The logo for the Bank of Montreal is seen at its branch in Toronto.© Mark Blinch / Reuters
The battle to sell young Canadians on a bank is creating corporate odd couples, as edgy Vice Media teams up with venerable Bank of Montreal to launch Vice Money, a digital platform that debuts Monday and strives to win the hearts and wallets of the millennial audience.
BMO will be the only financial institution running advertising and company-written content on the Vice-run website, alongside articles, videos and graphics that will be produced by Vice Money's four-person, Toronto-based editorial team. A glance at recent offerings on Vice's website shows this means Canada's oldest bank will be explaining how millennials should decide between renting and owning a home, alongside Vice articles on high-quality weed grown by Bob Marley's son and a detailed description of where porn stars lost their virginity.
For Vice, the decision to partner with BMO on a new venture is part of a strategy to expand a platform that was focused on sex, sports, politics and partying into new sectors, such as personal finance, health and lifestyle.
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"We have a mix of high- and low-brow content that we know appeals to our audience," said Michael Gruzuk, who determines what runs on Vice Money as director of news, digital and special programming at parent Vice Media. He said: "We can provide content in areas such as finance in our own Vice voice, in a way that is authentic for our audience."
Vice Money targets an audience that is between the ages of 15 and 35, a total of 9.4 million Canadians, and Vice claims to reach twice as many millennials as any other Canadian digital platform.
Statistics Canada data shows this age group has a combined income of $237-billion. In 2015, research firm Environics Communications Ltd. pegged the average household income of millennials at $71,000. BMO's own research shows millennial clients spend an average of $350,000 on their first home – though a third of this age group question if they will ever be able to afford to own a house – and project they will need to save $400,000 for retirement.
For BMO, hooking up with Vice offers an opportunity to reach an audience that loves all things digital and pays little attention to traditional advertising. The fourth largest Canadian bank by assets, BMO is playing catch up in the highly profitable Canadian retail market to rivals Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank. BMO also runs middle-of-the-pack in client satisfaction surveys conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, again, trailing RBC and TD Bank.
"As marketers, we're tasked with reaching a number of very different audiences, and to do so, we need to explore both traditional and innovative content platforms," said Connie Stefankiewicz, BMO's chief marketing officer. She said the partnership "allows us to reach a millennial audience, while offering the credibility of our brand to Vice as they expand the scope of their efforts into other areas, such as personal finance."
Vice and BMO declined to discuss the cost of their partnership. Marketing executives at rival Canadian banks estimated BMO is spending at least $500,000 annually on the campaign, and the fact that BMO purchased exclusive rights to Vice Money likely drove the cost above $1-million.
All the Canadian banks run advertising aimed at attracting millennial clients that include social-media platforms. Toronto-Dominion Bank, for example, frequently releases online content meant to help 20-something clients deal with financial issues: Recent content includes advice for newlywed couples struggling to talk about household finances, and a short survey that shows the merits of credit cards with rewards attached aimed at millennials who pay with debit cards. BMO is breaking new ground by outsourcing the content of its campaign to Vice.
Internal data from BMO shows their client base is going increasingly digital. A spokesperson for the bank said over the past two years, clients went from doing 34 per cent of all personal transactions over their computers and cell phones to 41 per cent of transactions. Within two to three years, the bank projects the majority of interaction with retail banking clients will take place through mobile channels, rather than branches.