PROBLEM
Losing everything in just a few clicks… Whether it’s Leo, a teen who is offered an easy $1,000, or Jean-Guy the grandfather who receives a suspicious tax rebate message, every generation is at risk.
SOLUTIONS
Insight
Our research showed that each generation has a different relationship with the digital world and online security, meaning that each age group was at risk of falling victim to a set of distinct scams. Moreover, some members were shaken by the events of 2019, as was their perception of the brand’s security ‘expertise’.
Strategy
We needed, therefore, to encourage a change in behaviour amongst a good number of 14-60 year-olds but without sounding too moralistic, as Desjardins was not in a position to use its authority on security at this point. We discovered that social norms are highly influenced by popular culture. Programmes like Watatatow or La Petite Vie have a concrete impact on our culture and have even forged entire generations.
Big Idea
Surpassing estimated ratings in its first series and reaching all our target audiences, Entre Deux Draps had the potential we were seeking. The programme followed the everyday lives of four funny, modern couples. We developed mini-episodes bringing six of the show’s characters into the spotlight. Each of the three couples represented a particular generation, and their stories illustrated realistic situations relevant to their age-group. Our adverts resembled exclusive clips of the show. We were able to reproduce the show’s aesthetic as the mini-episodes were produced by KOTV in the same style and the characters were played by the real Entre Deux Draps actors. Entering this environment allowed us to address security more directly with the public, via characters with which they identified.
Challenges
Integrating our campaign, although sensitive to the events of the past, into the Noovo channel and Entre Deux Draps world of entertainment was a risk. Identifying the show which had the potential to have a positive and enriching influence on Quebec culture, whilst making sure we’d reach 14-60 year-olds meant we needed to keep a lookout for all the programs which were due to come out in the autumn of 2021. We needed to ensure we allocated the necessary amount of time for conception and production of the mini-episodes before the new academic year programming schedules began airing. Negotiations with KOTV also helped us reduce the production fees by 30% by managing to convince the clients to release additional budget to enable us to go forward with the initiative. In terms of activation, we challenged Bell Media to broadcast the mini-episodes across all platforms, something which required a lot of management to achieve. With the sponsorship we were able to ensure we obtained exclusive funding. In manually excluding categories across all platforms, the programming team at Bell Media was faced with a number of challenges.
Execution
To complement the broadcasting of the mini-episodes on the Bell Media network and YouTube, retargeting banner ads invited viewers to take advantage of Desjardin’s prevention tools.
Methodology and Synergy
Noovo is a channel which focuses on bringing real-life issues into the spotlight, and which has a good relationship with its audience. We can see this from their reality TV shows such as L’amour Est Dans Le Pré, and also with entertainment shows like Contre Ofrre, Arnaud Soly ou Entre Deux Draps. Stepping into this quintessentially Quebecois environment allowed us to approach the subject of security with the public in a closer manner. By immersing ourselves in the show’s world we were able to take full advantage of this intimacy with the public as the mini-episodes benefited, amongst other things, from the same colloquial language and codes of communication. The integration of our message at the heart of these cultural codes allowed us to raise awareness throughout Quebec around safety and security without coming across as moralistic. Using an entertainment program allowed us to benefit from the positive emotions their viewers associate with it. This really helped the campaign- we were able to take advantage of being shown in such a good light, and mitigate the negative associations being made between cybersecurity and the past events involving Desjardins. We expressed our creativity by using cultural codes in order to approach the subject with an air of empathy rather than guilt. This kind of association, integration, and partnered video production was a first for Desjardins. For most of the collaborators it was their first project of this scale, meaning we profited from fresh open-mindedness and willingness to understand. All in all, each team came together with others to collaborate and maximise their chances of achieving their communication objectives, and seeing real results.
Our big idea was embedded in an ecosystem of local and diversified media which allowed us to deliver our messages via the cultural influence of those networks. The integrity of La Presse and the engaging format of the Xtras section allowed us to reach the 30-60 year-olds. A group of influencers targeted the younger generation, helping to create new social norms by addressing the subject, usually taboo amongst younger people. Lastly, in order to generate frequency and to embed the message into the daily lives of our target adults, radio ads were broadcast across the Ohdio, QUB and iHeart stations.