So whoever had two months in the “how long will it take for the transplanted Canadian to write a blog post about hockey” wins; see our Digital Guru (TM pending) Dara to collect your prize.
The National Hockey League’s Edmonton Oilers last month unveiled the most controversial marketing effort (even worse than this) the team has seen in its 30+ year tenure – the Oilers Octane, a 24-member cheerleading squad. Detractors have called the idea behind the Octane unseemly, unnecessary (and the worst yet) “un-Canadian”; the concept of an off-ice cheer team spawned online petitions and Facebook protest pages (where you could presumably “unlike” the concept) and thousands of opinion-based column inches about how people go to hockey games to watch hockey, not to ogle cheerleaders.
In the planning phase up to the launch of the Octane, the Oilers knew some hockey purists were going to be horrified by the idea of Oiler cheerleaders. Despite the fact that 19 other NHL teams already have cheerleaders, the Oilers are the first Canadian-based team, which is always a tricky proposition north of the 49th parallel; when it comes to the NHL in Canada, first doesn’t always equal innovation, it often equals selling out.
And it’s not like the Oilers need the Octane to draw fans – the teams is closing in on 300 consecutive sell-outs, a feat considering the team plays in the second-oldest (behind Madison Square Garden) and most-cramped arena in the league. The team’s empire also expands beyond the NHL, as they also own an American Hockey League team, a Western Hockey League team and a Golden League independent baseball team. The Oilers are not hurting for brand awareness.
So why then? Why risk alienating fans for the sake of cheerleaders? And what’s the tie-in to B2B marcomm? Brand ambassadors.
By establishing the Octane, the Oilers have launched a network of 20 new brand ambassadors that can represent the team at a variety of local events ranging from ribbon-cuttings to school visits, spreading the Oilers’ corporate messages (and season ticket purchase plans) on behalf of the team. These new ambassadors take some pressure off of the player requests the team deals with on a daily basis, and reduces the number of events the Oilers simply are unable to send representatives to. The team has already sold Octane calendars, with all proceeds supporting the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, so there’s another ancillary benefit. They’re expanding The Oilers’ business reach relatively inexpensively, and offering a subsidiary service (cheerleading, natch) to the team.
The Octane may be cheerleaders by definition, but they were designed to be much more than that, and the end result was more than worth the potential run-off and fan disappointment. Each of the cheerleader’s bios speaks to their enjoyment of hockey, and their passion for the Oilers, furthering the team’s position as a part of Edmonton’s very fabric. And they’re doing all of this while wearing three-inch knee-high white go-go boots – brand ambassadors at their best.
Does your organization employ brand ambassadors as effectively as the Oilers?
All of your employees can be your brand ambassadors provided they’re equipped with the right information, and an internal communication culture that instills a common belief in the company (go-go boots doesn’t hurt, either). The key is communication; ideally, transparent, two-way communication. By letting your team in on the plan, they become an army that can speak on your organization’s behalf, helping to spread the (corporate) word and serving to convert the world (or at least let them know what you do).
Is internal communication as important as marketing? Can brand ambassadors serve to spread the word for your company? Is this blog post just a blatant attempt to write about hockey, or worse, cheerleaders? And how can Canyon help you convert your brand ambassadors?
This week I had an e-mail show up in my inbox that had 5 calls to action in it. Yikes! As I ponder which of those actions I was supposed to take first (call one of the 2 phone numbers, RSVP, visit the booth or e-mail), I was reminded of the important role design plays in something as simple as an e-mail marketing campaign. Not just design in the sense of images and graphics, but also how you design content, and the fact that the two go hand-in-hand.
