In a "tongue-and-cheek" campaign via Wieden & Kennedy
that broke this week, ESPN "brings out the softer side" of
NHL players to promote its hockey telecasts, according to
Bonnie Tsui of AD AGE. The effort, which features players
such as Blues D Chris Pronger and Red Wings LW Brendan
Shanahan, presents each NHL season "as one that 'unfolds
like an epic novel,' with heroes and villains and an
'unpredictable climax.'" An ESPN spokesperson:
"Strategically, what we're trying to do is take local and
regional hockey fans and make them larger fans of the game.
If you are a fan of the New Jersey Devils and see a great
and funny ad with Pronger and Shanahan, we're hoping you'll
become more of a fan of the game, of the league and of the
marquee players." NHLE President Ed Horne added the
campaign "does a good job of capturing the personalities of
the players." Print ads will run in ESPN Magazine, USA
Today and USA Today's "NHL Preview Guide" (AD AGE, 9/25).
KUDOS FOR ESPN: BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton reports that
ESPN's "consistent adherence to brand building, in
everything from the ESPN Zones to programming promotion and
more traditional promotional elements like sweepstakes,
garnered" the network this year's Promotion Marketing
Association's Marketer of the Year, which honors a "long-
term commitment to brand building through promotion."
Impiric Senior VP Larry Deutsch, who chaired the selection
committee: "ESPN is certainly known for its product and the
creative ... but what we really respected was the emphasis
on brand management from the top" (BRANDWEEK, 9/25 issue).
