We interviewed past tournament participants, analyzed market research of adult recreational hockey players across the globe, and identified 3 core motivators that needed to be conveyed across every piece of marketing collateral: 

1. Nostalgia – Invoked by both the memories of past world cup events and childhood experiences playing the game of hockey for fun.
2. Scale – Invoked by the sheer number of participants, the number of countries competing, but also by becoming part of something much bigger than oneself. 
3. Camaraderie – Invoked by competing together as a team, but also while having fun together at off-ice tournament events like the Parade of Champions.

The result was an edgy and modern look that combined both the history of the tournament and Molson’s (the Tournament’s title sponsor) longstanding involvement in the hockey community in Canada. To summarize, Billingham Agency planned, produced and delivered the following creative marketing materials:

Branding and graphic design: Our team completely redesigned the tournament logo so it could be better represented at center ice during the event. We also designed residual brand textures, inspired by those found locker rooms, to bring a new depth to the brand’s visual identity. Our team was also tasked with designing hundreds of large scale print banners, billboards and other traditional materials to be on display during the event. 

Web Design: The world cup needed a refreshed digital HQ that empowered CARHA employees to share important information about the event, in real time. It also needed a tournament history section that could pay homage to the 20+ years of shared memories of the tournament. To accomplish this, our team created an interactive, timeline page that takes each viewer on a journey through time. We also streamlined content and reinvigorated the look and feel of each page to reflect the tournament’s new brand identity.

Can you feel it? – A television commercial: Our team was tasked with producing a television commercial that could accurately represent the scale of the event, while simultaneously invoking a sense of nostalgia all fans could relate to. The video follows a young player from his first skating strides to adulthood. Although he believes he’s felt all hockey has to offer, he realizes that the game has a habit of surprising us all. Billingham Agency wrote the script, planned production, hired actors and filmed the video internally. We also coordinated with Global and Chorus entertainment to optimize the video for television broadcast and met strict cinematic standards at every stage of production. 

Social media: After the event was postponed to 2022 due to COVID-19, CARHA had to pivot the traditional process in which they engage with prospective tournament participants. They asked Billingham Agency to come up with a social media campaign that could reinvigorate global interest in the event. Our team produced a variety of designs to complement a giveaway promo, including teaser videos and post artwork.