NHL “Game On” Campaign

NHL Hockey will start its new television commercial campaign tomorrow with the season’s first games being televised on Versus. Four new 30 second commercials have been produced by NHL Productions and Mother-New York and feature the NHL’s new young stars portrayed with “everyday Joe’s”.

This campaign is an attempt for the NHL to reach the average family and help to associate professional hockey players with regular guys. For all intents and purposes, the NHL has more “regular guys” than any other professional sport. With the “Game On” campaign, the league is trying to leverage this point of differentiation from the other major sports.
I am looking forward to seeing these new ads as they remind television viewers that the NHL season is back! As an example, Jonathan Cheechoo is seen surfing in full equipment and Peter Forsberg helps a couple turn out the lights for the night.

Obviously these ads are meant to be funny and at the same time let us know that a great season of NHL Hockey is starting right now! I have to commend the NHL for following up last season’s marketing efforts with a structured campaign at the beginning of this season. With sports, it is difficult to carry momentum from one season to the next. I hope the league steps up to the plate with some creative and innovative marketing strategies again this season.

I will try to locate video of these commercials to add to this post as soon as possible.

UPDATE: As promised, you can find the first two video spots here.

Source: Brandweek