It’s not always easy for a brand like the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) to appeal to Canadians and get them excited about coins, as they are seldom perceived as a “product” per se. Even though Canadians respect the Mint, they don’t feel very close to it, as they view it more as an institution than a brand. Many people aren’t very familiar with the RCM’s activities and don’t even realize that they actually do a lot more than just mint coins.

Every year, commemorative coins are released on the market, highlighting great moments in Canadian history. For every commemorative coin collected by a Canadian or taken out of circulation, the Mint receives the face value of that coin from the Canadian Government.

In 2012, a special coin was introduced to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Grey Cup. The Mint wanted to put the coins in the hands of football fans – a target audience who normally doesn’t have much affinity for this type of product. It needed to integrate the coins into an environment that is already overloaded with major brands used to operating in the world of sports, such as Rona, Coors Light, GMC and BMO.

The Mint decided to give the coin a starring role, and firmly position it at the centre of all its activities. It would use a key moment in the game related to its own product: the coin toss, and exploit it to its full potential, not only during activities held during football games, but also with the Mint’s online activities. It would also use the coins to tell the story of some of the greatest events in Grey Cup history through TV spots: simply by showing a pair of hands, up close, handling the coins like a croupier.

In the stadiums, the excitement of the coin toss was recreated by getting spectators to play with the product – in the form of giant inflatable coins.

Coin exchange booths were set up during the games where people could exchange regular loonies for a commemorative Grey Cup coin. Participants were also encouraged to go online and enter a Facebook contest, where participants could win a VIP trip to see the 100th Grey Cup. Users could challenge their friends to a virtual coin toss in order to gain more chances to enter the contest.

Beyond the stadium, the Mint activated “Operation heads or tails” in a communications mix built around sports-related websites, TV channels, and on its social media networks, as well as those of teams in the CFL. The Mint even integrated itself into historical Grey Cup segments on RDS and TSN. Finally, a special coin was struck to be used for the official coin toss at the opening of the 100th Grey Cup game.

With a penetration rate of 23% in the stadiums, the campaign for the biggest “Coin Toss” game in Canada gave the Mint the opportunity to exchange 98,000 coins at coin exchange booths.

The giant inflatable coins, bouncing around in the stands, reached more than 500,000 fans in the stadiums. The integration during the draw for the official coin toss reached nearly 13 million Canadians during the 100th Grey Cup.

The contest increased the fan base by 300% on Facebook and generated more than 28,000 virtual coin tosses.

A launch is usually considered a success when 30% of the coins are “withdrawn” from the public market.

To date, of the five million coins that have been minted and released, only 40% are still in circulation. This retention rate of 60% is double what is normally considered a success.