Going off-leash all season long
As some of the loudest Niagara IceDogs supporters in the house, we were born ready to gear up and help unleash our fellow hockey fans for a season of fun.
The Ask
Pack the stands with commited fans
To build awareness and help drive 2019-20 season ticket subscriptions, the Niagara IceDogs approached us to support their sales strategy, craft campaign messaging, and encourage fans to make a (flexible) commitment to a season of the best sports entertainment in Niagara.
Our Approach
Picking apart what powers the pack
We applied best practices in membership branding and sports-specific marketing in our approach to building engagement, exclusivity, and a sense of connection among IceDogs superfans. In developing The Unleashed, we created an emotionally-charged brand that IceDogs season ticket holders could call their own.
The Unleashed are the fans who cheer the loudest, aren’t afraid of face paint, and come back year after year regardless of trades and heartbreaks. They are young and young at heart, and their energy is contagious, creating a sense of community that keeps members wanting to secure their seats each season.
Brand Identity
Marking a membership’s territory
To visualize the palpable passion of The Unleashed experience, we developed a high-energy wordmark, colour palette, typography, and image style that would be unique to this group of superfans, but also worked alongside the existing identity and marketing materials of the team.
Campaign Strategy
Barking up the right trees
After consultation with team leadership and analysis of ticket sales data, we developed complimentary but distinct strategies to boost season ticket sales amongst corporate, family, and casual fans. Campaign messaging proactively addressed common questions with clever quips, and equipped fans with shareable lists of the top ten reasons why their boss / family / friends should become Unleashed.
Collateral Production
Facing off with fan excitement
We recruited local IceDogs lovers and let our professional face painter go wild for a fun photoshoot that captured that special moment when fans become superfans. Graphic design for social, email, and print collateral incorporated the campaign messaging with the larger-than-life faces of our Unleashed fans, making placements hard to miss and easy to understand.
Campaign Microsite
Designing a digital doghouse
We gave superfans their very own digs, where perks, pricing, and flexible options were presented in a user-friendly design. Shareable content encouraged users to recruit their favourite fellow fans with fun reasons to become Unleashed, and direct response options put fans in touch with the IceDogs ticketing team.
Campaign Management
Running with the pack
Organic social media and email marketing campaigns were integrated with the Niagara IceDogs’ daily digital management strategies to ensure content was shared in a way that complimented team announcements, game coverage, and community involvement. We worked closely with the organization to ensure the Unleashed campaign content was scheduled around priority posts and would not be lost in live game coverage. We monitored day-to-day interactions pertaining to campaign content and notified the IceDogs team of any relevant customer service inquiries or leads as they arose from campaign engagement.
What We Learned
Data is a dog's best friend
With a season under our collars, we identified opportunities to further support The Unleashed campaign across organizational touchpoints, with the goals of increasing brand awareness and recognition, and driving ticket sales. Campaign performance, social listening, and anecdotal observations from our online and rinkside perspectives have informed ongoing marketing decisions for the organization.
