Cogeco is using dragons and excitement to breathe life into its newly launched Internet and TV service, Epico.
Announced at the beginning of the year, Epico is Cogeco’s effort to capitalize on consumers continuing to integrate connected viewing into their TV viewing habits, accessing both live and on-demand content through one IPTV interface. According to the latest MTM insights, 63% of Canadian households have internet-TV connectivity.
The launch campaign, devised by Havas, features a jogger out in a suburban neighbourhood who comes face to face with the scaly mythical creature and whose home then transforms into a Game of Thrones-style fortress. A young family then sits down to enjoy a mock dragon-centred show, Dragos.
The creative showcases not only well-known content streamers like Prime and Netflix, but also Hayu, NBCUniversal’s subscription all-reality TV streaming service, which features shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Love Island UK.
In what Cogeco calls a “complete transformation when it comes to how consumers view the brand,” the TV ads are part of an integrated marketing campaign across social, digital and grassroots advertising to raise awareness of Epico.
Martin Aubut, VP, digital channels and marketing at Cogeco, tells strategy that it’s taking an “epic” approach to this creative, as a launch of a new product like this comes around every five to ten years. A second spot is coming in May, in which a sleepy neighbourhood is rocked by another surprise.
“We had to go big and grab attention and position the core unique selling proposition of the product that it’s all-in-one,” says Aubut. According to Aubut, the core target is families with whom a message of a dragon breathing life into a drab conventional suburb will resonate – a way to capitalize on fear-of-missing-out, or FOMO.
Cogeco is entering into an IPTV market that already has established offerings from the likes of Rogers, Bell and Telus.
But to compete with the national telco giants, Cogeco – which serves customers in Ontario and Quebec – is in some ways leaning into its “regional” status. Aubut says Epico is bringing freshness and innovation to smaller urban centres, reflected in create that brings excitement to otherwise quiet towns. On the product side, its differentiator is being an Android-based platform, which will bring in more niche streaming services, in addition to Hayu.
According to Aubut, Cogeco is already getting good feedback thus far in terms of search intent online and search traffic for “Epico Cogeco.”
Touche! handled the media buy. And Aubut says it’s trying to balance the weight of putting the right amount of dollars behind TV, as well in more local newspapers and radio in Ontario and Quebec.
