Kahwi Leonard’s rim-hanging shot, which sent the Raptors to their first NBA Finals when it eventually dropped last month, immediately became one of Toronto’s iconic sports moments, up there with Joe Carter’s “touch ‘em all Joe” home run.
Wealthsimple capitalized on this bit of hoops triumphalism with a 30-second broadcast spot it turned around in just six days for game four of the finals on Friday, where it also congratulates Raptors management for the trade that brought Leonard to the team as a way to remind investors about its new stock trading product.
“People think about buying and selling stocks of companies in a similar way to fantasy sports, so there is a lot of overlap between getting excited about a company, and getting excited about a player,” according to Wealthsimple ECD Mike Giepert.
Giepert admits that the brand wanted to launch some kind of stunt for the Raptors’ run in the Finals. Since there was so much positive energy around the team, it was a great strategic opportunity to compare one trade with another (in the spot, the brand emphasizes that it is the only one in Canada to offer trading of individual stocks for $0 commission, a new service it launched in March).
He says the ad appeals to a slightly different core user than its Wealthsimple investor, in that it is geared more toward people trading individual stocks, almost like players in the league, rather than ones with strategic, long-term investing goals.
The brand’s previous work revolved around “big picture” thinking, documentary-style spots that emphasized how talking about money is often a difficult subject to broach. Giepert says that while brand has tried quite a range of approaches in its short history, this basketball spot is a “quick-strike thank you to fans.” As such, it deviates somewhat from the brand’s long-term messaging, which is geared around simplifying the investor process, while reminding its base that it’s not meant to replace retirement income, but to supplement it.
Developed by Wealthsimple’s in-house creatives, Giepert says it tried 100 different editing, writing and music combinations and that it required a lot of hustle to get to the point where the brand was satisfied with the results.
Response to the spot benefited from timing, Giepert says, as it aired on TSN just when the Raptors regained the lead against Golden State on Friday, appropriately enough, by way of a shot from Leonard.
