Broken Heart Love Affair’s CSO/founder Jay Chaney walks us through the Royal Ontario Museum’s brand transformation.
Client: Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).
Project: IMMORTAL—a multi-year platform launched with a six-minute cinematic film and complete brand reset.
Context: In late 2020–2021, lockdowns crushed attendance while a new CEO (from the Smithsonian) and CMO Lorie Davidson arrived with a mandate to reimagine the ROM as a living cultural hub.
What it entailed: BHLA led strategy and storytelling; Leo handled identity. The launch film (shot in-studio, South Africa; director Mark Zibert, editor Graham Chisholm) premiered at a live event, in theatres, online, and as an in-museum installation, with cutdowns for media. The platform extended into exhibit campaigns (e.g., Auschwitz letters, Cats), a second chapter on natural history (opera-singing chimp), and internal change—staff onboarding, evaluation and even badges reframed around delivering “immortal experiences.”
Outcomes: Brand tracking shows more visitors now feel represented; the CEO was invited to Europe to speak on museum reinvention; live activations tied to the film sold out in minutes; the work sparked global conversation about museums’ roles and helped catalyze ROM’s “open” physical transformation (including a free first floor) toward a true community forum.
5 takeaways that are uniquely Canadian
- Do more with less: World-class craft on lean budgets—Canadian creativity prioritized big ideas over big spends.
- Empathy as an edge: Storytelling tuned to a diverse nation makes work resonate globally.
- Canada as a creative testbed: Top talent, smart costs, and nimble markets accelerate bold experimentation.
- Community first: Turning an institution into an open, accessible hub (free first floor) mirrors Canadian civic values.
- Collaboration over ego: Public–private support (donor-funded film), agency–museum–design shop alignment, and negotiated consensus—very Canada.
