BMO has again evolved its CSR initiative to support underrepresented businesses, inviting participants to “Unwrap the Good.”

Through an augmented reality (AR) experience, BMO is asking holiday shoppers to unwrap every gift they see at home, in offices, in malls, at the movies and on commercials to reveal products from underrepresented businesses. With every unwrapped gift, shoppers will discover a new business and gift idea, as well as a promo code of up to $15 in value to buy the gift from their online store.

Jennifer Carli, head of brand, social and sponsorships at BMO, tells strategy the aim of “Unwrap the Good,” which is the fourth year of “Wrap the Good,” is to incentivize consumers to shop from underrepresented businesses by putting their products front-and-centre.

Tactically, in addition to social and influencers, BMO added media that will intercept shoppers while they are near busy shopping centres or while they are watching holiday movies.

“New this year is OOH advertising near busy transit and high-traffic areas in Toronto, and at a popular mall in the San Francisco area,” Carli says. “In Canada, we’re reaching viewers as they see wrapped gifts during holiday movie marathons.”

For example, when watching a holiday movie on CityTV, if a wrapped gift appears on screen, a BMO billboard will pop up, encouraging the viewer to scan the gift on the screen with their phone. Through AR, the gift will open and reveal a promo code to one of the underrepresented businesses featured in the brand’s “Wrap the Good” gift guide.

Also new this year: in select BMO branches in Canada and the U.S., complimentary holiday wrapping paper will feature QR codes leading to BMO’s curated gift guide.

Last year for “Wrap the Good” and with help from generative AI, BMO transformed traditional Christmas carols into festive ditties about specific businesses that are owned and operated by people from underrepresented communities.

In 2023, it also revamped its gift guide to have a more customer-first and also improved the user experience, Carli says, adding that the evolution of the gift guide from a Pinterest board to dedicated website allowed the bank to better entice consumer visits and deliver a better shopping experience. “This allowed us to deliver 180,000 website visits, up 27x year-over-year. Because of this learning, we continue to strengthen and evolve the gift guide website as a one-stop-shopping spot.”

According to Carli, “Wrap the Good” continues to see strong growth year-over-year, having started with 16 Canadian businesses in 2021 and later more than tripling those numbers, with 50-plus North American businesses participating in 2024, including the likes of Cheekbone Beauty, Apple Hill Lavender Farm, The Makers Keep and The Yukon Soaps Company.

These businesses span BMO’s full-footprint, across Canada and the U.S., including BMO’s new California market.

BMO’s campaign runs to the end of the year. FCB Canada handled strategy and creative. The AR experience was developed by Rose Digital, and media planning and buying were handled by UM Canada.