THE WORK

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In early fall of 2019, the team began discussing marketing plans for its upcoming anniversary season. After the Grey Cup win in November 2019, the Bombers knew they needed to do something special and different for 2020. They approached Athlitacomics with the task of coming up with an idea to celebrate both the Grey Cup win and the 90th anniversary.

THE INTENT

The Bombers wanted a campaign to highlight their franchise history in a way that would connect with younger fans, who may not feel connected to events that happened many decades ago. The expectation was a campaign that would make people stop in their tracks when seeing it on billboards, social media or other marketing materials.

THE EXECUTION

After creative sessions and a review of story concepts provided by Athlitacomics, the Bombers selected the theme “Heroes of Champions Way.” The story follows the team’s superhero players as they are transported back in time, upon touching the Grey Cup, to battle foes over the team’s nine decades of existence dating back to 1930. The superheroes advance through each of the decades using their various superpowers in their quest to repeat the Grey Cup championship.

A major challenge occurred when COVID-19 hit, and it became apparent that the Bombers would likely not have a season. While the campaign was not able to be used for in-person or gameday events, it still launched on social media with tremendous success despite the limitations. To tie the campaign to relevant events, fans were engaged to nominate true heroes, the frontline workers, to be depicted and included as part of the “Heroes” campaign. In a touching tribute, the Bombers also used the campaign to honor a constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who was killed in the line of duty.

THE RESULT

The launch of a spirited, innovative celebration of the Bombers’ 90 years and Grey Cup victory resulted in a campaign that performed very well with an increase of up to 36.7% engagement at various points with a reach in the 300k range. During the launch campaign, which lasted 12 weeks, the Bombers maintained an engagement rate of 5.5% and impressions six times that of regular posts. The Bombers look to build upon on the Heroes of Champions Way campaign next season.