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Toronto Argonauts

The Toronto Argonauts football team was once a vital aspect of the city's sports heritage and identity. Recently the team had slipped in the hearts and minds of sports fans. Ownership seemed to constantly change hands; the team lacked focus, and hadn't had any consistent message to consumers. But The Argos had latent equity.

The issue was that for the most part, your average Toronto sports fan had no idea who played for the Argos anymore. This lack of connection to the players fueled disinterest in the team.

Downtown Partners had to rebuild equity in the Argos franchise, but also needed to sell tickets right away. Thus, the actual Argos players became the spokespeople for the team as they personally encouraged people to come out to a game.

The agency tried to feature as many of the players as possible in different executions. All the ads offered up a personal tidbit from the players, or gave viewers a sense of their personality. The net effect built the Argonauts' overall brand character, but also helped fans recognize and identify with the individual players.

The "bobble head" inspired art direction helped the campaign stand out in newsprint. Once established, this treatment was integrated into the Web site and online banner ads. The radio again featured the actual Argo players as they stopped people in everyday situations to see why they hadn't gone to an Argos game recently.

As a result of these efforts, Argo season ticket orders doubled vs. 2003, while average attendance at each game is up approx 9,500 vs. 2003.

RADIO

Clifford	England
Steinhauer

PRINT

Bashir	Cheerleaders
Damon	Judest
Pinball