The Chad Trifecta, NHL 13 Crowdsources Next Cover Athlete
I like three things in this world.
1) Hockey
2) Video Games
3) Social, Geeky Awesomeness
These three things recently came together and formed, what I like to call, the Chad Trifecta.
If you follow me on Twitter, you should have noticed the large amounts of love that I give the NHL about their social efforts. Whether it be team Instagram accounts, player profiles or second screen experiences, the NHL has done nothing but impress during this past 2011-2012 season.
Recently, the season wrapped up with the LA Kings taking home the Stanley Cup. Congrats to them and their awesome Twitter team. After the celebrations and parades were over in LA, the NHL Awards were hosted in Las Vegas where Claude Giroux was named the cover athlete for EA Sports NHL 13. How he was chosen is what’s innovative.
Between March 28 and June 4, fans cast nearly 26 million votes on NHL.com for the next cover athlete. The bracket format encouraged provided tough competition throughout the campaign. Players were tweeting, recording videos on YouTube and forming alliances in a campaign to become the next cover athlete.
Ultimately, Claude Giroux was pitted against Pekka Rinne in the final. This matchup collected 2 million votes. Giroux won by a nailbiting 1% and was named the winner during the NHL Awards televised event.
What makes this so cool besides tying in the 3 things in this world I love? The real world and digital world worked seamlessly together throughout the entire promotion. The contest leveraged its passionate following and drove fans to watch the NHL Awards (something, even as a die-hard hockey fan, I usually skip). Team accounts were abuzz with support of their athlete. Teams formed alliances in the Twitterverse and all of a sudden, the offseason, a time when content is like water in the desert, became one of the most interactive times of the season.
Well done, NHL. Although I question your business morals and ethics when it comes to franchises, this season marked the best marketing I have seen from you in some time.
Sidenote: If you are wondering if there are hockey fans left in Atlanta, I had the privilege of watching the Stanley Cup Final with about 100 of them.
