The Montreal Canadiens are not only a professional hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL), they are a global brand. Recently, the marketing team at the organization has been devising a plan to reach it’s fans on all corners of the globe, while promoting their sponsors at the same time. Their solution was Club 1909—a loyalty program for fans that offers them the opportunity to partake in competitions, buy Habs apparel, while at the same time gathering data about the fan base. Marketing at the organization have even found a way around the NHL rule that a sponsor is not allowed to affiliate with a team outside a 75 km radius of the arena. By hosting competitions they could reward someone with an Air Canada plane ticket to see a game, and thus promotion of the club is able to become much more widespread.
As a Montreal Canadiens fan myself, I can attest to the fact that this program will be widespread and popular among Habs fans. The Montreal Canadiens have some of the most loyal and dedicated supporters in the NHL, and the point system that the organization is using will be a major attraction for potential sponsors. Club 1909 also opens the door for the organization to stretch the rules that the league has put on teams marketing, which will prove to be vital to the organizations success in keeping a loyal fan-base and also recruiting new fans from around the world.
Article: Montreal Canadiens Launch a cannonading drive for loyalty.