2022 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

As the eponymous beer for Canadians, Molson Canadian has served as the beer of hockey and has been there for every win of the Cup for over 50 years. But, American competitors like Budweiser have tried to invade their territory by outspending them.

So, they had to do something big. They needed to earn back their share of hearts and minds, and reclaim the mantle as the beer of hockey.

As an iconic symbol of this beloved game, the Stanley Cup is one of the most famous trophies in all of sports. 128 years later, the Stanley Cup remains the coveted trophy for which NHL teams battle to hoist above their heads each season.

Every Canadian hockey fan grows up dreaming of drinking from the Stanley Cup. But that action is reserved only for Stanley Cup winners.

As the official beer sponsor of the NHL, if there was ever a brand that could bring that dream to life, it’s Molson Canadian. They have the access that every fan wishes they had. So they thought like a fan and approached the NHL with a fan-forward idea. To reclaim their spot in the fridges of Canada’s hockey fans, they needed to win over the hearts of rookie and diehard fans alike.

They pitched the idea: let’s partner with the NHL and the Hockey Hall of Fame to bring the iconic Stanley Cup to a Molson Canadian brewery to do something never done before and pass their beer through the Cup. Then, let’s bottle it to create a limited-edition batch to give Canadian fans a chance to drink from the Stanley Cup.
The NHL said ‘let’s do it.’

They launched with a big bang. On the June 6th edition of Hockey Night In Canada, Ron MacLean himself gave a personal introduction to their :60 TV spot, with paid support behind online flights
of the :30 and :15 cutdowns.

They were fortunate enough to have Brad May and Willie Mitchell as spokespeople speaking of their memories winning the Cup with media outlets. They also created seeding kits including the Stanley Cup batch beer along with special white gloves to Stanley Cup-winning NHL alumni such as Paul Coffey and Kris Versteeg to relive those wins.

The campaign was broadcast nationally during Hockey Night in Canada earning over 3 million impressions within the first 24 hours. Following, they reached a total of nearly 15 million earned media impressions from 194 placements during the campaign period, with an additional 5.1 million OLV impressions and 4.2 million paid social impressions from NHL alumni content. In an industry that had been seeing decline, they produced a 27.8% sales lift, selling over 1 million bottles of beer.

It, once again, made Molson the beer of hockey.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman
Executive Creative Director: Mike Dubrick
Creative Director: Joel Holtby, Dhaval Bhatt
Copywriter: Mike Dubrick
Art Director: Joel Holtby, Joel Arbez
Designer: Brandon Methner
Secondary Designer: Jake Lim
Chief Strategy Officer: Sean McDonald
Strategist: Nicole Rajesky
Producer: Olia Dallimore

Production Company: Revolver Films
Luc Frappier, Executive Producer
Mark Bone, Director
Craig Fleming, Line Producer

Editorial: School
Yumi Suyama, Executive Producer
Lauren Horn, Editor
Fiona Alvarez, Assistant Editor

Colour/ VFX: Alter Ego
Jane Garrah, Senior Producer
Eric Whipp, Colourist
Sebastian Boros, Jr VFX Artist

Audio House: Vapor Music
Lindsey Bates, Partner, Executive Producer
Ted Rosnick, Creative Director
Kevin Chamberland, Sound Designer

Account Services:
Karim Tubbeh, Group Account Director
Tori Zenko, Account Director
Megan Christopher, Account Manager
Jessie Durand, Account Manager

Client:
Joy Ghosh, NA Brand Director
Katie Rankin, Senior Marketing Manager
Brian Collins - Sr. Manager, Sports & Entertainment Partnerships
Brittany Harris - Marketing Manager, Consumer Experiences + Partnerships
Madison Desousa - Assistant Marketing Manager, Molson TM
Jessica Vieira Teixeira - Manager, Brand Public Relations

HHOF:
Phil Pritchard Vice President, Resource Centre & Curator

Media: Wavemaker
William Hart, Strategy Manager
Jared Aldridge, Strategy Director
Peter Forde, Manager, Media

PR: Citizen
Joe Cariati, Senior Director
Jayne Cassidy, Account Director
Natalie Gardner, Account Manager
Jake Pare, Senior Account Executive
Jennifer Nagy, Account Manager

Social Media: Volt
Georgina Sahota, Account Manager
Eric Zaworski, Community Manager
Emma Cunningham, Social Strategist
Kristine Kobe, Business Director