pittsburgh penguins

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.”