A high-energy mid-season campaign from the National Hockey League (NHL) declares that calling it the ‘regular season’ is somewhat misleading as the game is so exciting and unpredictable that at this time of year hockey is anything but ‘regular’.
The TV and digital ‘Nothing Regular’ campaign opened with an initial wave of four spots highlighting the things that separate hockey from other sports: featuring moments ranging from players resorting to lacrosse tactics, to incredible playmaking and eclectic rituals.
The campaign, which is the debut work from the league’s new creative relationship with agency Highdive, features a string line-up of league superstars including Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy and Alex Ovechkin.
Launched in the last week of November, the spots – which come in 60-, 30- and 15-second formats, al promise a unique experience with every game and seek to persuade viewers to subscribe to the league social channels.
There's about Ovi chasing The Great One. pic.twitter.com/SmflucOAxI
— NHL (@NHL) November 29, 2021
‘Nothing Regular’ ran acorss the league’s digital and social channels and aired on all national and local game broadcasts and related ancillary programming on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+, Hulu, TNT and NHL Network in the US, Sportsnet, CITY and CBC in Canada, and on every team’s Regional Sports Network.
The league and agency will release additional spots and content within the campaign over the next five months leading up to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“What makes the NHL so exciting is that unpredictable and amazing things really do happen every night,” said NHL SVP of Marketing and Consumer Insights Casey Hall. “The ‘play of the year’ is made and re-made each week. Fans don’t have to wait until the playoffs to see incredible moments – McDavid, Matthews, MacKinnon and many other young stars are redefining how to play the game and it’s thrilling to watch.”
“I come from a hockey family and I’ve loved this game since I was three years old,” added Highdive Co-Founder and CCO Chad Broude shared in a statement. “And you’ll find that the whole Highdive team shares this passion – from our creative leads, Katie Bero and Brian Culp, to our editor Billy Montross – everyone who touched the creative is a die-hard fan and you can really feel that in the work.”
The campaign was created by a team at the NHL’s lead creative agency Highdive which included Co-Founder and CCO Chad Broude, Creative Directors Katie Bero and Brian Culp, Creatives Casey Stern, Jorge Pomareda, Nathan Monteith and Tim Green, Strategist Alan Snitow, Executive Producer Jen Passaniti, Producer Kamerin McAllister, Managing Partner Megan Lally, Group Account Director Kristin Woodke and Editor Billy Montross.
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The work is the debut campaign from the NHL’s news creative agency Highdive – a relationship which began in August 2021. The new tie-up is a tentpole win for the Chicago-based agency which was Adweek’s ‘Breakthrough Agency of the Year’ in 2020.
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