• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 13, 2008

Struggling to hold onto fans, the National Hockey League has stepped up merchandising and marketing efforts for the Stanley Cup finals in order to capture consumer information and build excitement for the game long after the season ends next month.

The campaign is intended to create brand awareness for the league through T-shirts, hats, cups and other memorabilia. It encourages fans to purchase merchandise before the final game begins and wear it year round. While most consumers buy products during or after the season's final game, the NHL hopes that marketing merchandise earlier than in past years will increase sales.

The strategy relies on pre-selling merchandise at NHL.com to capture customer information, gauge interest in merchandise for specific teams, and increase revenue from each spontaneous purchase. Consumers who opt-in will enter information, such as name and favorite team. Orders placed on losing teams will cancel out. The NHL will fill orders only for winning team merchandise.

Says Joslin Warren, director of e-commerce at the NHL, "We have a goal for 2009 to work more closely with individual teams to help them reach their fans."

Not only will the customer data allow the NHL to market product merchandise, but services like NHL Center ICE, the cable television package, or NHL Center Ice Online. Both services let fans watch home games even if they live outside the broadcast market.

"It's a clever idea to ask fans to order in advance, even though their team might not win and the order gets canceled," says Al Ries, chairman at branding agency Ries & Ries. "Ordering merchandise shows fans have confidence in their team to win. Every fan wants to be first to wear the jersey of the big star."

The NHL's decision to presale merchandise could prove fruitful, but it's not clear how many fans will actually know the service exists. Marketing for resale items are being limited to NHL.com, along with brief announcements to TV viewers at home during the third period of ongoing eastern and western championship games.

The campaign moves into high gear when those championships are won. Consumers will see banner ads on 30 NHL team sites and si.com, a 15-second pre-roll ad on NHL Network Online, and a 30-second television spot on NBC and NHL TV. A full-page print ad will run in a special issue of Sports Illustrated following the Stanley Cup finals. The league also has booked air time for 30-second spots on NHL Radio, an XM Satellite station. Four email blasts are scheduled: one prior to the final game, one immediately following, another three days and seven days later.