TD Canada Trust is making its way into another Canadian net’s shows. Following its First Timer Mondays stint on HGTV’s program block last year, the brand is now teaming with the nation’s pubcaster in a deal helmed by MediaCom, announced this week at CBC’s fall season upfronts.
The move, a first for CBC TV, has shots of a TD branch integrated into the background scenes of new Little Mosque on The Prairie, Being Erica and Heartland eps. In Being Erica, Erica’s (Erin Karpluk) girlfriend’s boyfriend Anthony (Mark Taylor) manages a TD Canada Trust branch and speaks at a TD corporate function. On Little Mosque on the Prairie, which moved to Mondays after Battle of the Blades, the season’s new reverend character played by William Thorn visits the local TD branch to determine whether the church has enough funds to throw a bash. Meanwhile on Heartland, the bank makes cameo appearances in three eps.
‘The various episodes tackle everyday issues in a comfortable way; things like saving for school, finding jobs, applying for loans, saving for big purchases,’ TD Bank Financial Group AVP, global brand & corporate marketing, D’Arcy McDonald, tells MiC. ‘[The bank] plays a role in the everyday lives of viewers so it should feel pretty natural for them to see us play the same role in the lives of characters.’
McDonald adds that the CBC integration is ‘a natural progression’ of the type of brand integrations TD has been doing over the last three years, though unlike TD Canada Trust’s First Timer Mondays sponsorship, the TD Canada Trust integrations in CBC programming are scripted into the actual storylines of its drama and comedy programs.
A branded website also hosts CBC’s fall lineup at www.cbc.ca/falltv. To help promote the shows, 30-second interview-style promo spots featuring CBC stars are also being featured this season on CBC TV, extended versions of which can be viewed online at www.cbc.ca/falltv/videos.
‘Through our 30-second vignettes, online presence and scripted programming, we are increasing TD Canada Trust’s visibility and generating revenue to allow the CBC to continue funding high-quality Canadian programming,’ adds Scott Moore, executive director, CBC Sports and GM, media sales and marketing.
Meanwhile, changes to the CBC fall schedule include moving season three of The Tudors to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. – in The fifth estate’s old slot, opposite hot item Glee and Criminal Minds – while The Border shifts to Thursdays at 9 p.m., putting the hit action series against The Office on Global and Grey’s Anatomy on CTV. Gone are Sophie and British import Dr. Who.
New arrival Ron James will bow his self-titled comedy half-hour on Sept. 25, taking over the Friday 8 p.m. slot previously held by Royal Canadian Air Farce, while the culture clash reality series Battle of the Blades has staked a claim on both Sunday and Monday nights. The 14-part series – looking to appeal to both sides of the gender divide by pairing elfin female figure skaters with lumbering NHL greats – is set to bow Oct 4 at 8 p.m., after the return of Heartland. The results episodes will follow on Mondays, also at 8 p.m.
Not surprisingly, the Ceeb has kept the reliable Rick Mercer Report and 22 Minutes where they were this time last year – Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively. Meanwhile the light-hearted Being Erica, one of last year’s stand-outs, will do its time-travelling from Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
