BMO (Bank of Montreal) is the 8th largest bank in North America, but our customer base was aging and we needed to connect with a younger demographic. However, young adults hate traditional banks. New online options and the desire for personalization have driven many younger millennial and Gen Z customers to turn to fintech and non-banks.

Traditional banks, like BMO, were getting left behind and actively ignored by younger consumers. To reverse this trend and connect with younger customers, BMO needed an initiative to stimulate authentic and active engagement. We needed to do something a bank had never done before.

The primary objective was to find a new channel where the bank could connect with younger audiences to provide a level of personalized service and banking capabilities. This new channel needed to drive engagement, elevate brand perception, and ultimately lead non-customers to consider BMO and open new accounts.

BMO NXT LVL is the first Twitch stream to help gamers reach the next level in gaming and personal finances.

BUILT TO SCALE

We knew that in order to authentically connect with gamers we had to immerse ourselves in the space:

-50+ live Twitch streams where thousands of financial questions from gamers are answered. BMO continues to stream weekly.

-BMO has expanded to Discord, where 100s of hours of live Twitch content is accessible to gamers through a searchable database.

-The Gaming Relations Specialist, who initially started as a three-month contract, is now a full-time position at the bank. BMO is the only bank in the world with a GRS.

COMPETITOR ATTEMPT

One of BMOs largest competitors in Canada ran traditional banner ads on Twitch, directly below BMOs live stream. We couldn’t have planned it better ourselves, as it was an effective contrast between traditional advertising and innovation.

With under 35s ignoring banks, BMO needed to meet them where they are. Gaming, with a global revenue of $220B, is replacing traditional advertising channels and becoming a significant part of daily life for our target audience.

Some brands enter gaming through one-time activations, but we knew to meet our objectives that we had to plan for the long-term. Our challenge included first building trust with gamers to prove that a bank can authentically exist in their space. This led to the creation of the Gaming Relations Specialist (GRS) position, a BMO employee who understood both worlds of gaming and finance, and could find intersections between them.

We deployed the GRS across popular gamer platforms, Twitch and Discord, to build relationships with gamers and help them level up their finances. This approach has proved invaluable as BMO has seen a huge uptick in new account openings among our target audience.

With a whole generation of consumers actively avoiding banks, BMO decided to enter a space with 100 million monthly visitors: Twitch. Twitch is known for its massive gaming community and entertaining content. We threw out everything we knew about traditional bank marketing and paved a new path with a first-of-its-kind platform that educated gamers and helped them level up in their financial progress the same way they level up in game whether that’s on Twitch with streams or on Discord with office hours.

NXT LVL started with promoting the program to gamers while they played, explored, and connected in their natural environment. Gaming, tech media relations, and influencer partnerships exposed the campaign to savvy and passionate gamers early in the journey. Paid units on Twitch, including a training montage of Sean Frame, BMO Gaming Relations Specialist (GRS), intercepted Twitch users, drove awareness of BMO’s GRS and promoted upcoming episodes.

BMO changed the gaming community's opinion of what a bank can be. All this despite the objections of Twitch, who recommended against a bank creating a Twitch channel.

BRAND BUILDING

40% improvement in unaided awareness.

100+ hours of searchable Twitch clips developed for Discord.

CHANGING PERCEPTION

30% improvement in gaming association.

15% improvement in perception of innovativeness.

DRIVING DESIRE

13% increase in new Everyday Banking accounts.

24% increase in student account openings.

4% improvement in consideration/purchase intent.

CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

15,000+ hours spent watching BMO live content on Twitch.

123,245 unique views.

8.5 million video views.

PR

“BMO becomes the first bank in the world to open a branch on Twitch.” - Bloomberg

“I never thought I’d write this, but BMO now has a Twitch channel.” - MobileSyrup

“A global first for any financial institution.” - ConsoleCreatures