The NHL does a horrible job marketing itself

[Lt Dan]

Let's look at these two commercials






Both these commercials are lazy, full of inside jokes and won't be understood by a non hockey fan and they likely won't gain a single new fan from either of them.


Does the NHL really think a non-hockey fan knows who any of those goalies are? How many non hockey fans can recognize a goalie with his mask off?
Do they really think a non hockey fan will get the tipping joke or would even think of a player deflecting the puck in front of the net as "tipping"?
Do they really think anyone non hockey fan knows who Brad Marchand is?


With the NFL season wrapping up the NHL should be doing a commercial directed at football fans. When the NFL season ends football fans have hockey or basketball to turn to and hockey coudl easily appeal to football fans with the right introduction.
They could do a parallel with big hits, exciting scoring plays, agile players carving through a defense, and celebrations.

But no, we get bad puns and inside jokes.

Dana White was right

‘They’re old dumb f—ing people that have no idea what’s going on.’ UFC president Dana White slams NHL’s marketing​

‘They’re old dumb f—ing people that have no idea what’s going on.’ UFC president Dana White slams NHL’s marketing

The comments come following the Stanley Cup Final, which drew historically low U.S. TV viewership.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

Click to read more...

 

[12ozPapa]

Yeah, this isn’t new?

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

The NHL is so tragic at marketing, we have to hear this topic of discussion nearly weekly.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

The NHL's marketing is all originated in Toronto, so what did you expect really?

 

[norrisnick]

Not being good at marketing is not inherently a bad thing. Selling things to someone that doesn't enjoy the thing for what it is... is a recipe for disaster because then you start changing the thing to attract those other people.

 

[tfwnogf]

uptight old farts can't meme

 

[MoneyManny]

 

[The Marquis]

I actually like the tipping ad and think it can resonate with non-fans, because it shows the faces of the players (albeit without knowing who they are or what position they play as non-fans, which is a big problem with the underlying joke), and is silly enough to catch the attention of people, because tipping is a "thing". They will watch it and the product will get eyeballs on it, which is the point. It will remind people that the NHL exists so they can consider watching it. It's a good idea with one big flaw, but is fine otherwise.

The Gen Z ad is bad. It's really bad. I mean it's a good idea with bad execution. The Gen Z being lazy is also a "thing", but the ad is just FLAT and isn't clear and really lacks direction. It's a mess. I truly think any of us could have come up with a better ad than that.

The REAL PROBLEM with these ads is their placement. I have never seen a single one of these ads during any broadcast except an NHL broadcast. So... who in the heck are they advertising to? Their own fans? WHY? There should be almost no general NHL ads on NHL broadcasts. There should be NHL ads, but not general league ads. They should be buying their general ad time elsewhere and focusing on advertising NHL PRODUCTS to NHL FANS during games.

It's a huge bummer, because we all want the league to grow, but it's just not doing a good job at any part of making that happen.

 

[SirKillalot]

Let's look at these two commercials

Thought the commercials was actually funny, but yeah might not exactly hit the target audience of a new consumer.

 

[KlefDown]

NHL is a disservice to the sport of hockey, we all know.

 

[Suntouchable13]

I actually like the tipping ad and think it can resonate with non-fans, because it shows the faces of the players (albeit without knowing who they are or what position they play as non-fans, which is a big problem with the underlying joke), and is silly enough to catch the attention of people, because tipping is a "thing". They will watch it and the product will get eyeballs on it, which is the point. It will remind people that the NHL exists so they can consider watching it. It's a good idea with one big flaw, but is fine otherwise.

The Gen Z ad is bad. It's really bad. I mean it's a good idea with bad execution. The Gen Z being lazy is also a "thing", but the ad is just FLAT and isn't clear and really lacks direction. It's a mess. I truly think any of us could have come up with a better ad than that.

The REAL PROBLEM with these ads is their placement. I have never seen a single one of these ads during any broadcast except an NHL broadcast. So... who in the heck are they advertising to? Their own fans? WHY? There should be almost no general NHL ads on NHL broadcasts. There should be NHL ads, but not general league ads. They should be buying their general ad time elsewhere and focusing on advertising NHL PRODUCTS to NHL FANS during games.

It's a huge bummer, because we all want the league to grow, but it's just not doing a good job at any part of making that happen.

"we"? who is "we"? Fans don't get anything out of the league growing. Couldn't give a crap about their profits. What's it to me?

 

[kerrabria]

As a Gen Z, I liked the Gen Z ad. Albeit, it's tough because several of the players are awkward and not good on camera, but I thought it was a fine commercial.

I think people have to temper expectations with marketing. The MLB and NFL don't do a good job marketing themselves (it doesn't matter for the NFL because they don't have to). And the NBA is only so good at marketing because of 1) the sneaker and clothing aspect, which is unique to basketball and black culture; 2) they have lots of dumb, selfish players who play into "all publicity is good publicity."

 

[blundluntman]

The commercials may not be the best for targeting new audiences, but they aren't lazy or bad imo (I actually like them), it's a good start at the very least. It would be a good idea to make some targeted commercials for football fans with the season winding down though.

 

[kerrabria]

"we"? who is "we"? Fans don't get anything out of the league growing. Couldn't give a crap about their profits. What's it to me?

The part where 2/3rds of your top line is from the American Southwest.
And how several of your other impact players came through the NCAA, and the only way the NCAA's superior methods for developing talent could be leveraged for hockey is if the sport's popularity and resources grew significantly in the US.

 

[Realgud]

Not being good at marketing is not inherently a bad thing. Selling things to someone that doesn't enjoy the thing for what it is... is a recipe for disaster because then you start changing the thing to attract those other people.

This will be an unpopular opinion but this is so true. Unfortunately, fans and owners alike are usually obsessed with their product being as popular as possible. Weird bragging rights for the fans, and more money for billionaires.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Surprised it's still in business.

 

[PaulD]

Well they have all of us hooked.

Why does any fan care if the NHL is marketing the league adequately.
I mean, are you looking for a job?
lol
The game is great , the league is great ......matters not to me one bit if a billion people are watching or only a thousand. Matters not to me how many jerseys and caps are selling.

Only place I ever hear this is on line. When talking hockey at the rink, office water cooler, local bar, dinner table......this never ever comes up.

 

[1989]

"we"? who is "we"? Fans don't get anything out of the league growing. Couldn't give a crap about their profits. What's it to me?

That's extremely short-sighted. If the league folded tomorrow I guarantee over half of the "die-hard hockey fans" wouldn't start watching the KHL / lower leagues.

Profit comes from growth. Even if you take away corporate profit, hockey is already the most gate-kept major North American sport; if the players make any less money than they do now, why wouldn't parents just enroll their kids in soccer, football, baseball, basketball where the costs are fewer, the skills training less specialized, the injuries fewer/less debilitating, and the professional opportunities are both more varied and lucrative?

A sport like hockey requires specialized equipment; specialized playing surface; and a team. It's expensive to start playing, it's expensive to keep playing, and if anyone makes it to the top, they make millions less than professional athletes in other team sports; an elite hockey player might only make 50-100 million in a career, where there are professionals in baseball, basketball, football, soccer, making that in a single contract.

So yeah - if you like the highest professional level of hockey being played in North America, you do want growth. I also could not care less about corporate profit but I care about the health of the sport; the players aren't playing for free. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that if you polled every player if they wanted the League to grow, the answer would be a near-unanimous "yes."

It's like none of you have ever had a job or practised business logistics before.

 

[DavidpauseReinbacher]

Another useless thing NHL does is give out NMC and NTC to every pubber on earth.

Owners should only focus on that in next CBA. Grandfather all the nmcs and ntcs already in place. But get rid of them for next CBA. That's should be a priority. Laughed out the room in any other league. NBA has two and NFL would laugh the player outta the room.

And black list the gm that started giving their 11 th best player nmcs.

 

[Matty Sundin]

League is run by old boys club dinosaurs so not suprised. The league needs Mats Sundin to run the marketing as he was always in the best commercials 25 years ago that crush these. They were so good, that the league has purged most of his commercials to find online to not make them look so bad.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I actually like the tipping ad and think it can resonate with non-fans, because it shows the faces of the players (albeit without knowing who they are or what position they play as non-fans, which is a big problem with the underlying joke), and is silly enough to catch the attention of people, because tipping is a "thing". They will watch it and the product will get eyeballs on it, which is the point. It will remind people that the NHL exists so they can consider watching it. It's a good idea with one big flaw, but is fine otherwise.

The Gen Z ad is bad. It's really bad. I mean it's a good idea with bad execution. The Gen Z being lazy is also a "thing", but the ad is just FLAT and isn't clear and really lacks direction. It's a mess. I truly think any of us could have come up with a better ad than that.

The REAL PROBLEM with these ads is their placement. I have never seen a single one of these ads during any broadcast except an NHL broadcast. So... who in the heck are they advertising to? Their own fans? WHY? There should be almost no general NHL ads on NHL broadcasts. There should be NHL ads, but not general league ads. They should be buying their general ad time elsewhere and focusing on advertising NHL PRODUCTS to NHL FANS during games.

It's a huge bummer, because we all want the league to grow, but it's just not doing a good job at any part of making that happen.

I liked the tipping ad AND the Gen Z ad - Crosby's line abuot "kids" at the end was perfect I thought, seeing as how he's now, at 37, one of the elder statesmen in the league.

Also as someone who flat out refuses to get cable and only generally sees ads while streaming hockey games, I don't have a problem with ad placement. Would much rather see an ad from the NHL than by one of those idiotic and repetitive sports betting sites.

 

[kerrabria]

The REAL PROBLEM with these ads is their placement. I have never seen a single one of these ads during any broadcast except an NHL broadcast. So... who in the heck are they advertising to? Their own fans? WHY? There should be almost no general NHL ads on NHL broadcasts. There should be NHL ads, but not general league ads. They should be buying their general ad time elsewhere and focusing on advertising NHL PRODUCTS to NHL FANS during games.

The key demo for NHL marketing is 18-34. We're the ones most likely to waste disposable income and free time on sports, and we're also less settled in our ways. Attract a young person to the sport before preferences set in, and you'll have a fan for 40+ years. That's a better bet than trying to sway middle-aged people who have never gotten into hockey.

The point is that young people only see commercials during sports games--and even then most people find ways around it. These commercials should (and are) on social media, but where else do you want them? On TBS re-runs of "Friends?"

 

[Lunatik]

I actually like the tipping ad and think it can resonate with non-fans, because it shows the faces of the players (albeit without knowing who they are or what position they play as non-fans, which is a big problem with the underlying joke), and is silly enough to catch the attention of people, because tipping is a "thing". They will watch it and the product will get eyeballs on it, which is the point. It will remind people that the NHL exists so they can consider watching it. It's a good idea with one big flaw, but is fine otherwise.

The Gen Z ad is bad. It's really bad. I mean it's a good idea with bad execution. The Gen Z being lazy is also a "thing", but the ad is just FLAT and isn't clear and really lacks direction. It's a mess. I truly think any of us could have come up with a better ad than that.

The REAL PROBLEM with these ads is their placement. I have never seen a single one of these ads during any broadcast except an NHL broadcast. So... who in the heck are they advertising to? Their own fans? WHY? There should be almost no general NHL ads on NHL broadcasts. There should be NHL ads, but not general league ads. They should be buying their general ad time elsewhere and focusing on advertising NHL PRODUCTS to NHL FANS during games.

It's a huge bummer, because we all want the league to grow, but it's just not doing a good job at any part of making that happen.

They play regularly on Sportsnet in Canada. I can't speak for other channels because I never watch other channels live.

 

[BruinDust]

The NHL doesn't make great commercials. Well, most commercials these days are complete dogshit so they aren't alone in that regard.

And Dana White shouldn't throw stones. I was a UFC fan once about 15 years ago. They had some names back then that had some main-stream recognition.

Now I couldn't name a single champion in their entire promotion. I think Jon Jones has a belt, but I'd have to look that up to be sure. To many weight classes, to many champions, top fighters seem rise, fall, and disappear quickly.

 

[the valiant effort]

If you had a bad day!!

Hope for their next commercial they bring out another decades old, universally maligned song.

Look at this photograph