Canada Basketball is a not-for-profit, National Sporting Organization that is struggling to establish itself as a recognizable, well-regarded and well-funded brand in our country. Few people know who they are and few understand what it is that they do. The organization relies solely on sponsorship dollars and government grants to operate their organization but with limited consumer-level awareness and engagement, they have limited means by which to grow the organization and attract the sponsorship they need from larger corporations.
Thus, our goal was to get Canadian basketball fans who are fiercely loyal to the players and teams they support and love - especially if they're home grown talent – to unite in support of a sport that's in our blood - a sport that we can proudly say we invented and reflects our Canadian values, by rallying people behind new ways to support their love of Canadian basketball.
Canada Basketball is an organization that drives excellence and growth for basketball in Canada. They represent a sport that we invented and a sport that we as Canadians need to OWN! We need to push harder, shout louder, stand together and be proud of what basketball means for our country and for the players across the country who represent us on the world stage. Something changes when we step on the court. Something that ignites not only our rising stars, but the latent player in all of us. It's OUR game to get into.
In order to bring the "Get into OUR game" concept to life, the team created a PSA channeling the fact that confidence is at an all-time high for Canada Basketball. They paired that with a Canadian stereotype that all Canadians can relate to – apologizing, and in this case, apologizing for our growing success – and on-boarded incredible Canadian talent to bring it all to life.
Cory Joseph, Steve Nash, Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Ennis, and Jamal Murray – Canadian pro ballers - headlined this star-studded cast of athletes who turned our Canadian stereotype on its head, showing the world that we're not nearly as polite when national pride is on the line. We see them in everyday scenarios being apologetic for typical interactions they might have, but their apologies grow more and more cheeky as the scene shifts to the court. They might say they're sorry, but are they really?
The results were stellar! In just 5 days we hit 320k views on Facebook without any media amplifications. On YouTube, we hit 100k views with media purchased for pre-roll. The online video got picked up by trendhunter.com, a global influential news and trends outlet, with a very positive review. The TV spot aired on TSN during the Final of the FIBA Qualifying tournament in Manila, Philippines, going nation-wide and reaching many Canadians who were up to watch the hard fought games.
