That's the case with the National Hockey League's promotional campaign for the 2010 Stanley Cup championships; the History Will Be Made broadcast and in-arena video series.
Commissioned by the NHL's marketing department and developed by the global advertising agency Young & Rubicam, History Will Be Made is a winner.
When the series was unveiled last month, the NHL announced it would include six iconic moments in Stanley Cup playoff history.
“These are the moments from our game that have gone down in history as some of the most iconic in sports,” NHL Executive Vice-President of Marketing Brian Jennings said March 19th. "It’s that image of a flying Bobby Orr frozen in mid-air, when Bourque's 22-year journey finally ends with a championship, when Messier went from being a captain to 'The Captain.' The Stanley Cup Playoffs are where history is made, and this year will be no different.”
At the time, the NHL had plans for three other 30-second videos: one featuring former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy in his Calder Trophy-winning rookie campaign in 1986; one starring Stevie Yzerman scoring his double-overtime winner in the 1996 western conference final against St. Louis; and another putting the spotlight on Mario Lemieux in 1991.
This week, however, the NHL rolled out a seventh 30-second spot in the History Will Be Made campaign running across the league's national and local broadcast partners, NHL Network, NHL.com, in-arena, franchise web sites and various affiliated digital and social media websites. It featured 1984 vintage Wayne Gretzky, scoring a Stanley Cup final game winner for the Edmonton Oilers against the New York Islanders.
Gretzky actually had a cameo role in a Blues' uniform in one of the original six spots; watching helplessly as Yzerman raced away over the blueline before slapping his memorable winner. But no such vintage series is complete without Gretzky alongside Lemieux and Messier. Oversight or not, the NHL deserves credit for getting it right...better late than never.
More important, the NHL deserves credit for the campaign, period. It deserves kudos for the simplicity of the creative. Simple concept. Standard musical theme. A consistent three-part close, with 1. The specific storyline; 2. The campaign title; and 3. The NHL 2010 Stanley Cup logo.
It's what makes it work so well. It's what has allowed franchises such as the Vancouver Canucks to customize History Will Be Made videos starring Henrik and Daniel Sedin (two official versions so far, entitled "What if they hadn't called this "home"?).
Most importantly, it's what has created a buzz among the digital set, spawning more than 300 parodies in a little over three weeks. That means the campaign has captured the imagination of the young, interactive web set. And that's good news for the NHL and for Young & Rubicam.
The original six network-wide History Will Be Made videos, along with the seventh national spot featuring Gretzky, are listed below.
1970 - Boston Bruins: What if Bobby didn’t fly?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUnS5gq0BZ4&feature=channel
1984 - Edmonton Oilers: What if there was no Greatness? *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMVgbHa0Fd0
1986 - Montreal Canadiens: What if Roy played like a rookie?
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=65895
1991 - Pittsburgh Penguins: What if Mario wasn’t so super?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxoxGXyolVM&NR=1
1994 - New York Rangers: What if Messier didn’t lift an entire city?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljv6f00E2nc&NR=1
1996 - Detroit Red Wings: What if Stevie Y didn’t inspire Hockeytown?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qc7fBl7vO0&NR=1
2001 - Colorado Avalanche: What if Bourque didn’t believe in one more year?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntccXmKmAxE&feature=related
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