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WE ARE MINTING STORIES SCHULICH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE Dave Toeg Manager, Product Development

WHO ARE WE The Royal Canadian Mint is a crown corporation, owned by the Canadian Government. Originally opened in 1908, the Royal Canadian Mint is responsible for the manufacturing and management of all Canadian coinage, including circulation, investment, and collectible coins. 3

4 NumismaticsCirculation Foreign Bullion Medals BUSINESS LINES

NUMISMATICS IS: THE COLLECTION AND STUDY OF COINS, TOKENS, MEDALS, PAPER MONEY AND DECORATIONS. OUR NUMISMATIC PRODUCTS FUSE ART AND SCIENCE, ENHANCING PRECIOUS METALS WITH INNOVATIVE SPECIAL FEATURES THAT HAVE SIGNIFICANT COLLECTOR APPEAL. 5

ESSENTIALLY… We make cool collectable coins that celebrate Canadian history, culture, and values: 6 *All of our coins must be approved by the Minister of Finance to be official non-circulation currency.

WHY DO PEOPLE COLLECT COINS? Intrinsic Value & Market Value –Denomination –Metal –Mintage To commemorate an occasion Personal connection to subject Aesthetic appreciation 7

PEOPLE STILL COLLECT COINS?! REALLY!? YES!... But don’t call them collectors or numismatists In 2014, the Royal Canadian Mint issued 262 numismatic products; totalling 5.1 million coins 80 products sold out in million visits to in 2014www.mint.ca 8 Year # Products $ Rev (Mil) $93$145$167$187

NOW WHAT? 9 Current Challenges Product proliferation Share of wallet Customers That’s where you guys come in...

10 THE CHALLENGES...

CHALLENGE # Surge of interest in past 4 years: –123 in 2011 to over 250 in 2015 –Type of products (i.e. Superman, Looney Tunes,… ) –Increased interest from Canadians Research estimates that over 700K Canadians are interested in purchasing a coin from us Growing customer base: from 75,000 in 2010 to 225,000 in BUT... –Of 225,000 approximately 50% are not retained within the 12 months. –Make a purchase, and then do not repeat purchase. –But... once you’ve been with the Mint 3 years, 75% of customers are retained, and spend more than $1000 per year on coins, you are retained at over 90%. In the past couple of years = use of digital marketing, online tools, and social media programs Still an opportunity to generate more interest from consumer segments like Millennials by using strategic investments in technology and digital marketing programs to gain awareness and ultimately sales.

CHALLENGE #1 12 “Not just your Grandfather’s hobby anymore...” Develop an innovative digital marketing strategy that: –Increases share of wallet of existing customers (increase repeat sales) –Makes new customers stick with the hobby longer, and –Attracts new customers to our products, and essentially make coin collecting cool…again ;) Note: The product is more important than the hobby

CHALLENGE # the RCM commemorated the 75th anniversary of Superman, co-created by Canadian Joe Shuster. –One of their largest licensing programs –Over 10 Superman themed coins –Total of $13M in revenue. 2016: Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the original Star Trek TV series –Canadian William Shatner’s introduction as Captain James T Kirk. Over 12 Star Trek themed coins using various technologies –Gold and Silver coins ranging in prices from $29.95 to $1,

CHALLENGE #2 “To boldly go...” Develop a comprehensive Digital Marketing Strategy that supports the following objectives and possibly excels in its own right as an innovative marketing initiative. Objectives: Engage our existing collector base in purchasing these coins By building on the nostalgia within the fan base of Star Trek and former viewers of the Original Series (including those who watched re-runs)… Seek out and find new coin collectors that are out there, but perhaps do not know of us or our product offering, and emphasize the uniqueness of the product: worthy of collecting. –Note: Try targeting the “New Generation” of Trekkies coming from a surge of interest and fan base of the new movies Boldly sell our product, as no other product has done before

CHALLENGE #3... Explosive growth in our Numismatic product line –Less than 100 in 2010 to over 250 in 2015 Product idea challenges –Need more new, interesting, and innovative Canadian-linked ideas and themes to put on our coins. Current process –Yearly internal ideation sessions –Collaborate with key stakeholders –Come up with the next best coin, or series of coins to wow our customers.... Not enough anymore

CHALLENGE #3... “Help us in helping us create great products” Next best themes and designs = Next best way of sourcing ideas Leveraging current digital marketing technologies, develop a strategy for crowd-sourcing innovative coin designs and themes that can be converted into new products.

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