When U.S. hockey fans turned on their television sets on
Oct. 8, 2014, it was with a specific reason. Whether it was to catch Boston and
Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Jose or one of the Canadian matchups, fans
were prepping for another exciting NHL season.
The TV ads featured during commercial breaks were the last
thing most were anticipating. The folks in Total Hockey’s marketing department
weren’t most people, though.
On this fall evening, St. Louis-based Total Hockey debuted a
new set of commercials geared toward the theme Hockey in Real Life. These ads depicted everyday people in common
situations, only facing life as a hockey player on the rink would.
The hockey retailer produced eight 15-second spots; four for
immediate release in October and four during the 2014 holiday season. One spot featured
a man taping his work socks with shin guard tape, as a hockey player would for
a game, before leaving for work. Another displayed a young girl on Christmas
morning showcasing hockey goal celebrations as she received her gift.
“We attempted to make a set of commercials that the majority
of our audience could relate to and have a good laugh at,” said Chris Pickup,
Total Hockey’s video production manager. “I couldn’t be prouder of how they
turned out.”
Pickup wasn’t the only one impressed with the final product.
The Total Hockey Twitter and Facebook pages instantly began receiving feedback,
which was widely on the positive spectrum. The company’s social media manager,
Keith Van Gels, saw the reaction materialize each time an ad was run.
“When we posted these videos on Instagram, they got double
if not quadruple the likes that most of our Instagram videos have gotten in the
past,” said Van Gels, who also played a large part in the creative direction of
the ads. “The feedback on Twitter was so positive and extremely consistent.
Almost every night, we were getting a handful of tweets with the laughing or
crying emoji or people saying they are the funniest commercials they’ve ever
seen. The feedback was phenomenal and exceeded my expectations by a long shot.”
 |
| Rachel Rackers during "Cleaning the Crease" |
With viewer engagement came accolades. Total Hockey sent
four 30-second commercials, each one featuring two of the 15-second spots, to
an organization that honors pieces of work in the film and video industry. The
Telly Awards, which are judged by a panel of over 650 accomplished industry
professionals, awarded Total Hockey four bronze Telly Awards. The highest honor
is the Silver Telly, which is awarded to less than 10 percent of registrants,
while the Bronze Telly is bestowed upon approximately 25 percent of enrollees.
The Telly Award committee announced they received 12,000
entries from all 50 states and numerous countries. Each of Total Hockey’s
submissions were awarded in both the Use
of Humor and Sports/Sporting
Goods/Games categories. The award-winning spots were titled Sock Tape / Handle Tape and The Water Bottle / The Celly.
“This is a company honor,” Pickup, 31, said. “The people in
the marketing department, not just the video crew, should be proud of the fact
that we are being recognized. I submitted these four awards not so I could get
recognized, but we as a company can get recognized. We can be proud of the work
we do and have tangible evidence that says we’re good at what we do. That goes
so far in conversations with partners and associations around the country.”
Key to
success – having fun on set
Although the final product was intended for the hockey-viewing
audience to become loyal patrons of Total Hockey (if they weren’t already), it
does not mean that the production was a snooze fest – quite the opposite.
“During my audition, I could tell that, if I were casted, it
would be a really fun shoot,” said actress Rachel Rackers, the wife in the non-holiday
ads. “They were laughing throughout my audition; I don’t think they were
laughing at me, either. They were laughing at their copy, which was hilarious.
“During the filming process, the actors didn’t need breaks for laughter, but we could hear the crew laughing. It was so much fun being on set.”
 |
| One of Total Hockey's four holiday ads |
There are always moments that cast members point to as their
memorable moment on set. Whether it be something that happens off set (Taylor
Swift dancing
to Snoop Dog’s performance at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards) or an
improvised line (Chris Pratt’s famous “network
connectivity problems” remark on Parks
and Rec), a great moment can stay with actors and crew members for a
lifetime.
These ads were not spared from such an occasion. Actor Chad
Crenshaw, who performed as the father in the holiday ads, was meant to serve as
a background character in The Celly, which
depicted a young girl celebrating after receiving skates on Christmas morning.
While the crew worked to achieve the perfect shot of the girl celebrating,
Crenshaw, wearing a hockey helmet, decided to start fumbling with his coffee
mug. The helmet prominently displayed a visor, which hampered his ability to
drink from the cup. Cleverly, Crenshaw continued to unsuccessfully place the
mug at his mouth, with an obviously confused look on his face.
“We didn’t even know he was doing it until the close-up
shots in the end,” said Christopher Jordan, the director of photography. “When
we saw it, we encouraged him to keep doing it. It turned out to be one of the
better moments of the spots.”
Crenshaw said he was doing it between takes, hoping to get
some laughs from crew members.
“I was just messing around with the helmet, thinking of
funny things to do while everyone worked on getting the right angles and were
concentrating on the focal point of the ad,” he said. “Overall, it felt like
there was a good base, but if we came up with something on the spot, it seemed
like there was a little wiggle room to pull out the best we could. It made for
a functional and productive atmosphere.”
Key to
filming – convincing the right people
 |
| Rackers and Richard Strelinger during "Cleaning the Crease" |
In order to achieve the ultimate goal, the creative team had
to navigate through a few obstacles. First, finding the winning idea was
pivotal to move forward.
“We had done commercials in the past that were focused on growing the game that were successful,”
said Van Gels. “It was always a voice over. Now, we wanted to transition Total
Hockey into more real commercials
with which viewers could identify.”
Because Total Hockey was yet to use actual actors or actresses
in their commercial ads, pitching the idea in itself became a vital stepping
stone to move forward with the commercials’ production.
The company had recently went through some changes in its marketing department, most notably bringing in chief marketing officer, Frank Castiglione. He gave the green light to Pickup and Van Gels to move forward with their project.
“In the past, we only used people that worked with us --
co-workers, family or friends of co-workers,” said Pickup, who played hockey
through most of his childhood. “These were typically people who were not
trained to act. It was a challenge in the past to have a natural- and
professional-looking production in our TV ads. Frank challenged us and gave us
full support of using professional actors. We auditioned at our corporate office
with more than 50 people auditioning for six different roles.”
After four days of auditions, the creative team found its
cast. Richard Strelinger played the sock taper; Betsy Bowman threw her kids in
the penalty box; Rackers berated her husband as he left for work and Crenshaw
poured water on his face at dinner.
“The success of our commercials was a team effort,” said Van
Gels, a graduate of Mizzou’s Journalism School. “Everyone had to do their
homework in this project. Trying to be fun is difficult and challenging, but
it’s also crazy fun. We had a blast filming and conceptualizing all the way
through.”
 |
| One of Total Hockey's many new ad campaigns (Courtesy Total Hockey) |
Key to the
future – Don’t become dormant
Although this was a major step in the way Total Hockey
conducts its marketing campaigns, it does not mean that the creative team plans
to remain stagnant. It took a financial commitment, as well as a risk in
changing what worked in the past.
Pickup feels the Telly Awards display a level of success
that the commercials have bestowed upon Total Hockey and will help further
future creative ideas.
“It says a lot, if not to the customer, to the industry,” he
said. “We are capable of doing some really cool stuff and others believe in us.
Those in our industry feel that we are worthy of some sort of credit that we
rightfully deserved. We are capable of producing high-end content. We can’t
take a step back. We need to take giant leaps forward now. We have made the
footprint, now we need to add to it.”
This set of objectives is not exclusive to the hockey retail
industry; loftier goals permeate through Total Hockey’s marketing department.
“We’re preparing for the ultimate result of being comparable
to the Nikes and Gatorades of the world,” said Van Gels. “They do a phenomenal job
with their marketing campaigns and we want to place ourselves among those elite
companies.”
When viewers turn on their televisions to catch Boston,
Philadelphia, Los Angeles or San Jose, they expect one of the keys to success
to be a solid team effort.
The TV ads that the Total Hockey marketing department
creates should be no exception.
