For BMW, Media Experts forged a partnership with CBC to create Forces of Nature, a six-part series highlighting the carmaker’s work in the sustainability space. An approach combining emotional storytelling and product integration paid off with 75% unaided recall – 15% higher than the goal – and aided recall of 93%.
With 42 years under its belt, Media Experts has built a long history of putting consumers first. Its goal has always been to drive brand and business outcomes for clients and long-lasting relationships with some of Canada’s top brands.
However, as consumer behaviour has changed, so has the meaning of being consumer-centric. The emergence of new generations and channel fragmentation, all amid a global pandemic and economic downturn, has spawned new behavioural trends, making it increasingly difficult to capture consumers’ highly coveted attention. This has required a more personalized approach in order to cut through the clutter and ultimately connect with audiences.
In 2022, BMW had the challenge of promoting its EV offering in an increasingly crowded category. Despite being an early entrant to the electrification game and maintaining a true sustainability story in its business transformation, the brand was not considered a leader in the EV space.
Between new entrants flooding the category and more complex messaging, it had become difficult for Canadians to emotionally connect to the EV industry. To garner trust and establish itself as a market leader, BMW needed to renew its EV brand.
Insert Media Experts, BMW’s media AOR of 12 years. The agency’s research found that integrating brands into content generates higher levels of emotional response. This was prevalent now more than ever, as content consumption was on the rise amid the pandemic and a shift towards emerging channels, particularly with the closing gap between linear and connected TV.
UK eyewear company Specsavers was unknown in Canada. For the brand’s launch in B.C., Media Experts used formats including 45-second broadcast, digital OOH and a unique brand alignment on Vancouver Canucks hockey broadcasts. Specsavers’ brand awareness hit 51% in five months, seven months ahead of goal.
“Our strategy was to capitalize on this shift and use content to champion entrepreneurial, sustainability-focused businesses in Canada and associate BMW to the sustainability movement,” says Jennifer Douglass, SVP digital, head of audience and analytics at Media Experts.
Thus was born Forces of Nature, a longform branded content series in partnership with CBC, a trusted outlet that could lend legitimacy to the message. Hosted by Dragons’ Den star Michele Romanow, the six-part series highlights Canadian entrepreneurs’ innovative sustainability stories intertwined with BMW’s own sustainability efforts. To align with the shift in content consumption habits, the series ran on CBC Gem and was syndicated on YouTube and through social media.
The results showed significant increases in brand perception, association between BMW and the sustainability movement, and consideration.
Media Experts has built its business on this understanding of consumer behaviour. With 215 employees across offices in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, it has sharpened its expertise in the nuances across markets, enabling brands to authentically and successfully activate from coast to coast.
For Media Experts this means taking the road less traveled. While much of the industry is concentrated on delivering ads efficiently, the agency looks to create brand experiences and moments that it sees as integral to the new attention economy.
Another example of how Media Experts brought this to life is through its partnership with the Royal Canadian Mint. Last year, when the mint launched a limited-edition coin collection celebrating Alexander Graham Bell’s 175th birthday, it called upon Media Experts to devise a campaign to show why his impact is still relevant.
Research showed the agency that Canadians’ well-established affinity for experiences has been passed on to newer generations, and with the pandemic and emergence of the token-based functionality of Web3, audiences were leaning into digital experiences like never before.
This led to the Royal Canadian Mint virtual museum, an immersive experience dedicated to Bell’s inventions. Audiences were prompted to enter the museum using a virtual coin, which enabled them to access and interact with various exhibits centered around Bell’s legacy. The virtual museum drove 29,000 visits to the experience, 35% of which led to key interactions – a success in terms of garnering audience attention.
For a Royal Canadian Mint coin collection celebrating Alexander Graham Bell’s 175th birthday, Media Experts brought his legacy to light by creating a virtual museum dedicated to his inventions.
“Your audience must be at the center of everything that you do” says Karel Wegert, CEO, Media Experts. “This goes beyond just meeting them where they are, but also creating value for them in ways that will garner their attention. This has proven to not only cut through the clutter, but build bigger, more successful brands in the process.”
CONTACT:
Karel Wegert
CEO
karel.wegert@mediaexperts.com
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Zerotrillion: Crafting cultural connections
Havas: Harnessing the power of meaningful media
Arrivals + Departures: Bold moves bolster offering and drive scale
Mint: Culture-mining to underpin brand relevance
Berners Bowie Lee: Stepping outside the advertising bubble
