Almost half of Canadian investors have a self-directed investment account, with 30% indicating they’ve opened one within the last two years.
That’s according to the “2024 Investor Index,” a report published by the industry organization Canadian Securities Administrators, which surveyed over 7,000 Canadian investors 18 years or older between March 6 and March 21, 2024. Many fintech brands have been building on this compelling statistic, speaking to new-to-DIY investors or those empowered by the volume of online financial information available.
Based on this insight, TD decided to do something different with its 2025 Super Bowl spot to promote its TD Easy Trade DIY mobile trading app.
The “Invest in the Big Game” campaign urged viewers to go beyond watching the Super Bowl ads, to owning a piece of the companies behind them.
The spot focused on TD Easy Trade’s “partial shares” trading capabilities. In short, fractional or partial shares represent a fraction or piece of a publicly traded company’s stock. They let investors invest a dollar value versus a specific number of shares. For example, if a stock trades at $1,000 per share, but an investor only wants to invest $200, they can. In this case, their investment would buy one-fifth of a share. TD research shows that only one in five prospective self-directed investors know what partial trading is and how it can benefit them.
“We saw that as a huge opportunity,” says Scott Ignall, EVP at TD Direct Investing. “We are the first and only Canadian bank-owned online brokerage offering real-time partial share trading, making it easier than ever for Canadians to invest in the brands they love. Investors can own a piece of the companies that took centre stage during one of the biggest advertising moments of the year – whether they’re just starting out or are looking to diversify their portfolios.”
The campaign complemented TD’s “Own it” campaign that accompanied the launch of partial shares last year. “Investing can feel complicated, technical, and unfamiliar, but everyone knows about the things they love – sports, fashion, movies, food, technology and more,” Maja Neable, SVP and head of marketing, Canada at TD Bank Group shares. “With DIY investing on the rise, TD’s Super Bowl campaign is intended to help Canadians play the long game and own a piece of the brands they love and interact with.”
Ultimately, “Invest in the Big Game” encourages the next generation of investors to consider the ads beyond their entertainment value. “Get in on the action and own a piece of the brands you love,” is the idea that drove the campaign creative, Neable explains. “The partial shares offering means Canadians can easily build a diverse investment portfolio, regardless of their budget. It’s about making investing easier and giving investors more control over their financial future.”
The campaign’s media strategy focused on and around the Super Bowl, aiming for the touchpoints consumers interact with before hitting the couch. “The key was showing up in the right moments to connect with our audience. We tapped into YouTube Masthead, Twitch, and Amazon Prime Video to drive engagement, and employed contextual placement tactics to ensure our messaging stayed relevant alongside key sports and investment content,” explains Laura Maclean, EVP for TD Canada at Starcom. With digital pointing to a microsite (InvestintheBigGame.ca, which was live until February 15), the campaign was supported by OOH that “strategically linked our messaging to relevant locations as well as consumer travel patterns. An intentional approach that made every placement work harder and delivered maximum impact,” Maclean adds.
More specifically, “for out of home, we found strategic locations to connect with customers in their daily routines and while they’re en route to Super Bowl celebrations,” adds Neable. “We also employed geo-targeting with polygons around stores and brands that align with TD’s strategic partnerships, along with taking into account online vendors and their targeting capabilities, such as Twitch, YouTube, and Meta,” she says. It was all complemented across digital platforms where audiences discussed and shared their Super Bowl experiences.
The results indicate the opportunity was well-received. The digital campaign, which ran across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, and TikTok, reached 19.8 million Canadians and had a 183% increase in click-throughs. Over the Super Bowl weekend, TD Easy Trade saw an immediate spike in traffic and app downloads – traffic to TD Easy Trade increased 300%, with 75% achieved on Super Bowl Sunday alone – and app downloads doubled.
It was a win across the board, says Neable. “We’re changing the game for everyday DIY investors.”
