Molson Canadian unveiled a new partnership with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) on International Women’s Day and immediately activated the tie-up through a back of jersey initiative which saw the position of players’ names lowered further down the back of their kits to avoid being covered by their hair and thus shine the spotlight brighter on the players.
Objective
Brewing giant Molson Coors, a long-time ice hockey supporter, brought to life its umbrella ‘Everyone In’ equality and inclusivity mission in March 2024 by becoming an official partner of the PWHL. Through its Molson Canadian brand, the sponsor is looking to engage a wider range of consumers – particularly ‘active women’ – while increasing awareness of the league.
The two-year deal’s rights package includes back of jersey logo rights and this was the focal point of the brand’s inaugural activation – created in harness with agency Rethink (Toronto) – which aimed to boost individual PWHL player recognition by bringing more visibility to their names.
Activation
Timed to leverage International Women’s Day, the idea and action at the heart of the campaign was simple: to move players’ names on the back of their jerseys to below the shirt number and thus increase their visibility as the traditional below-the-neck position is often covered by hair in the women’s game. As the number of players with long hair is much greater than in the men’s game (where the name position on the jersey originated).
The brand’s logo was then placed in the often partially hidden upper back space where the names used to be.
Thus the brand logo was less visible, while the players’ names become more visible and thus the individual players become easier to identify – some especially important in a sport like hockey where the sheer amount of kit – from baggy shirts to heavy padding and masked helmets – can make it more challenging for fans to recognise players.
The on-ice, in-stadium, OOH led campaign dropped on 8 March (International Women’s Day) when the PWHL’s Toronto and Montreal teams played one another in a sellout matchup at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre broadcast on Sportsnet.
No better way to celebrate International Women’s Day! 💜
🆚 @PWHL_Montreal
🕖 7:00pm ET
📍 Mattamy Athletic Centre
📺 @SportsnetPWHL Toronto x @CAA pic.twitter.com/qlUkWBwoE0
— PWHL Toronto (@PWHL_Toronto) March 8, 2024
The campaign was created for client Molson Coors Marketing Director Kara Fitzpatrick by a group at creative agency Rethink Toronto where the team working on the project was led by Creative Director Caroline Frieson.
It launched on 5 March through a hero film which was backed by a set of supporting social content running across brand, league, team and player platforms.
As with many Canadian campaigns, the dual language content comes in both English and French versions.
Molson also hosted a live viewing party in Montreal at the Le Cage Sports Bar at Bell Centre where those attending received merchandise giveaways, drink deals, hcokey and brand trivia and more.
“We want to elevate the players and bring everyone in on hockey. Molson is known for supporting hockey, and we’re incredibly excited to bring that support to the PWHL, which is helping grow women’s hockey like never before. Women are underrepresented in the sporting world. International Women’s Day provides a starting point for Molson to help bring more recognition to women hockey players alongside the PWHL.”
Molson Senior Marketing Manager Maddie Gillmeister
“This is the first of many great initiatives we will have over the next two years. Molson’s mission is to help elevate female players in hockey. The ‘See My Name’ program is just the start.”
Molson Partnerships Manager Marlie McLaughlin
It’s not often that a sponsorship that includes a logo rights element leads to a campaign that moves the logo to a space where it is hard to see. But in this case, that’s the point of the campaign.
This initiative is built around an insight into a difference between men and women and male and female sports which is likely often overlooked and sees the brand make a change to account for something that has emerged through and been designed within men’s sports.
It also embodies Molson’s umbrella ‘Everyone In’ marketing platform which spans the brewers family of brands – including Molson Canadian, Molson Export, Molson Ultra and Molson Exel – and sits at the heart of its strategy to grow share of the industry in Canada.
This work continues Molson Canadian’s rich (mostly male) hockey marketing heritage which in recent seasons has also included its award-winning 2021 ‘Stanley Cup Batch’ beer campaign, plus its 2022 ‘Official Playoff Pucks’ project and its 2021 beer cooler / vacuum cleaner / hockey ice resurfacing ‘Brewboni’ machine.
The new PWHL alliance is part of the brand’s umbrella sports support equality drive. The PWHL is a fairly new professional women’s ice hockey league in North America founded in 2023/4 with six teams (three in Canada and three in the USA); It is wholly owned and operated by the Mark Walter Group and emerged as the unified women’s pro hockey league after the collapse of the Premier Hockey Federation in 2021/2022.
Despite its inaugural season only starting in January, the league’s sponsorship roster is already strong and, as well as existing partners like Air Canada, AirSupra, Bauer, CCM, Intuit, Tim Horton’s, Rogers, SportChek and Woody Creek Distillers, another new addition announced alongside the Molson tie-up was one with Canadian consumer household paper products – such as facial tissue, bathroom tissue, paper towel, and paper napkins – brand Royale.
The Molson and Royale sponsor activations joined several other PWHL International Women’s Day initiatives taking place across the league.
International Women’s Day is a holiday celebrated annually on 8 March as a focal point in the women’s rights movement. IWD gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. As well as celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, the day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
IWD has occurred for well over a century with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific.