2026 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

For many Canadians, investing still feels like a gated community – something reserved for those with money and access. The price of blue-chip stocks reinforces this feeling, making ownership seem unattainable. To help break down these barriers, TD was the first bank in Canada to offer fractional shares.

Fractional shares are a groundbreaking development in the world of Canadian investing – they allow anyone to buy a piece of a stock for as little as $1. This opened access to top stocks which sometimes trade for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

Their goal was to drive awareness of this new investing option and its benefits – 80% of aspiring investors had no idea what fractional shares were.

However, the brand faced one key challenge in doing so. Legal restrictions prevented them from showing or naming the very brands that people wanted to own.

The objective was to turn this barrier into an opportunity, educate Canadians in an unforgettable way, and inspire them to take the first step toward investing.

“Fractional Window Shopping” was built on a simple insight: sometimes investing feels like window shopping: you see attractive options but can’t always afford them. But with TD’s fractional shares, you didn’t need to window shop anymore; you could own for as little as $1.

The concept was to demonstrate to Canadians that their investing “window shopping” could be transformed into real ownership.

To do so, they launched “Fractional Window Shopping”, transforming legal limitations into creative innovation. Their OOH posters were strategically placed in high-traffic areas, featuring precision-cut windows that offered passersby the chance to peer through and catch a glimpse of iconic brands.

This execution took a complex product and explained it through an immersive metaphor. The board read: “Own a piece of it,” reframing the act of window shopping as the moment you could finally own what you desired.

It wasn’t just a standard OOH ad; they blurred the line between media and marketing theatre. It demonstrated that compliance challenges can spark creativity rather than kill it, and tapped into the emotive feeling of finally being able to get what you want.

The idea trended across social platforms and was called “the perfect loophole” and one of advertising’s “smartest heists” by media outlets. It proved that in the risk-averse world of financial services, one bold, well-placed idea can punch well-above its weight.

The campaign exceeded all KPIs: 340M earned impressions, a 51% increase in desire to learn more, and a 55% rise in favourable sentiment toward TD.

Credits

Brand: TD

Global Chief Marketing Officer: Tyrrell Schmidt

Chief Marketing Officer, Canada: Maja Neable

VP Marketing, TD Wealth: Michael Letsche

AVP, TD Direct Investing: Ryan Kalsi

AVP Marketing - Brand Strategy: Sarah Green

Senior Manager, Direct Investing: Bhavin Lad

Senior Manager, COE: Brad Buset

Marketing Manager, Direct Investing: MaryJane Ardron


Ogilvy Canada

Agency: Ogilvy Canada

Chief Creative Officer: Francesco Grandi

Group Creative Director: Randy Stein

Copywriter: Chris Belanger, Andrew Erskine

Art Director: Audrey Laliberte, Lenilson Lima, Pedro Minari, Emmanuel Torres

Co-director Production: Alexandre Andre

Chief Strategy Officer: Jeremy Daly

VP, Group Strategy Director: Sarah Almond

Strategy Director: Maddie Pace

Strategist: Andrea Eden

Managing Director, TD: Sandi Truffen
VP, Group Account Director: Kristine Lafreniere

Account Supervisor: Devin Ste. Marie


Production

Structure Frame: Accordex
Production House: Shoot Studio
Photographer: Martin Girard
Post Production: Shoot Studio

Retoucher: Marcus Cabral