The third week of October marks Small Business Week in Canada, an annual celebration of Canadian entrepreneurs and their contributions. It’s a timely occasion to connect with small business owners — if you can cut through the marketing and media noise. This is what we needed to do when Scotiabank asked us to seize the opportunity to grow awareness of its small business offerings.

Rather than tell entrepreneurs that Scotiabank understands their needs, we decided to show them. And we went to the source to do it – Toronto’s King Street West, the epicentre of startups and co-working hubs in Canada’s economic capital – with an interactive installation we called Path to Impact. Using large-scale, interactive art pieces, Path to Impact brought to life the different stages of a business owner’s journey and expressed how Scotiabank can help them along the way.

For instance, The Big Idea, a giant lightbulb equipped with motion sensor lights, represented the ‘a-ha moment’ that sparks a concept. Closing Doors, a series of colourful rotating panels imprinted with stories from real-life Scotiabank customers, illustrated how business challenges can become business opportunities (when one door closes…). The Impact Arch, the last stage of the installation, invited guests to share who they hope to impact with their own big idea.

We paired the installation with an influencer and media relations strategy to help drive awareness of the experience and of Scotiabank’s suite of small business services and solutions. The interactive experience built community amongst entrepreneurs who could relate to the business owner’s journey, while growing the reputation of Scotiabank as a bank for small business owners.