BMO is tapping into Canadiana for its newest campaign.
Launched last month, the campaign nods to some of Canada’s cultural staples, from hockey pucks to Double Doubles, before shining a light on a what the bank sees as a uniquely Canadian problem: a lack of savings.
According to the brand’s own study of 1,002 Canadians in March, 20% of respondents didn’t put aside any money at all last year. The study also showed that a third of respondents had less than $10,000 in savings and almost half (40%) felt they weren’t saving enough.
BMO’s solution to Canadians’ savings problem is a new product called the Savings Builder Account, which is the focal point of the new campaign. The account offers customers bonus interest as a reward if they save more than $200 a month.
The product was created specifically to address the low household savings trend BMO has seen in the Canadian market, according to Ernie Johannson, head of personal banking for BMO Canada.
It then turned to the agency of record on its wealth business, KBS+, to create a campaign that would make savings more appealing.
“We wanted our advertising to speak to Canadians and encourage them in forming the savings habit in a relevant and compelling manner,” Johannson said in a release. “KBS helped us accomplish that goal.”
KBS+ Toronto creative director Ian Mackenzie said that the main insight for the campaign was that savings can be a major challenge. “We used this insight to drive our creative output, which was filled with Canada’s most loved creations, to remind consumers that help is achievable.”
The final concept sets savings into a larger Canadian context. The campaign was launched with a full-page print advertisement with the text “Oh Canada” in all the major markets – Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Halifax.
The media buy, by Maxus and Direct Access Digital, also includes digital video, banner ads, OOH, radio and social media.
