As the sports betting market in Ontario gets ready to heat up, the OLG is building on its Proline brand’s confident positioning in a new campaign that brings a healthy serving of swagger to its retail business.
The crown corporation’s sports betting brand debuted its new attitude last year with its “The Plus Side” campaign, which introduced Proline+, its online platform for single-sport betting. The OLG is following this up with “Bring It,” a new campaign that maintains the intensity of that initial work while more vocally pushing the brand’s retail arm – as well as the single-event wagering and wider variety of new sports options. “We wanted to build on the strong visual tone and kick that swagger up another notch,” says Naeem Walji, ACD with the Hive, the agency behind the push.
[iframe_vimeo video=”680471528″]
The spring will end up b
eing a notable time for Proline. Previously, sports betting in the province was only available through parlay – successfully predicting at least two games – and through which Proline effectively had the market cornered. But sports books that have registered with province of Ontario will be able to begin offering single-sport betting services beginning on April 4 after it was legalized last year.
The campaign introducing Proline+ not only gave the OLG the opportunity to get an early start on attracting single-sport gamblers before new entrants made their debut, but also establish what it could offer that new companies couldn’t: the confidence people could place in the well-known Proline name.
Besides playing up another feature Proline uniquely offers – the ability to play in-store at lottery retailers – it also features athletes from several of the sports that have been newly added to Proline, including MMA and women’s soccer. As the brand continues to build on its offering, the more direct and aggressive positioning is likely to stick around, as well.
“As our new products continue to evolve, so does the way we talk about them,” says Kim Clark, VP of lottery and customer success at OLG. “We’re really excited about the new Proline at retail and Proline+, and where we will go in the future.”
The campaign is rolling out across OLV, OOH, social, online and TV and will be in market into the spring. Along with the Hive on creative, Makers handled production and MediaCom managed media planning and buying.
