Why This Canadian Lottery Company Flipped the Sponsorship Script Ahead of the Olympics
With the Olympics kicking off today, it’s a good time to sit down, grab the popcorn, and watch the best of the best from around the globe compete to demonstrate their athletic superiority and prowess. After all, seeing just what the human body is capable of when trained to such an extraordinary level – it’s a magical experience.
Of course, it’s also a good moment for reflection as well. Sure, we already spend a lot of time celebrating the hard work that goes into making this happen, but what about on a financial level? Training athletes is expensive, travelling to the Olympics is expensive… nothing about the pursuit of this life is necessarily cheap.
To this end, it’s also worth celebrating the sponsors who help make these dreams a reality. Yes, there’s big companies who make a huge dent in the costs of training and living, but, there’s also just everyday civilians who play the lottery as well. Yes, you read that correctly. Specifically, within the province of Ontario, those who play the lottery through OLG are direct sponsors of the Olympic athletes, as 100% of the company’s profits are reinvested back into the province. It’s something not a lot of people know about, but is pretty cool at times like these, when the direct fruits of combined investment are up, shining on the world stage.
So, to better publicise the information, OLG and creative agency BBDO Canada decided to launch a campaign to celebrate this fact. Featuring real athletes like Andre De Grasse, Penny Oleksiak, Maggie Mac Neil, and Jillian Weir, the work sees them declare average human names as their sponsors, but as though they’re the large brands we’re so used to seeing with these sorts of announcements. It’s a fun subversion of expectations, and a reminder that playing the lottery benefits more than just the person buying the ticket, win or lose.
To learn more about how this came to life, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with OLG’s director of enterprise brand marketing, Greg Dermer, and BBDO Canada’s VP creative director Nick Doerr for a chat.
LBB> From the top, creating an Olympic-themed campaign is no small task. As such, what was the brief, and how did OLG land the title of Official Ontario Lottery Partner of Team Canada?
Greg> Since the regulated iGaming opened in Ontario, OLG had seen perception declines in important brand equity measures. In response, we recently launched our new brand platform, ‘Bring Home the Win’, which aims to reframe what winning with OLG means and reinforce that every play with OLG is a winning one. That's because when you play with OLG, not only do you have your chance to win, but 100% of profits go back to local communities in Ontario. Every play is a win for priorities such as healthcare, parks, amateur athletes, First Nations communities, and more. So, with this campaign, we were looking to continue driving awareness and understanding of our strategic intent, but we were very mindful that we needed to show up at the right place and at the right time for our customers to be a relevant brand in their lives.
We saw the 2024 Summer Olympics as an opportunity to tap into this culturally-relevant moment and articulate our brand strategy through this ‘way in’ in a tangible way. Many people don’t know that OLG’s has a longstanding history of supporting amateur athletes. Since 2006, we have contributed more than $110 million to amateur athletes through the ‘Quest for Gold’ programme. OLG also launched a limited-edition $2 ‘INSTANT QUEST FOR GOLD’ lottery ticket that is on sale now, and because of this authentic connection to supporting amateur athletes, it made sense to form a partnership with Team Canada.
LBB> From here, what immediate ideas came to mind?
Nick> Our initial thinking had us connecting the act of playing to the act of supporting. But once we swapped the word ‘support’ for ‘sponsor’ we knew we were on the right track. We felt strongly about playing in this world because our primary target is U35. They’re hyper aware of brands and their relationships with athletes (who have become influencers themselves). Riffing on the idea of sponsorships didn’t feel ‘inside baseball’ or ‘too addy’ because our target’s knowledge of it is so well-established.
So, playing with the whole world of big-time Team Canada sponsorships, replacing a major brand with a random person’s name – all of it was immediately interesting. And from here, the creative underpinning became: ‘whatever you’d see a sponsor do, we’ll do with an OLG player’. The ideas just hit us one after the other. My personal favourite was having Andre De Grasse announce on his Instagram his big new sponsor is… ‘Mike Rosnick’ (while wearing Mike Rosnick swag), and then watching the reaction to the announcement, before revealing everything a few days later. I love playing with the platform and people’s expectations, and then following it up with a concise and enjoyable payoff.
LBB> And at what point did you get the squad of notable Canadian Olympians on board? What were the communications with them like?
Nick> As there has been an ongoing relationship between OLG and amateur athletes in Ontario, it created a strong foundation for how to identify stars for this campaign. So, once the campaign territory had been established, OLG and EssenceMediacom worked together to build out a list of remarkable athletes, including the most decorated Canadian Olympian and the most decorated male Canadian Olympian.
In early April, EssenceMediacom successfully reached partnerships with these athletes, and subsequently managed the relationships with them to bring them to life throughout the campaign. These athletes and their agents were all eager to participate, as they are all ‘Quest for Gold’ recipients, making this campaign especially meaningful to them.
LBB> Tell us more about the ‘Quest for Gold’ programme! What should more Ontarians know about how OLG is supporting athletes?
Greg> Since 2006, OLG and the Ontario government have supported high-performance amateur athletes through the programme, which has provided direct financial support to thousands – enhancing their ability to train by offsetting the costs of training and living expenses.
Beyond this however, in the past, OLG has focused on local communities and athletes in a few ways. We partnered with Major League Baseball to tell the story of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars to raise awareness of their story and help their legacy live on. We partnered with Emily Mandamin, a trailblazer for the Iskatewizaagegan 39 First Nation (as she was the first person to secure a full basketball scholarship for college from her community) and refurbished the basketball court she grew up playing in. And we’ve also worked with our partners at MLSE to give back to various basketball community groups across Ontario through our ‘Home Court Advantage’ programme.
LBB> Who directed the spot, and what made them the right person for the job?
Nick> Someplace Nice director, BAZ, was the right person for the job from the jump. He had an incredible ability to mix a variety of shooting styles with different cameras and techniques, giving us a wide array of footage to play with.
Initially, his experience with adidas naturally led to how we wanted our spots to look: fresh, energetic and modern. Not only did it make sense for our target, but it was in keeping with our narrative conceit. Everything we’re seeing is for the vision of a roughly 25-year-old.
LBB> Tell us about your time on set! Where did you shoot, how long did it take, and do you have any anecdotes from the experience?
Nick> I have to hand it to our team at BBDO and our entire production crew at Someplace Nice. The countless variations of the ‘Mike Rosnick’ and ‘Kim Sweeney’ logos, the wardrobe swaps, the multiple cameras, the four athletes on different schedules – it was a lot to ask in two shoot days all around the Greater Toronto Area. But once we were on set, it all went smoothly.
Well, it all went smoothly until we were reminded of who we were shooting. When shooting a spot featuring Olympians, you can get so caught up in the rhythms of the day you forget you’re working with the best athletes in the world. One particular shot required a camera mounted on the back of an ATV to drive ahead and capture Andre setting off from the starting block. Andre’s first few steps were so unexpectedly quick, he left the ATV in his dust. So we couldn’t use the take. This was Andre at 75%, mind you. It was a stark reminder of the level of athleticism at play.
LBB> As a whole, what was it like working with the likes of Andre De Grasse, Penny Oleksiak, Maggie Mac Neil and Jillian Weir?
Nick> The athletes were all real professionals – prepared and eager to give it their all. To get the best out of their performances, we tried to keep everything within their comfort zone. Much of the spots are performance montages after all.
However, we wrote one scene in particular which required actual acting: the press conference where the Team Canada Olympians announce their new sponsor. I was impressed with Andre and Maggie, they knew their lines, improvised a bit, and gave us take after take of great footage. I hope to work with them again!
LBB> The edit and the soundtrack are also super slick. How did these aspects come to life?
Nick> Our guiding principle was to cut the vision sequences so that they feel like high-energy music videos. Full credit to our editor, Izzy Ehrlich at School Editing, for combing through hours of footage from multiple cameras, finding the best moments, and then weaving it all together. Upon first viewing the rough cut, I was staggered by the amount of work that had already been done, and how little I had to say about it.
Music played a key role in propelling the visuals. So, again, full credit to Joey Serlin and his team at Vapor Music for writing a track which gives the film the jet fuel it needed to get your attention.
LBB> Since launch, what has the response to the campaign been like?
Nick> The response has been huge. Any time you have a clear message delivered with high-impact creative with fully realised conceit, you know you’re onto something. I think the campaign will stand out over its run during the Olympics.
LBB> Finally, is there anything you’d like to say ahead of the Olympics?
Nick> This is the fifth campaign I’ve worked on featuring Olympians, and it’s always a treat and an honour to get to know the athletes ahead of the games. It’s a rare glimpse into the person behind the incredible talent. I wish all our athletes the very best, but when Andre, Penny, and Maggie perform, I know I’ll be cheering a little harder.
