A new campaign from Proline aims to set it apart from its competitors in the sportsbook category by showing how even a losing bet can still be seen as a win for its players – and their home province.
The brand, which is operated by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), bucks a trend for many of these sportsbooks by showing that sometimes your bet won’t be a winning one – at least, not in the way you might hope. However, with Proline, the money still goes back to provincial programming – meaning a bad bet can still do some good. It’s a message common to the lottery category, and one OLG itself has utilized many times in the past for its games.
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“Ontario sports fans have been inundated with messaging from newly legalized sports betting sites,” says Dustin Rideout, chief strategy officer at the Hive, which developed the campaign as OLG’s AOR. “Now that Proline has a fully competitive digital platform offering, the biggest difference between Proline and the rest of the category is where the money goes. When you bet with Proline, 100% of the profits are reinvested to make Ontario better.”
The campaign is rolling out across digital, OOH and in retail, with MediaCom managing the media planning and buying. It coincides with a separate, but related, TV commercial featuring Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares.
In that spot, cuts of Tavares playing on the ice are spliced with voiceover discussing how he plays for his “home team,” and likening betting through Proline to his play with the Maple Leafs since the funds are reinvested in the province.
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That commercial is being supported by additional OOH, digital and in-store assets that showcase the new brand ambassador.
“From where the money goes to being available online, on app and in retail, to the signing of a hometown hero like John Tavares, Proline truly is substantially different from all of their competitors,” says Ryan Speziale, ACD at The Hive. “We believe that sports bettors are also Ontarians who care about these things, and when all things are equal, will support the sportsbook that supports them back.”
