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Click the image above to see "We Paint the Ice" night on the news!
Dear Faithful Readers,
I can’t help but notice there are a multitude of “holidays” this time of year. Perhaps it’s the amount of promotions I see coming through my inbox, TV screen and mail…. “St. Patty’s Day Sale”, “Mardi Gras Discount”… President’s Day… MLK Jr. Day… Easter… and so on. Through all of these messages, it’s rare to see anything that you haven’t seen before. Where has the creativity gone?
This week, we’re featuring an original promotion created by the ECHL team, the Stockton Thunder. I don’t use the term “original” lightly… as no team, in any league, had previously done what the Thunder did this season.
Keep reading to find out about the team’s promotion and how it helped them to increase single game ticket sales.
Enjoy the feature…
Erin
[email protected]
P.S. - Feeling creative? Send in your best marketing and advertising campaign from 2013 and your team could be the next feature in "Selling It"!
PROGRAM TITLE
The Stockton Thunder
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OBJECTIVES
Creativity is key - in the sports industry it is essential to differentiate your team from other properties. Many teams get creative with ways to incorporate their sponsors, but what about their fans? Traditional medium like interactive games, giveaways and competitions are fun, but they can be found at every venue in every sport.
Originality of a promotion is what truly makes it one of a kind. We have seen sponsor logos on basketball courts, football fields, and underneath the ice for NHL games, but what team ever thought to let the fans design the field? More specifically, the ice? In this week’s article, we are going to take a look at a team that took to the ice to capitalize on their resources, and have seen international fame. So much fame, other teams have quickly tried to copy their ingenuity.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
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The Stockton Thunder's President, Brian Sandy, came up with a novel idea, never before attempted in any major or minor hockey league. According to research done by the ECHL, no team has ever played a game on fan painted ice. On December 29, 2013, the Thunder hosted their annual “Kids Take Over the Stockton Arena” night, with team announcing, ushering and ticketing all done by kids. This year, they invited the kids to come down on the ice after the game and paint the ice. With an expected crowd of 600, the Thunder saw nearly 900 participants (including adults) with about 100 spots for their sponsors.
Then, on January 3rd, instead of washing off the paint, they simply added layers, and then played a regular season match on the painted ice! As you can see from the images above and below, the result was eye-catching. The Thunder practiced on the ice for the four days preceding the match while their opponents, the San Francisco Bulls, had only one day. Unfortunately, the Bulls won the game; a testament to the paint unaffecting the players' ability to play.
This promotion was wildly successful. So far, "We Paint the Ice" night has been picked up by every major network and been duplicated by two other hockey teams. Both the Arizona Sun Dogs and Florida Everblades have copied the idea to allow fans to paint the ice.
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Click above to go to check out the "We Paint the Ice" night highlights!
PARTNERSHIP
The idea was solely the Thunder’s, but they had the opportunity to share the love with additional organizations through partnerships. The title sponsor, We Paint, is a local Stockton painting company. As a first-time sponsor, their role in the promotion was critical. Two other sponsors made the event possible including Naf's Ice Paints, who provided the the paint, and Dr. Lester Low's Family and Cosmetic Dentistry. The team's usual sponsor logos were still displayed under the ice as well.
RESULTS
The results from “We Paint the Ice” night at the Stockton Arena have been exponentially bigger than anticipated. During the NHL Winter Classic, the Thunder tweeted their promotion to @NHLWinterClassic using #PaintedClassic. Then, the sports world got a hold of that tweet. Fox Sports 1, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports and ESPN (among many others) picked up the story. ESPN even asked for a highlight reel from the game to air on TV. Social media presence for the Thunder from the fans has increased tenfold and it has strengthened their image in the hockey world. Brandon Kisker, Marketing Manager at the Stockton Thunder said, “‘We Paint the Ice Night’ got both fans and non-fans talking about how cool the promotion was which is always good. It’s positive notoriety for the Thunder and the entire city.”
CNN also picked up the story and distributed it to various news stations around the nation from Long Island, NY to Honolulu, HI.
Another great result of the promotion was the uptick in ticket sales. At the December 29th and January 3rd games, they sold over 2,000 extra tickets combined. The home games immediately following the promotion saw increased attendance as well. The event was wildly popular, so much in fact, the Thunder have been contacted by a few NHL teams about duplicating the promotion.
LOOKING AHEAD
The future of the promotion is certain as the ECHL recently approved every team to participate in painting the ice as long as they give ample time in notifying the league, visiting team(s), and officials. “We will certainly be making this promotion a cornerstone of Stockton Thunder promotional nights and there isn't a doubt in my mind that our fans will welcome it, participate in it, and take great pride in the fact that we were the first team in the history of the sport to hold this promotion,” said Kisker.
CONTACT
For more Information, contact:
Brandon Kisker, Marketing Manager, Stockton Thunder
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