As temperatures drop to record-breaking levels, attendees will be looking to keep warm during Montreal’s Igloofest this month. And National Bank will be there, waiting to embrace them with open arms.
The bank is hosting a giant dryer pop-up during the three weekends of the outdoor festival, which runs Friday to Sunday from Jan. 17 through to Feb. 2. Inside the festival grounds, it has erected a heated structure housing a series of functional dryers that participants can use to dry off their mittens, hats and coats. In addition, a pair of socks were handed out to the first 1,000 visitors during the first three nights of the festival.
Led by Toronto-based agency Vibrant, the activation marks the first time the bank has partnered with Igloofest as a presenting sponsor of the festival’s first weekend. The strategy is about demonstrating that the bank offers simple and effective solutions to its customers, says Marie-Ève Lemay, senior director, partnership and experiential marketing at National Bank.
National Bank first ventured into music festivals through a partnership with Montreal’s Osheaga festival two years ago, she says. Alignments in the music space have allowed the bank to reach its millennial target demographic. Moreover, having had success with Osheaga in the past, she says the bank was looking to add a winter event to its sponsorship portfolio.
The campaign activation is meant to support the “Everything’s Better with National Bank” positioning, launched last spring, whose goal was to showcase its client-centered approach. That strategy spans the bank’s retail and sponsorship strategy, she says.
The dryer concept, specifically, arose out of wanting to “fill a need” for guests during what is expected to be a very cold festival.
The bank worked with Sid Lee on additional social content for channels including Instagram, but the main objective is to drive organic social shares during the event, Lemay says.
Last summer, National Bank ran another themed pop-up during the Rogers Cup. Dubbed “The Perfect Match” for its tennis-inspired theme, that activation aimed to show the accessibility of the bank and its involvement with local tennis initiatives.
