An October campaign from Turner Sports’ TNT and Bleacher Report leveraged the start of the 2022/3 NHL season by targeting young adults not currently hockey fans with fresh and funny creative suggesting ‘There’s Some Hockey In You’.
The campaign from one of the league’s official USA broadcast partners, created in harness with agency Mojo Supermarket, is based around executions posing bold questions: “Are you too loud, too intense and too unpredictable? Are you unapologetically bold and assertive? Are you driven to excess? If so, you could be kind of a jerk. Or maybe there’s just some hockey in you.”
The integrated new season initiative pitches NHL action to a young audience not already following the sport by asking “Are you loud and unpredictable? There’s a sport for that.”
It is spearheaded by a hero spot spanning TV and digital and supported by additional video, social and OOH strands.
As well as championing the brand within the creative by including ‘NHL on TNT’ posters on walls, the marketing team included a few ‘Easter Eggs’ (references/imagery) for hardcore fans too: including nods to the Philadelphia Flyers’ iconic / cult-ish) mascot Gritty in the form of a custom-made coat and the proclivity of Detroit Red Wings fans for tossing octopuses onto the ice in the form of bar food.
Bleacher Report: “There’s Some Hockey In You” – Sound Design & Mix by Raja Sehgal & Tom Pugh from GCRS on Vimeo.
Specifically, the work, tagged “There’s Some Hockey in You,” invites folks to watch the NHL on TNT and bids them to sample the Bleacher Report’s ‘Open Ice‘ coverage connecting hockey to popular culture. (Warner Bros. Discovery owns both B/R and TNT.)
Social posts also playfully challenge viewers/users who find the campaign’s copy and attitude too aggressive, loud or spicy to ‘complain via text’ in order to be in with a chance to win prizes – which include Stanley Cup tickets – in the campaign’s sweepstakes strand.
Plus, according to the agency, a limited-edition ‘Hot As Puck’ sauce is also in the works.
“Young people today don’t think hockey is for them, yet they gravitate toward entertainment that’s just as over the top,” explained Mojo Strategy Director Nitin Dua. “They develop ‘God Complexes’ on TikTok, embrace maximalist brands, and watch shows like Euphoria. They want entertainment that is as extra as they are. We just had to bring the sport to them.”
“We took learnings from other leagues that success would come from finding opportunities to take the NHL’s personality out in the world,” added Dua. “Our goal wasn’t to try to do interesting stuff on the ice to get people into the sport. We had to find cultural intersections and take the sport to them.”
The campaign was conceived and created by agency Mojo Supermarket for client TNT/Bleacher Report with input from Production Agency Riff Raff Films with Director David Wilson, Stitch Editing, Electric Theatre Collective (ETC), Grand Central Recording Studios and SixtyFour Music.
Comment
This is something of a pugnacious campaign: perhaps like the spot of ice hockey itself.
Indeed, according to the agency, the strategy was influenced by approaches and themes common to NBA campaigns and marketing which link the sport, the league and the action to contemporary culture in the form of design, entertainment, fashion and music and how it influences and reflects the broader socio-cultural zeitgeist.
Turner Sports (a division of WarnerMedia), which acquired Bleacher Report in August 2012 for $175m, recently re-signed as an official NHL broadcast partner in the USA alongside Disney/ESPN. Thus expanding its rights roster which also includes the NBA, MLB and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Since the 2021/2 season, the NHL has been shown on the ABC network, cable networks ESPN, TBS and TNT and on internet streaming services ESPN+ and Hulu. The NHL’s seven-year multimedia rights agreement with Turner Sports spans TNT and TBS includes Stanley Cup Final, Playoffs and the Winter Classic and runs through 2027-28.
This campaign continues Turner’s commitment to fun and innovation.
“They put a fun and innovative factor into all of what they do and we’re excited to have that same treatment for our sport and for our fans,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman when announcing the latest broadcast rights deal. “We love the reach of their linear networks, both TNT and TBS, and as we look to the future, we’re excited about the digital properties, in particular HBO Max and Bleacher Report. For us, this is a perfect fit.”
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