pittsburgh penguins
One of the most perilous times for a brand to make a change is when its customers don’t think it needs one.
So it was with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Riding high off their first Stanley Cup win in 17 years, the Penguins made ready for a new home: the CONSOL Energy Center (now PPG Paints Arena.) It was better in every way than their old home (the Civic Arena) save one: it had no tradition. And hockey fans love tradition.
Me? I love solutions based on research. And the Penguins had plenty of that. What it told us was that the team has a young, optimistic fan base. Optimistic about the Penguins? Well, yeah. But also optimistic about their own lives in Pittsburgh. In fact, they saw themselves mirrored in the team: destiny smiled on them both and they supported each another.
Armed with this info as strategist, creative director and writer, I helped create the solution: a campaign that eased the transition into a new home by touting all of the great moments for the Penguins and their fans that were yet to come – but surely would.
OK, the results. Wish I had some hard numbers on this. The campaign had plenty of social shares, most of which were overwhelmingly positive. The commercials got a rousing ovation from 10,000 fans at an arena launch event. But more importantly the Pittsburgh Penguins marketing staff, as good a group of brand stewards as I’ve ever known, were happy with how it eased what could have been a very thorny transition.
Note:
With 6 years of playoff bounces after moving in, it seemed like the Penguins’ destiny had gotten lost in a moving truck. Back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017 erased all of that. And as a member of the Penguins marketing staff recently told me, “In some ways, that campaign is a lot truer now than ever.”







Work created while serving as chief creative officer, partner and writer at Gatesman+Dave.