“People don’t get out of bed for a 20% off sale now,” says Duncan Fulton, CMO at Sport Chek. “But saying you can earn a free movie with Scene on any shoe purchase over $100 will get people’s attention.”

That ability to create deals is part of the reason Sport Chek has partnered with Cineplex and Scotiabank, making it the sports and active lifestyle retail partner of its Scene reward program, says Fulton.

The partnership between Sport Chek and Scene first started brewing in May when the Canadian Tire Corporation sold 20% of its financial services division to Scotiabank, alluding to future marketing and sponsorship opportunities as part of the deal.

Fulton says Sport Chek, Scotiabank and Cineplex will be using the partnership to “test and learn” different deals that work best, but yesterday’s announced offerings include Scene members earning one point for every dollar spent at Sport Chek and $10 off for every 1,000 Scene points redeemed at Sport Chek (the same amount as a free movie at Cineplex). The partnership makes the retailer the exclusive partner for Scene. Previously other retailers, like Foot Locker had deals where Scene members could earn enough points for a movie with the purchase of a pair of Adidas sneakers.

A launch campaign promoting the new partnership is planned for mid-November, with pre-show advertising in more than 160 Cineplex theatres, targeted offers to Scene members, signage at over 180 Sport Chek stores across the country and on-screen advertising at Scotiabank ABMs.

Scene currently has approximately six million members, and allows Sport Chek and its parent Canadian Tire Corporation to reach more young families, stretching its target demo to 14- to 40-year-olds. It’s a goal its new CEO Michael Medline expressed during its first investor and analyst meeting in four years yesterday.

“The core demo for Scene and Sport Chek ladders up perfectly together,” says Fulton. “This evolves the Scene program to become a lifestyle and entertainment program.”

Fulton says the company’s evolving focus on young families will not be something that is activated like a light switch, rather changing slowly over time with changes to every aspect of the business.

“Young families spend more at that stage of live than any other demographic,” he says. “Becoming relevant with younger Canadians has an impact on how we talk to them, which gets into the digital investments we’re making. It also has an impact on how the stores are laid out and expectations around whether customers can buy online or get things shipped to the store or home. It is quite a sizeable endeavour to do the generational shift.”