Scotiabank
"Summer of Free"
Narrative needed to increase awareness for Scotiabank's Scene product, since many consumers associate the Scene brand to Cineplex Entertainment. In 2012, the brand launched a campaign, which was centered on a single, unifying idea rooted in its "You're Richer Than You Think" brand positioning. Watching movies can be a rich, emotional experience, especially when its for free - therefore "Richness Is: The Feeling of Free." This insight was demonstrated in Scotiabank's 2012 TV spot — an experiential live event where moviegoers were unexpectedly surprised with a free movie in theatre.
To bring the program to life in 2013, Narrative PR developed the "Summer of Free" — a national tour that gave Canadians an opportunity to see free movies in unique outdoor venues across the country from Quebec to British Columbia. The outdoor movies built off the success of the TV spot and was meant to reach more consumers one-on-one while making the experience purely Scotiabank.
The agency launched a Facebook contest asking Canadians to vote weekly on a selection of three movies to show at a unique venue that highlighted the movie's plot. The movie that received the most votes was screened at the next week's event including Jaws on the beach, The Princess Bride at a castle and the western movie Maverick on a ranch.
It amplified "The Feeling of Free" message at live events by treating moviegoers to a free movie on a 40-foot inflatable screen, and providing the first 500 attendees with free popcorn, water and a branded LED keychain. Each event featured a VIP section available to the first 100 Scotiabank Scene Debit and Visa cardholders. VIPs received special seating, branded fleece blankets and a separate concession stand.
The events were promoted through event listings, blogger and media outreach, radio co-promos, venue promotion and CSRs distributing event flyers. The contest was promoted through a media buy encompassing digital banners and paid social posts.
Narrative PR's campaign for the Scene program generated 15.4 million media impressions and 244 stories across print, radio and TV, directly reaching 4,000 attendees across the nine events. On Facebook, the campaign generated 37.5 million impressions, 45,033 contest entries (a more than 50% increase over the 2012 campaign.
The Summer of FREE delivered record business results for Scotiabank, surpassing the blockbuster results of the 2012 campaign. July saw the highest-ever number of accounts opened in a month and August broke July's record. Overall, the campaign was 113% over plan for debit and 132% over plan for VISA. It also successfully attracted new-to-bank (81% of new SCENE accounts) and younger customers, with 73% of new accounts from customers under 35.
Because of the success of the 2013 PR campaign, Scotiabank made the outdoor movie campaign into a marquee program for 2014, visiting 7 communities with 32 events, building on the equity we developed through the 2013 events.
