Scotiabank has found a new way to highlight its tight connection to hockey by inviting all of Canada to help make a documentary about the sport this Sunday.
The Hockey 24 film will be made entirely from videos and photos of people experiencing the game in their community on Nov. 17, uploaded to a special site and edited together by professional documentary filmmakers. The film will debut at HotDocs 2020 in Toronto next spring.
Scotiabank has worked hard to become the financial brand most associated with hockey, both at the professional and community level. This documentary is entirely about the latter—a way to portray the love and passion for game that exists in communities across the country, said chief marketing officer, Clinton Braganza.
Scotiabank is hoping to get all kinds of hockey footage, both on and off the ice. “You don’t need to be the hockey household in order to participate,” said Braganza. “Hockey plays a role in all of our lives—whether you’re watching or participating, or standing behind the glass watching your children play.
“By giving consumers a chance to tell us—and tell Canadians—what hockey means to them, we find that it’s a really unique way to celebrate this wonderful game.”
After shooting their hockey content on Sunday, people have until the end of the month to upload it at hockey24.film. People submitting content also get a chance to win $24,000 for a local hockey team and league, or a trip to the 2020 NHL All-Star Game. The site also includes FAQs about the project, along with tips for people to improve their chances of content being used in the documentary.
Scotiabank is working with Toronto agency The Mark on the project.
“In a digitally-paced, digitally-connected world, these kinds of content projects allow brands to build a meaningful and sustainable connection with their audience at scale through shared passion and values,” said Zeeshan Hussain, head of client services with The Mark. “With Hockey 24, we’re helping Scotiabank to capture Canada’s cultural soul through thousands of community hockey stories across the country.”
The idea for Hockey 24 came from Scotiabank’s usual meetings and discussions about hockey sponsorships and activations at the end of each season. “We really brainstorm what are different ways that we can play a role and to really celebrate this game of hockey,” said Braganza. “We talked about this unique way of really allowing Canadians to tell us their stories to their own unique experiences. That is really the genesis of Hockey 24.”
Aside from the documentary, Scotiabank expects to end up with a deep pool of content that could be used in other ways and on other channels. “Once we see the inventory we’ll be able to make some decisions,” said Braganza. “There’s a tremendous amount of excitement for us and our team, we really want to get into the editing suite and see what we’re dealing with here.”
Braganza said he’ll be taking part this weekend with his family. “I’ve got two nets and our road hockey sticks raring to go in our backyard, so we’ll be playing and filming with my three boys, a little segment on what hockey means to us.”
