Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is launching its first campaign in partnership with Team Canada called “Sponsored By You.”

The campaign is based on the idea that when you buy an OLG ticket, you are sponsoring Ontario athletes. OLG wants to reinforce that 100% of its profits are reinvested in Ontario, and support initiatives such as the Quest for Gold program, which provides financial assistance to amateur athletes, including compensation for training costs and living expenses.

The creative stars Canadian Olympians Andre De Grasse, Penny Oleksiak, Maggie Mac Neil and Jillian Weir, who have received funding from Quest for Gold program throughout their careers. It also depicts ordinary people who become sponsors of Ontario athletes, simply by playing with OLG.

“Everything you would see for a typical branded sports sponsorship, you’ll see with OLG players instead,” Maxine Chapman, VP of brand and marketing officer at OLG, tells strategy. “OLG has a long-standing history of supporting Ontario athletes, but it can’t do it without its players.”

The campaign follows OLG’s brand positioning, which has focused on showing that every play with OLG is a winning play, because all the benefits go back to local communities. The company is also looking to remain relevant to Ontarians who are under 35 years old, which is an effort this campaign assists with.

OLG rolls out the campaign after partnering with the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee to become the Ontario lottery partner of Team Canada for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games. It also recently launched a new upcycled clothing collection, which includes a lottery bonus that can be used to purchase Lotto Max tickets to keep its brand fresh and at the forefront of Millennial and Gen Z customers.

“As new sponsors of Team Canada and as longstanding supporters of Ontario amateur athletes, this was an opportunity to forge a new point of relevance for OLG by connecting our players to sponsored athletes,” Chapman says.

Since this Team Canada campaign is a celebration of the players and their role in helping athletes succeed, OLG also wants to speak to all past, present and future players, Chapman says. “This campaign gives people new ways of thinking about their play with OLG, which equals new reasons to play with us,” she adds.

The campaign was developed by BBDO Canada and is being promoted on TV, social media, digital media and OOH ads. EssenceMediacom handled media buying and Weber Shandwick managed PR.

OLG is also launching an activation, developed by Momentum Worldwide in Toronto, featuring a traveling photo booth that will turn everyday OLG players into the faces of community support. Upon entering a studio, Canadians will be able to capture a personalized portrait that proudly displays their support for local athletes. Their photo will be livestreamed, digitally shared and rewarded with a variety of prizes.