Behind The Scenes

It has been a while - how have you been?

Jeanene - I’m doing well, thanks for asking! It’s been a busy 2023, so it’s gratifying to reflect on the hugely successful year our team has had and to wrap it all up with this exciting campaign in celebration of our longstanding partnership with the Raptors.

I think the last time we crossed paths you were at another alcohol & spirits brand - what is it you love about this category?

Jeanene - Beer and spirits are such an ingrained part of culture. People reach for a beer in key life moments - from happy hour to game time - so marketers have to go that extra mile to break through the saturated market and give consumers a reason to connect with a brand beyond just the product attributes. It's both a challenging and exhilarating space to play in. 

Which side of the Chill Fleece is your favourite?

Jeanene  - The game time side is my favourite. Not only because of its bold colours and aspirational Coors Light x Raptors design, but I love that it stands as a symbol of “chill” to Raptors fans across Toronto. Reversing the fleece to this side signifies that the work day is behind us, the Raptors are on, and it’s finally time to chill some Coors Light. 

What led to this collaboration with the Raptors?

Jeanene  - Coors Light has been the official beer of the Toronto Raptors since 1995. The partnership was initially focused on simply driving awareness of the brand’s association with the team, but since that’s well-established, we are digging into compelling insights about the Raptors fan base to connect with them on a deeper level. Going into the 2023/2024 season, we were interested to find that Raptors fans are eager to chill out at game time – a recent study (Vividata Sports & Esports Study) found they are 270% more likely to use basketball as an escape from the everyday than fans of other teams. This insight motivated us to reconnect with Raptors nation in a new way, leveraging our brand’s Made to Chill platform to help make getting ready for game time more chill than ever before. 

Tell us the journey that lead Coors Light here?

Jeanene - We know that a lot of Raptors fans are on the daily 9-5 grind and are eager to take a pause and chill for game time in their 9-5. So as a brand that champions and protects important moments of pause and refreshment, we wanted to approach this NBA season by giving Raptors fans a way to seamlessly facilitate the transition from clocking out to chilling in. The Chill Fleece does just that by allowing fans to leave the “unchill” of their 9-5 behind them and get ready for game time by simply reversing their fleece. No matter where they’re coming from or where they’ll catch the game, they’re always ready to chill and cheer on our team. 

And when it came to teaming up with a designer, Founder and Creative Director of Mr. Saturday, Joey Gollish was the ultimate partner to bring the Chill Fleece to life. As an esteemed, Toronto-based designer whose brand explores moments in nightlife subculture through design, Joey has a deep understanding of what chill is. It was incredible to work with him on this and we can’t wait to see fans rep his design from the sidelines. 

The official pop-up takes place on the 20th, any interesting insight that you have learned so far?

Jeanene - One of the biggest considerations for the pop-up was nailing down the right location. We not only wanted to make sure we were setting up in a high-traffic area, but wanted the location to directly speak to the moment of going from the 9-5 grind to game time. Union Station is an ideal location as tons of Raptors fans will pass by as they leave work and head over to Scotiabank Arena to cheer on the Raps. We can’t wait for them to stop by for a chance to score a Chill fleece of their very own!

How is Molson Coors going to promote the pop-up at Union Station?

Jeanene - The Go from the Grind to the Game creative and immersive pop up experience, developed by Wasserman, are being amplified through Wavemaker’s multi-touchpoint media strategy that generates awareness of Coors Light’s partnership with the Toronto Raptors by engaging fans around key moments of the NBA season. It leverages scalable tactics such as broadcast, OLV and social to reach the average fan, integrations across podcasting and social to connect with the hardcore fan and OOH presence in high-traffic areas. This includes Yonge and Dundas and Union Station takeovers, digital and social content across The Score, Meta and Reddit, and placement on NBA TV. Additionally, Volt is amplifying the pop-up through brand social content and Citizen Relations is overseeing earned media relations, influencer partnerships and product seeding to build hype for the experience. Every piece of the campaign drives to chillfleece.com where fans can learn more about the Chill Fleece and how they can score a 1 of 40 jacket for themselves.