Rogers Speed Challenge

While attending the annual home show in Toronto at the Direct Energy centre, I was bombarded by a number of brand initiatives. Most of them were just lost in the clutter but one that really stood out to me was an experiential Rogers booth called the "speed challenge" where people could go and sit down and eat their food that they purchased from food vendors nearby. This area also played loud, upbeat music, with songs that catered to the generation Y age cohort. In this booth there were rogers reps that were there to answer questions and talk about the brand but this was not their biggest emphasis. There was also a huge  ice rink with people skating on it where you could try the “Speed Challenge” where you had to shoot the puck into a small hole to win a prize. 

This created a fun family experience and a fun experience for potential new home buyers and recent home buyers. This was strategic on the part of Rogers as this market is likely to be searching for phone, TV and internet services. Since rogers is mainly a home service, this is consistent. Brand elements, cues, and associations that were added included the Rogers trademark colours and references, home comfort, eating at home, listening to music, upbeat music, outgoing sales reps, young and youthful spirit, speed, hockey and Canada. The name "speed challenge" itself links back to the brand strongly because this is Rogers' main positioning platform and reinforces the idea that Rogers in fact associates itself with speed. Although the Rogers brand is basically the worst brand in Canada, these efforts do help a bit. Even though people do not like the brand, they will at least see the brand as having a fast network.