Classic PR in the hockey world

Over the past week, two excellent PR moves occured in the NHL.

At the league level, NHL Green was announced. NHL Green is a partnership between the NHL and the GreenLife Organization. The hope is that GreenLife will act almost as a consultant to advise the NHL on how to best do its part for the environment. What types of changes will be needed, I really can’t say. What I can say is that this is a excellent PR move for the league. To begin with, it is great to see a large organization commit to helping the environment. Most importantly though, it opens up numerous possibilities for marketing and advertising campaigns. Before watching clips from the Feb. 2 games in the league, an advertisement played. The ad showed ice breaking off of an arctic ice cap, immediately followed by an image of children playing on an outdoor rink – the simple phrase “Let’s keep teh ice from melting” appears on a white background. An excellent ad, and an excellent PR move by the NHL and GreenLife.

Although not as impactful to the world, the Anaheim Ducks made a similarly good PR move. The team took advantage of its very non-hockey climate and surroundings and brought in some star power to heighten their image. The new Snoop Dogg show payed a visit to the team and gave the organization some excellent publicity. I doubt that Snoop Dogg’s audience overlaps with that of the Anaheim Ducks. As a result, the team is now associated with Snoop Dogg within a whole new audience. Snoop Dogg’s credibility in the audience now give the Anaheim Ducks credibility in the audience. Well done by both parties involved. I’m sure that Snoop Dogg will also benefit from the publicty and ratings received by Anaheim Ducks fans tuning into his show.