For the 2017/2018 NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs were planning on celebrating their centennial season in the expected fashion - with a throwback to their greatest moments of the past 100 years.
Then the audience data came back from the 2017 playoff run. It highlighted a problem - we had lost a generation of fans. Young people did not feel connected or excited by the Leafs.
CHALLENGE
The Leafs had lost a generation of fans. Young people were not engaging with the team. We needed to build relationships to ensure the longevity of a vibrant fanbase. The ask was to increase our engagement with youth.
SOLUTION
We shifted our marketing strategy to “spread the love” and speak directly to the next generation of fans.
We created moments that targeted that audience - the Home Opener, Family Day weekend and more. The keystone moment was our 100th birthday. Instead of looking back on the past, we leveraged the event to celebrate the next generation of players and fans.
We broke the mold and scheduled the game in the afternoon so that younger fans could come to the game and stream it from school. We spoke their language and scheduled content, programming and contests to bring youth to the game. We created partnerships with the school boards across Ontario to set them up for their own viewing parties.
And we leveraged the content created during this moment to extend the message throughout the whole season.
RESULTS
7,000 youth experienced the game in arena. That’s 40% of the crowd.
10,000 kids watched from team-sponsored viewing parties.
437,000 live broadcast audience - the largest daytime NHL game in the past decade.
And the campaign won the NHL’s Marketing Campaign of the Year.