If there’s one word that Canadians associate with hockey, it’s passion. Steeped in tradition, and rich in legend, the national pastime has become synonymous with the drive to succeed.

That fire infuses every aspect of the sport, including the sponsorship arena – pardon the pun – and Canadian marketers are increasingly looking to get more out of hockey in their play for consumer awareness and loyalty.

Coca-Cola, Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, Esso, and McDonald’s – among many others – are facing off with new or refocused hockey-themed promotions and tie-ins. And these marketers are no longer playing Pee Wee.

Many have become pros at not only sourcing a sponsorship, but figuring out how to best leverage that asset through multi-year, multi-million-dollar proprietary programs – which, according to pundits, is the trickiest part of the sponsorship game.

Take Toronto-based TSN. Last fall, following the announcement of its five-year broadcast agreement with The National Hockey League (NHL), which includes 73 regular season NHL games and three rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the network ushered in its new ‘Hockey Lives Here’ platform.

‘Other marketers have a great heritage with the tradition of hockey and we wanted to take a different approach – an entertaining approach – something that hadn’t been tried before,’ says Adam Ashton, director of marketing at TSN. He says the new positioning is reflected in the station’s broadcast strategy, which is complemented by a new 3,500-square-foot set, as well as in its entertaining ad campaign. ‘It’s a cluttered market and we wanted to come at our whole hockey philosophy differently.’

Featuring NHL coaches, officials and players in full uniform just hanging out with TSN talent as part of their everyday lives, the marketing campaign includes a heavy rotation of 17 episodic TV spots, several full-page print ads, radio, outdoor and bar signage, with additional executions planned down the road.

The campaign – which was developed in-house – has been adjusted for the upcoming playoffs, Ashton says, namely with the addition of an original theme song dubbed ‘The Silver Cup,’ which will be played before the start of every game.

The positioning and promo activity has helped TSN to increase its adults 2+ national audience by 14% (season to date vs. last year). Last month, the campaign also garnered TSN top honours for the ‘use of the NHL as a basis for a marketing platform’ at the NHL’s 2003 Stanleys, a competition designed to recognize excellence in NHL business partner marketing activity for 2002.

Other 2003 Stanleys winners included Anheuser-Busch in ‘The Ultimate Fan’ category for its Bud Light retail NHL all-star sweepstakes; The Hockey Company as ‘best NHL partner activation using NHL players’ for its CCM ‘Externos’ campaign featuring Joe Thornton of the Boston Bruins; and MasterCard International as ‘best NHL partner produced television commercial’ for its ‘The Cup Keeper’ spot.

‘Our strategic mind-set is not about how many partners we have at the league, it’s about fewer, broader, deeper relationships – brand leaders who are going to utilize the NHL and what the sport means in Canadian culture to drive business,’ says Andrew Judelson, group VP corporate marketing at the NHL head office in New York.

‘We always look for activation. A partner can come on board and sit on the rights. But we want to make sure they are actually utilizing the rights. In Canada, in no unspoken terms, we have partners activating at unprecedented levels,’ he says.

In fact, total partner spending has increased from US$350 million to US$400 million over the last year. Numbers like that speak to the larger trend of savvy companies using fewer sponsorship properties, but investing more heavily in the properties they choose to support, says Judelson.

Not just for hardcore fans

There’s a reason Canadian marketers invest in hockey, says Matthew Diamond, managing director at Toronto-based Capital C Communications: Hockey runs deep in this country.

No other sport can command the kind of ratings it does – CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada attracts well over one million viewers on a regular Saturday night. It’s also the most closely watched sport in Canada for 12- to 17-year-olds, he adds.

According to the NHL, one out of every two Canadians plays the game. The majority of marketers target the primary group – men 18-49 – as well as families with children. Compared to other professional leagues, the psychographic of the NHL audience is higher-educated, more affluent, and tech-savvy, adds Judelson.

‘I wouldn’t discount women or kids, however,’ says Ian Malcom, president of Toronto-based sports promo agency Desperado. ‘As a marketer talking hockey, the whole Canadiana of hockey brushes off and still resonates with non-hockey fans. It’s all in how you present it. As a new Canadian, for example, you know hockey is important to this country, even if you’re not a fan.’

Esso’s tradition of hockey sponsorship spans nearly seven decades – beginning in 1936 with the sponsorship of Foster Hewitt’s radio broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada. In that time, Imperial Oil has striven to make the Esso brand synonymous with hockey through sponsorships with the NHL, the Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) and separate relationships with individual NHL teams (Leafs, Senators and Canucks).

The company has also sought deep local involvement through community hockey programs for youth, including its Medals of Achievement, Ottawa Senators Adopt-A-Team, Maple Leaf Street Buds, and Vancouver Canucks Minor Hockey Nights programs.

Esso’s current ‘Fill Up for the Cup’ promotion, which allows gas buyers the chance to win tickets to a Stanley Cup final, is designed to support sales through integration with its Esso Extra Loyalty Program.

In the last nine years, Esso has also become involved with women’s hockey as the title sponsor for the Esso Women’s National Hockey Championships, and by spearheading community development programs (Esso Women’s Fun Days) for Canadian girls interested in playing the game, says Karen Fraser, marketing sponsorship manager at Esso’s Toronto office.

‘Participation in women’s hockey has increased 400% over the last 10 years. So while the audience is still predominantly male, that represents a significant growth area,’ she says.

‘I don’t think there’s any other sport or activity that has as broad an impact across all customer segments. It definitely fits our [customer relationship and loyalty] objective.’

MasterCard Canada has also been supporting hockey at both the NHL level and CHL level for several years now. To ensure it was hitting all its targets from an audience and viewership perspective, the credit card giant also incorporated figure skating into its sponsorship portfolio. Tracy Hanson, VP marketing and communications at MasterCard Canada, based in Toronto, says it allowed the company to take a significant, high-profile role in both sports.

MasterCard has run several hockey-themed ‘Priceless’ ad executions and promotions as part of its hockey program – this month it is launching a ‘fun’ new ‘Priceless’ promo for the Stanley Cup, called the MasterCard Three Stars.

In addition, at the CHL level, the company has created a hockey equipment drive with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Canada, which acquires new and gently-used hockey equipment for kids.

Hanson agrees that focusing on fewer sponsorships, but doing them better, is key. ‘With sponsorships it’s not the property you have, it’s what you do with it. As a brand-builder, it’s critical that you make an emotional connection between the sport and the fan, and then affix your brand to it,’ says Hanson.

More than just rink boards

Mark Harrison, president and CEO of Toronto-based TrojanOne Sports & Event Marketing, says that one of the things marketers don’t do as well as they should is decide what sports to hook up with, and at what level.

‘You have to make sure your brand has a fit with hockey – rather than picking hockey and adjusting your brand accordingly,’ he cautions. ‘You need to leverage a sport or property to help you communicate those things about your brand that are important.’

Harrison adds that the biggest challenge with activating a sponsorship is planning for it to be a central part of a company’s overall marketing platform. That means the brand owner must bring the creative agency or department, the promo firm and the PR company together and say, ‘We’ve acquired these rights, now do what you do best and use it.’

‘Coming up with an integrated strategy like that doesn’t happen as much as it should. It would be the equivalent of signing an endorsement deal with Tom Cruise, and then having just a banner up at the festival he will attend, and maybe some tickets to the show. Meanwhile, that person in Calgary has no idea you have a relationship with him because you didn’t use him in your ads,’ says Harrison. ‘Companies that do integration well get huge dividends out of it.’

Toronto-based Kraft Canada recently launched its Shoot to Win promotion as part of its overall hockey program that began 18 years ago with the sponsorship of Pee Wee hockey in Quebec. The packaged goods behemoth has also supported the NHL and The NHL Players’ Association for 13 years.

‘Canadians love hockey and our multi-faceted Shoot to Win promotion uses a unique, captivating approach that really speaks to hockey fans. The campaign… leverages opportunities to build traffic-stopping displays and bring the excitement of hockey right into grocery stores,’ says Joe Catalano, director of consumer promotions at Kraft Canada, adding that the promo offers consumers a chance to play online to win prizes, and the chance to shoot a puck in the net at a live game for up to $1 million.

Throughout its hockey program, Kraft has incorporated everything from in-box hockey cards and premiums to on-ice events. It has also continued to bring hockey to the product level by transforming its Ritz crackers and Oreo cookies into NHL pucks and team logos. The program has evolved to include programs like the integrated on-pack and on-ice Shoot to Win promotion.

Capital C’s Diamond says: ‘The key is that they activate every year – that means they actually do programs in-store, on-box and on-ice utilizing both players and teams.’ The managing director of Kraft’s promotions agency adds that the current promotion includes full-size hockey nets and sticks, and other P-O-S material at grocery stores, as well as mainstream ad media and a promotion partnership with the CBC.

‘[The product and promo material] will be on the shelves until at least playoff season – so four months of taking the property and making it work hard for you. That’s worth so much more than a 30-second TV spot. It makes the consumer feel engaged and involved,’ he says.

Getting deeper into hockey

Keith McIntyre, president of sports marketing resource group K.Mac & Associates of Toronto, says that while companies are generally moving away from building multiple sports programs, many, like MasterCard and Esso, are extending their programs to include multiple levels of the same sport.

He says their portfolios encompass everything from the NHL and the Canadian Hockey League (junior level) to Pee Wee and beginner levels.

TrojanOne’s Harrison advocates such a pyramid structure for all sponsorships. At the top, marketers should focus on legitimizing their brand with a property such as the NHL or the CHA. The mid-section emphasises the marketing assets – acquiring an all-star game, or building a custom promotion or the world’s best beer-league hockey tournament, for example. Last but not least, is the grassroots level, Harrison says, where marketers might target families, for example, through the support of Saturday morning community or Pee Wee hockey.

But when it comes to amateur sports, marketers are still having trouble figuring out how to get involved, says Dave Paterson, president and partner of Toronto sports marketing firm Bounce Sports Media.

For the most part, each amateur organization relies on volunteers to attract and execute sponsorships, an area not all are completely familiar with. They also have different planning cycles so marketers must think ahead.

Once an area dominated by the local Rotary Clubs and Lion’s Clubs, community-level sponsorships have evolved to include more players from corporate Canada. Paterson contends grassroots is an ideal way to invest in a community and get impactful marketing experiences and messages to the people making the buying decisions. Depending on the brand strategy, he says, marketers can choose to target the 50 top membership groups in the sport in Canada, for example, or only clubs in Eastern Canada.

‘I can still tell you what sponsor was on my shirt when I first stepped onto the ice as a kid in an organized hockey association. Kids remember. And then that translates into a photograph, which either goes on grandma’s wall, in the rec room or at dad’s office. So the brand extensions and the awareness continues and continues,’ he says, adding that according to the CHA, in the 2001-02 season over 530,000 Canadians ages 4 to adult were registered to play amateur or recreational hockey across the country.

Who needs the NHL?

‘Hockey is part of our heritage – it’s something that Canadians expect us to be a part of,’ says David McMullen, senior director of regional marketing and national promotions at Toronto-based Tim Hortons. ‘But it is a small part of our broadcast thrust.’

Tim Hortons, he says, has established relationships with all of the individual teams across Canada – but not the NHL. Rather, the company has developed a long-standing regional marketing program across Canada and the U.S., which provides it with the opportunity to align to local causes and local sponsorships. Franchisees, working with regional marketing managers, organize and execute sponsorships at the local level.

The company also supports roughly 50,000 kids nationwide through its Timbits Minor Hockey Program, introduced over 10 years ago. In February, Tim Hortons partnered with the CBC and Hockey Night in Canada for Hockey Month in Canada, which featured stories about kids and hockey, as well as the institution of hockey in Canada. It also broadcast a live Timbits hockey demonstration during the intermission of one of its feature Saturday night games – the Timbits regularly entertain crowds during game intermissions at the Air Canada Centre, among other venues.

Esso’s Fraser says community involvement – which often takes place through its NHL teams and CHA partnership – is a key component to Esso’s sponsorship strategy. Not only does it strengthen Esso’s brand image and presence, but it allows the company – and especially its local retail outlets – to make that personal connection that ultimately leads to stronger relationships and increased loyalty, she says.

‘There are more and more companies sponsoring hockey, so if you want to develop a relationship with a team, for example, and satisfy all these integrated elements, it is becoming much more difficult. And it will continue to do so,’ says Fraser.

‘But we have amazing personal anecdotes from hockey fans and players about long-standing relationships and loyalty – and for us that’s the message. We can relate with our customers in a way they understand and are equally as passionate about.’

League, player or amateur?

Given the numerous associations and complicated relationship between the NHL and its member teams, tying into hockey can be a confusing business.

Marketers who sponsor the NHL proper, says Andrew Judelson, group VP corporate marketing at the NHL head office in New York, are buying the rights to exclusive use of the NHL shield and NHL member club logos and use of footage and images, as well as the ‘official’ NHL partner designation. (See ‘NHL corporate marketing partners’ on page 23 for list of NHL sponsors.)

But in order to sponsor individual NHL players, a separate sponsorship agreement is required by marketers through the National Hockey League Player’s Association (NHLPA).

Finally, it’s the Canadian Hockey Association (which represents the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and the Canadian Inter-University Athletic Union at the national level), which handles sponsorships encompassing amateur hockey, including World Championships, the World Cup of Hockey and the Olympic Games.

The emotional connection

Even marketers aren’t immune to the powerful nostalgic punch stirred by early memories of hockey

Mark Harrison, president and CEO, TrojanOne Sports & Event Marketing

‘When I was in Grade 1, my entire elementary school was ushered into the cafeteria and they wheeled out our four black-and-white televisions on stands, and we watched the entire Canada-Russia hockey series – all eight games. It’s flabbergasting to think of that today. And yet, the passion is still there, as evidenced by last year’s Olympic hockey wins.’

Tracy Hanson, VP marketing and communications, MasterCard Canada

‘I grew up with the game – my dad played – and I used to love nothing better than to go and watch him play hockey. For me the game is about spirit and passion, and home – it’s about Canada.’

Karen Fraser, marketing sponsorship manager, Esso Canada

‘I have two younger brothers and I played ball hockey with them. When I grew up there were just the six national hockey teams in the NHL, and you knew every player. Saturday night was spent watching the hockey game – and that’s interesting because I’m a first generation Canadian. My parents emigrated from Europe. To me that verifies the point that as newcomers come to our country, they too become engaged in the cultural phenomenon of hockey.’

Matthew Diamond, managing director, Capital C Communications

‘For me hockey means passion, pride and patriotism. It’s the emotion I remember from being a small kid at Maple Leaf Gardens with my dad – the smell, the sights and the sounds – and it’s no different than when I watch today. When our country won the gold medals at the 2002 Olympics, it struck a very emotional chord – we’re the best in the world at hockey, and there’s a lot of pride and emotion in that.’

NHL corporate marketing partners (2002-03)

* Anheuser-Busch (U.S.)*

* Coca-Cola Company/POWERade (North America)

* Colgate-Palmolive/Mennen (Canada)

* DaimlerChrysler/Dodge Corporation (North America)

* Duracell (Canada)

* Effem Foods/M&M Mars (Canada)

* Esso/Imperial Oil (Canada)

* The Kellogg Company (U.S.)

* Kraft/Nabisco (Canada)

* Labatt Breweries of Canada (Canada)*

* MasterCard International (North America)

* MBNA Corporation (North America)*

* McDonald’s (Canada)

* Nextel Communications (U.S.)

* Nike (North America)

* PowerBar (Canada)

* Quizno’s (U.S.)

* Southwest Airlines (U.S.)

* Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide (North America)

* Sun Microsystems (North America)

* Partners retain some international territory rights