Sport Chek celebrates basketball stories

Canadian sporting goods retailer Sport Chek wanted to establish its credibility in the emerging basketball market. Amateur basketball players live in a microcosm, where passionate rivalries are defined by neighbourhoods. There are nine such neighbourhoods in Toronto and the "no outsider'' rule is in effect at all times.

Sport Chek's "#MyNorth" campaign and apparel line (a nod to the Raptors' "#WeTheNorth'' tagline) celebrated each neighbourhood. The retailer partnered with the Raptors' broadcaster TSN to produce documentaries featuring the neighbourhoods and player stories, and working with Touché!, it executed a guerrilla campaign that had creative representing each community's colours.

It used 500 media locations, like basketball boards, bleachers and street furniture, to install detachable posters and magnetic stickers. By making the campaign creative detachable, each person was able to take home and proudly represent their neighbourhood's colours.

At night, digital projections celebrated each area and the retailer dominated the subway path. Sport Chek invited players to share their personal stories using the hashtag #MyNorth, which were broadcast during the Raptors games and on the arena jumbotron. To encourage social sharing, an entire section was offered to fans at each of the 41 Raptors home games.

In the end, the campaign generated 15 million shares on social media and the apparel line sold in less than two months.