BBDO Montreal took an unusual route in its quest to win the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts account. In honour of the upcoming 40th anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s famous bed-in for peace, BBDO staff staged a similar stunt in their own office about a week ago. They also took over the Dailywom.tv video blog for several days, broadcasting the bed-in and staffer interviews to generate interest in the museum and the campaign.

‘BBDO wanted to show the museum that they are aware of the new ways to communicate that exist now, and to display the possibilities of new media,’ dailywom.tv‘s Pascal Beauchesne tells MIC. ‘They used our media as a ‘hacking’ strategy to get some news buzz, and (to try to) secure the account.’

The plan was dreamed up by Frederic Proulx, VP of interactive at BBDO Montreal. ‘He knew the museum was planning something to mark the anniversary of the bed-in, and this was kind of a blink to that event,’ said Beauchesne. Dailywom.tv has a reach of about 2,000 people who, he says, are all ‘movers and shakers and influence makers.’

Unfortunately, the museum informed BBDO yesterday that the account had been won by rival Sid Lee. Still, Proulx reported a 400% increase in visitors on the museum’s website.