UK-based money lending service Wonga has launched in Canada, rolling out a TV, digital and radio-based campaign to promote its entry into the market.

Media in the campaign, which launched in Ontario late last year and will roll into BC and Alberta by the end of this quarter, is from PHD with creative by Sid Lee, Mark Ruddock, CEO, Wonga Canada, tells MiC.

The campaign’s first two TV ads, “Hop-hop” and “New Intern,” use Wonga’s signature puppets, originally by London-based Albion, to target Canadians aged 20 to 45 who are employed but might not have access to the financial service products that more established consumers have, says Ruddock. The ads are running across conventional and specialty networks and are being supplemented with radio ads airing in Ontario cities like Hamilton, St. Catherine’s, Niagara Falls and London.

“We chose to launch primarily with TV ads because we felt it was the way to get the message out there most effectively and most quickly,” he says. “We knew that by having an ad campaign people would find entertaining they would at least give Wonga a look. It was seen as the most effective way to reach and get the brand in front of Canadians. In this space there are companies who have been around for 30 years, so for a new player TV is a good way to get the message out to a great number of Canadians.”

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