“People underestimate the power of nostalgia. If baseball can use it to get people to care about that worthless sport, then I can use it to get my siblings to care about the farm. Nostalgia is truly one of the great human weaknesses. Second only to the neck.” – Dwight K. Schrute
In recent years professional sports have been using emotion and nostalgia as core themes for their marketing campaigns. Sports can be fast paced, rough and gritty. However, when it comes to recent marketing initiatives, leagues and brands seem to be taking a softer more gentle approach. They’re starting to create emotionally driven campaigns that appeal to our sense of nostalgia. For the purpose of this blog post I have chosen to focus on hockey. This trend applies to other sports as well. Baseball and golf have both very recently created successful, emotionally driven campaigns.
The NHL makes less money than any of the other three major North American sports leagues. One thing the NHL has going for them is their playoffs. The Stanley Cup is often called the most difficult trophy to win and even fans of other sports and other leagues often admit that the NHL playoffs are the best and most entertaining playoffs in pro sports. The NHL knows the Stanley Cup playoffs is their golden ticket, that one time period each year where the game is being played at the highest level. This represents the greatest opportunity to build their brand and increase their fan base.
In the past, marketing campaigns for hockey have often relied on the pure physicality, dynamism and technical expertise of the game. Hockey is a highlight reel sport, there are so many ways to score a goal or make a play, that the game itself creates such exciting, impactful moments. The NHL has been very progressive and creative in shifting to more emotionally laden marketing campaigns. Of course what underlies all campaigns is the business of increasing revenue. These emotionally centric campaigns have served to attract a much broader fan base, a fan base that’s not necessarily knowledgeable or passionate about hockey. The beauty of these campaigns is that you can have little technical knowledge of the game and despite that, be swept away. How do they do it? The answer is here.
What’s extraordinarily compelling about this video is that you can clearly see that there is zero information, or exposure to the actual game of hockey. In many ways there’s nothing more innovative then to market a sport without actually showing the game. Yet, as you view this video it emotionally resonates with all of us because it portrays all our hopes and dreams and passion, that one extraordinary moment when our dreams are realized. This gets at the very core of human nature, whether it’s our own personal dreams or dreams for our family or children.
This campaign has another hook and that’s nostalgia. Once again this isn’t about skill or highlights, it’s about the journey and story of these players who have been in the league for years. They made history by grasping their life long dream towards the end of their career. This campaign appeals to die hard fans who are passionate about the history of the sport and the players. As a fan you can watch the video and remember vividly all those moment of players finally capturing hockey’s ultimate trophy, all the moments in their careers that lead up to that, all the moments they came so close only to fall short. It’s a nostalgic look back in time.
This campaign is so great because of it’s broad based appeal. It’s not an inside joke that you only get to be a part of if you’re a fan. The level of intense emotion shown by every player speaks a universal language understood by all. It transcends hockey and touches a personal and emotional chord for everyone.
– Josh
Nostalgia is such a great selling tool- and it’s almost strange how much impact it has on humans. We can never change our past, but we remain fixated on it. One of my favourite characters in the movie “Napoleon Dynamite” was his Uncle Rico who was actually so caught up in his past life as a great football player that he didn’t live in the present as well as he could. This was an incredibly fun and frivolous movie, but deeper meanings really make it more relatable- just as nostalgia does to sports. One of my favourite nostalgia ads comes from golf- as you’ve already mentioned- and stars Tiger Woods and Rory McCIlroy in a commercial entitled “Ripple”. In this case, the past actually created something real- something I wish Uncle Rico could have seen as well!
Thanks for the comment! I agree, it’s amazing how impacted we can be by nostalgia and what a strong emotional response it create. Uncle Rico is a great example, he’s so fixated on his past and trying to re-create it that he’s never fully focused on just moving on and living his life. I actually have an Uncle Rico shirt. Ripple is exactly what I was referring to when I mentioned that golf and baseball have been using Nostalgia too. I really wanted wanted to include the ad and talk about it, but I felt it would have made my post way too long.
I agree that connecting with someone on an emotional level can be more effective than just stating the hard facts or technicalities. It is the kicker that often times cracks even the toughest of nuts. I know that deciding to play a sport professionally takes extreme dedication and persistence, and each time I witness a win (especially if it is an underdog) and they start to tell the story behind it all, I always find that I shed a few tears, plus I use it as motivation as well. It is no wonder athletes make such great motivational speakers.
Great blog post Josh. I think this ad is an excellent example of the power of emotion and how sometimes, words really can not do a feeling justice. This advert challenges the expected tough guy action ad and through its originality is refreshing and memorable.
Despite guys not wanting to admit it, sports are VERY emotional. They have loss, anger, jealousy, pride, joy, elation, and so on. Why not leverage this in campaigns and bring the sport experience to the next level for consumers? On a side note, there are also no words for why the Maple Leafs haven’t won a Stanley in 48 years…
The emotion is such a big factor for both the players and fans. As you’ve put there is such a wide range of emotions that sports conjures up, I think that’s why it has been used so successfully in marketing.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Yes, this has really become a strength of the NHL marketing team, they’ve stuck with emotional ad campaigns like this one every year for the playoffs and they always win awards and have extremely positive responses.
Whether it’s sports or anything else we strive for in life, I think everyone knows what it feels like to be an underdog and one time or another and connect with an underdog story.