Growing up in the city of Pittsburgh in the 60’s and 70’s, hockey wasn’t the hot sport it has become, and even today I’m what the NHL calls a “casual fan.”
However, when it comes to NHL hockey marketing, I’m a rabid fan. After the lockout season of 2004-05, the NHL has put forth an amazing marketing power play. The NHL has become more relevant, is skating with a cool, new swagger and is scoring huge marketing goals!
This New York Sports Journalism feature outlines several of the key marketing initiatives the NHL has embraced such as getting back to the roots of their game with the Winter Classic, embracing and communicating player’s unique stories, creating special events aligned with sponsor brand needs, taking full advantage of the 2010 Olympics in Canada, becoming an online category killer and more. Their social media strategy is a killer one too.
The NHL offers great marketing lessons to all brands in search of a comeback.
As an added bonus, here are a few mobile marketing insights from the Chicago Blackhawks featuring an SMS case study and the New York Rangers $1 million dollar mobile sweepstakes.
P.S.: More good news. Brand NHL has got it’s groove back and introduces its cool new NHL iPhone App announced via NHL.Com
Go Pens!
