TD Canada Trust

TD Canada Trust wanted to increase brand consideration among first-time home buyers and renovators by demonstrating that “banking can be easy.” MediaCom thought reality TV could bring that message home in a convincing way.

Since a combo of brand sell, in-show product integration, promotion and online deliver better results than brand sell alone, MediaCom benchmarked home-buying shows to find the right program to sponsor. However, as audience numbers for any single show tended to be very small, and because international production locations made in-show product integrations impossible, they decided on an alternative strategy.

With media partner CanWest, the agency developed a fully integrated media sponsorship plan that would see the weekly “First Timer Mondays” block on HGTV re-branded to “TD Canada Trust First Timer Mondays.” Partner branding on tagged promos ran throughout the HGTV schedule and all external marketing for the block. Ad and content domination extended to HGTV.ca, including branding of real estate tools like the mortgage calculator. Two four-week contests were supported with on-air and online creative.

MediaCom also developed branded content in the form of fifteen 30-second vignettes that tell the story of a young couple buying their first home. The “TD Canada Trust Mortgage Mini Series” tells a story over the course of 15 short episodes over 52 weeks. One of the Monday night shows was selected for season-long product integrations. “Marriage Under Construction,” follows a real life couple who gets a real mortgage from TD.

The campaign launched in June, and while phase-one client research results are pending, it is expected to deliver excellent consumer results.