Cboe | Life is Better With Options
Opportunity
Having invented listed options in 1973, Cboe wanted to reclaim ownership of the category and reinforce its position as a leader in options trading. Following decades of growth and acquisitions, the brand needed a clear, unified story that would inspire more investors to trade Cboe Index Options.
More than 50% of investors still invest in a single fund because they are unaware that other options exist. Options can help investors manage risk and create flexibility, but the value of those benefits can be difficult to communicate through traditional financial advertising. Rather than adding to the industry’s complexity, Cboe needed to make options feel relevant and accessible to a broader audience.
Approach
Cboe trusted tms with a broad creative remit, giving the team the opportunity to define the strategic brief and develop the campaign from the ground up.
Instead of trying to explain the complex benefits of options within the limits of traditional media, tms flipped the challenge on its head. We created “Life is Better With Options”, a campaign imagining what life would look like without choice.
The hero film follows Thomas through a softly dystopian city of uniform streets, matching cars and identical haircuts. Everything offers only the illusion of choice until Thomas discovers an option for the first time – and experiences a freedom he did not know was missing.
Originally developed for retail investors, the idea evolved into a wider global brand campaign. tms led the project from strategy and creative development through to international film production and creative versioning. Working across a highly regulated industry, we adapted the campaign to meet different market requirements without losing the clarity or impact of its central idea.
Outcome
“Life is Better With Options” helped Cboe reclaim ownership of the options category and reinforce its dominant position as a category leader by transforming a complex investment proposition into a distinctive and accessible global brand platform.
The campaign drove measurable behavior change, contributing to significant increases in index options trading following its launch. It also earned 25 awards and industry recognitions, including three distinctions at the 2026 Red Dot Brands & Communication Design Awards and Best in Show – Consumer at the Financial Communications Society Portfolio Awards.
Results
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McDonald’s | A Minecraft Movie Meal
A Back-to-School promotion to boost the entire Blackstore network
Opportunity
The tms–designed, in-store, brand platform identity has been a feature of over 100 Blackstore shops since the beginning of 2022. Therefore, there was an opportunity to evolve this creative and build a new activation as part of the Back-to-School campaign for 2022. tms created a theme, shopping mechanic and packaging that would motivate sales and secure success.
Approach
Our holistic, 360° approach, ensured that the “Get into the Game” experience had an equally strong presence across social channels and in person at the point of sale.
To drive hype and amplify the activation, we created a social media campaign that encouraged customers to shout about their experience online. Our one-month campaign was executed through Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, with both organic and sponsored posts.
At the same time, tms designed a 100% immersive operation to animate the point of sale, surfing on the many promotions underway over the period and offering combinations of promotions to the most engaged customers. The sales area is personalized in the colors of the operation to guarantee a memorable experience: giant game console, akilux, posters, stickers, giant game dice, tie and many other POS.
Outcome
The operation recorded an increase in in-store traffic and a significant increase in sales compared to last year.
The social media campaign made it possible to reach a larger demographic that would not normally come into contact with the brand, boosting engagement and fame.
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