How the NHL is marketing its Gen Z superstars

The NHL has sent a group of its young stars to address Gen Z workplace stereotypes—and check them into the boards. A sextet of skaters is featured in the NHL’s season-opening ad, the latest spot in its “The Next Golden Era is Now,” campaign highlighting the speed of the modern hockey game and its class of exciting young stars. “Gen Z,” from Highdive, features Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights and Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, the league’s latest rookie of the year. The ad comes as the NHL looks to follow up a year of record attendance and ratings triumphs. The league is also promoting its stars with a six-part documentary-style series called “Faceoff: Inside the NHL” that debuted Oct. 4 on Prime Video. It is co-produced by NHL Productions and Box To Box, the firm behind the popular “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series on Netflix. “Across all the major metrics of which you judge a professional sports leagues, our health is very good,” Casey Hall, senior VP of marketing for the NHL, said in an interview. “As much as I would love [for marketing] to take credit for all the success, I’m not that foolish. We’ve got a very compelling product, and it’s driven by the format and the structure of the game, as well as generational talents of Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and many others.” A-List & Creativity Awards Enter for a chance to be recognized as the best in advertising Submit your entry here While playfully upending assumptions of how the generation works—and plays—“Gen Z” succeeds because there is truth behind it, said Hall. Thanks in part to a series of rule changes enacted by the league, the game is faster and higher-scoring than it was a few years ago and Highdive’s spots have helped to tell that story. The agency has worked with the league since 2020 and on the “Golden Era” campaign for three years. “Gen Z” begins with a shot of the babyfaced Bedard,19, who disputes the idea that Gen Z doesn’t work hard by furiously working out. Matthews, 27, is celebrated for his sartorial style, spoofing the notion that Gen Z dresses inappropriately. Members of Gen Z were born between 1997 and 2012 (Eichel, though, was born in 1996). Sidney Crosby, the 37-year-old Penguins sensation once known as “Sid the Kid,” delivers the “Kids these days” kicker. More: Behind the Gen Z marketing strategies of three legacy brands “We liked the idea of how it was able to talk about the attributes of today’s NHL and today’s game, inclusive of the excitement, the scoring, the speed, the energy and the youthful exuberance of the game,” Hall said. “It allowed us to feature this young generation of stars who are really driving change and excitement, adoption and growth in the sport.” The “Golden Era” has proven a versatile platform, Hall said, allowing the league to remark on culture as it did with AI in last year’s “Are These Guys for Real?” ad, or hit on nostalgia as it did with the “Cheat Codes” ad of 2023. Chad Broude, co-chief creative officer of Highdive, said the key to keeping the NHL voice relevant is a team that knows the game, describing himself, along with writers, editors and art directors on the account, as “diehard” hockey fans. “In any sports advertising, the minute you use bad cliches, or jargon or do things that feel dated, you lose your audience immediately,” Broude said. “So we built a team of fans who are also great creatives. And I don’t think it would work any other way, because I think the audience could sniff it out if it feels inauthentic.” Hall, who has been with the NHL for more than 16 years, describes a comfortable and collaborative relationship between the league and its agency. “We just really liked how open they were. We liked how they are willing to come to us with ideas that, at least back in my day on the agency side, you would never show, you’d always refine it until it was perfect and then present it,” he said. “This is a much more collaborative process, every step and stage of the way. That’s been refreshing, because we have pretty strong opinions on where we want work to go and what we want to do and what we want to say.” The NHL season began Oct. 4 in Prague, when the New Jersey Devils notched the first of two victories over the Buffalo Sabres. In North America, opening night is Oct. 8, with a tripleheader on ESPN beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET (St. Louis Blues at Seattle Kraken, Boston Bruins at Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks at Utah Hockey Club). The NHL has a series scheduled in November in Finland, and in February will halt its schedule for the Four Nations Cup, a contest between national teams from the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden to be contested in Boston and Montreal. “I think you can expect us to get much more aggressive in our marketing efforts, both on the brand side as well as getting behind some of the major initiatives that the league is pushing forward in the content space,” such as “Faceoff,” Hall said.

How the NHL is marketing its Gen Z superstars

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