“Playoffs are the perfect match for every fan, no matter where their passion lies.” A simple, but vague, brand brief that a certain copywriter had a field day with.
See how I took this brief to get the whole city on board with this manta.
From our brief:
“What do we want consumers to think/feel?
I need to be here because the experience is more exciting, this team has the ability to win, and it’s so much fun to be a part of.”
Growing up a Rangers fan myself, I’ve experienced many games at The Garden — mostly losses (just my luck). Win or lose, I’d leave fairly content if I could sing the Goal Song just once.
Whether you’ve been a fan of this franchise for 30 years or 30 minutes, there’s no denying that a simple 00:30 second song can rally all 18,006 attendees together.
Knowing that the Playoffs were an opportunity for us to garner new fans and heighten interest of New Yorkers still on the fence about supporting this hockey team, I knew that the Goal Song was the perfect way in.
Our Goal Song is the best in the biz, and I wanted to make sure the whole city was singin’ it.
Because why wouldn’t you read every tweet, comment, or post about your work?
As a ticket buyer of… almost anything (let me know if you want to talk about my experience seeing American Idol Live), I know just how frustrating it can be when you don’t get the seats you want, or the prices are well over your budget.
I wanted to focus on this feeling, being a sports fan myself, and provide opportunities for true Blueshirt fans to get inside the building for this monumental moment. We put together this quick, yet effective, sweepstakes video and targeted sports enthusiasts in the tri-state area.
An exciting post-season also calls for exciting post-season merch. As someone who is constantly complaining about sports gear being a “one-size-fits-all” situation (more on that in person), I really wanted to hone in on this. Working with our senior designer, we pitched multiple shirt concepts, leaning in to current trends, as well as taking inspiration from sentiment and moments that we had seen online.
We were thrilled that two of those concepts were released to the public. The first being our “Blueshirts Magazine” concept, an idea that this team was born for the spotlight - a team so good they couldn’t be kept away from the spotlight.
The second concept, though not revolutionary, was my pride and joy, and the best-selling piece of merchandise we had throughout the entire postseason. The Rangers had somehow put together a roster of characters all with nicknames known throughout the NHL. “Artemi Panarin? Never heard of him. Oh, Bread?! Love that guy.” I saw this roster as a can’t-miss opportunity to customize two ampersand-style shirts.
See those shirts above, then see two other favorites that didn’t make it to the finish line, but still deserving to be seen.
The shirts that didn’t make the cut.
Knowing our Goal Song TVC was our hero piece, I really hoped we could lean in to it elsewhere.
“Put it in The Met.” - Rangers fans to Igor, always.
I wanted to make sure that our fans felt that their voices were heard. It’s often hard to connect with fans when you’re just the background copywriter, but Playoffs was an opportunity to pitch new ideas and activations. One of my most successful ideas was the chance to write a letter to the team.