Last year we saw the NHL launch a hugely successful marketing campaign for the playoffs. The “History Will Be Made” campaign generated viewership in excess of 300 million, and has returned for round two this year. It featured iconic moments from the history of the NHL playoffs, such as Steve Yzerman’s unforgettable series winning goal in the 1998 Western Conference finals with the tagline “History will be made in the NHL playoffs.”
While commercials for this year’s playoffs were not supposed to air until March 13th, two sneak-peeks were released earlier this week. The one below features the captain of the 2010 Stanley Cup champions, Jonathan Toews. After watching this commercial it is not difficult to see why this campaign was so successful. Anyone could relate to that 8 year-old boy, blowing out the candles on a cake, wishing to one day raise the Stanley Cup above his head; I certainly did. The commercial pulls at the affective part of the consumer psyche, and does so very effectively.
The NHL promises to release twenty more commercials between today and the first day of the playoffs, with a new commercial every day from April 14th until the Stanley Cup is raised. I look forward to seeing how the NHL builds off the success of last year and what new events they feature in each commercial.
