I am a huge Vancouver Canucks fan, having grown up in a household where Hockey Night in Canada was our equivalent of “Family Game Night”. The Canuck’s inspired me to begin playing ice hockey at the age of 5 and I have been playing ever since. I’ve been thinking a lot about the relationship between the Vancouver Canucks and marketing and the relationship is significant.
The Vancouver Canuck’s organization sells a service: an entertainment service. They sell tickets for games, merchandise and apparel at their stores and food and beverages at their concessions. The Vancouver Canucks offer particular products and services, and to sell these products and services they need to market themselves.
A quick situational analysis reveals that the Canucks are in the sporting events industry, with their name and trademark being their most effective marketing strategy. Using the marketing mix, the Canucks have focused on the 4 P’s: Price, Product, Place and Promotion. Just focusing on one of the P’s for now, promotion, the Canucks advertise the sale of their seasons tickets online on their website, on TV, on the radio and in the media. It is impossible to walk the streets of Vancouver and not see a single item of Vancouver Canucks merchandise. The Canucks are being promoted everywhere, and this is contagious, with the Canucks having sold out every home game for the past several years and the fact that there is a waiting list for people wanting to become Season’s ticket holders.
This year is the Vancouver Canucks’ 40th year in the NHL and they have launched an advertising campaign to promote this milestone season. In my next post I will talk about how the marketing team for the Vancouver Canucks have segmented their fans to enhance their marketing strategy. For now, lets hope this 2010 season is a promising one for the Canucks!
and here is my favorite goal from last year
