on the sidelines. There’s a bit of a shift from being reactive and moving from a transactional to more of a relationship-based business.”
