Clutch is launching a 360-degree campaign with Toronto Raptors player Kelly Olynyk to increase brand awareness and trust among Canadians looking to buy or sell cars online.

Aimed at buyers aged 22 to 55, the “That’s Clutch” campaign centers on two videos in which Olynyk appears as a car salesman in an awkward meeting with a prospective private buyer. At the end of the videos, Olynyk drops out of the deal to sell his car to Clutch instead. Mark Arvai, director of brand marketing at Clutch, tells MiC that the campaign aims to show Canadians that there is a different way to sell or buy cars. “The latter was the true inspiration for making our campaign an anti car ad,” Arvai says, adding that “unlike traditional car videos, which showcase product features, the company wanted to create ads from a human perspective, reflecting real customer experiences.”

Clutch is launching the campaign today in Ontario and Nova Scotia across broadcast, digital, OOH ads and radio channels. True Media handles media buying, while Mint does the creative.

“Both Dan (our CEO) and I have had first-hand experience with how traditional brand channels can help a company grow exponentially. We’re investing in channels like broadcast, OOH, radio and online video because we know they work. When complimented by performance ads, they are a proven path to growth,” Arvai says. “Clutch, like most startups, has relied on performance marketing to grow the brand to where it is today. However, in a category [selling and buying cars online] where trust is critical and behaviour change is necessary, Google and Meta ads can only get you so far.”

The partnership with the Toronto Raptors was key to roll out its new marketing strategy focused on building trust with customers, according to Arvai. “Even though there’s a lot of excitement about how different our experience is, asking people to change how they’ve always done something can be scary,” he says. “That’s where the NBA comes in – they’re one of the most recognizable logos in the world and having them beside the Clutch logo instantly builds trust. Being a partner of the NBA makes a $30,000 decision online seems a whole lot less scary.”

Clutch is only launching the campaign in Ontario and Nova Scotia because there is where it has been focusing its business recently. “Like a lot of startups, in 2023 we had to pivot from growth at all costs to profitability. We were operating Canada-wide and made the tough decision to refocus on Ontario and Nova Scotia to get to profitability,” says Arvai. “We’re now buying and selling more cars in these two provinces than we did the year before nation-wide, all while being more efficient.”

The company plans to expand to the rest of Canada again soon, according to Arvai.