RBC is using its marketing campaign for the Beijing Olympics to spotlight its Training Ground program and the five Olympians competing in the Games who were discovered by it.
The campaign – which is launching under the “Ideas Happen Here” platform that debuted last summer during the Tokyo Olympics – will feature a number of TV and digital spots that highlight the program itself and tell the stories of individual athletes whose careers have been directly influenced by it.
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“We are excited that we actually have five Canadian athletes who we helped discover through Training Ground and who are set to compete at the Games,” says Shannon Cole, senior director of brand marketing for the bank. “We’ve had six years to talk about the program and we knew we were on the precipice of something exciting. Now, to see these athletes actually representing Canada, it’s important to tell their stories.”
The spots include “One Idea Can Change Everything,” a 1:30 spot that introduces the overall program; as well as “New Routes,” which tells the story of lifelong track and football athlete Kayden Johnson, who trained to compete in Bobsleigh through the program, and “The Jump,” which highlights Mario Thénault’s transition from gymnast to Olympic skier through the Training Ground.
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They will air across a number of channels including TV and digital as part of a comprehensive buy that will also see the bank launch what Cole says is likely the first TikTok branded extension from a Canadian financial institution.
Alongside the Training Ground-specific spots, there will also be ads that plug the bank’s financial services, and the return of RBC Spotlight – a series of interviews with the 18 RBC-affiliated athletes in Beijing that will run during CBC Olympic broadcasts.
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“It’s almost like an extension of the same campaign [from the Tokyo games],” says Cole. “It’s backstopped by the brand platform, and it makes a lot of strategic sense. We felt it had a really strong foundation and starting point.”
The campaign launched Jan. 25 and will run through the Games. Dentsu provided creative consulting, strategy and scriptwriting, while Holiday Films handled production. Recess Post handled post-production and Stellick Communications handled PR.
