Tentpole Moment: NHL Opening Night

01 — Lead-Up to Opening Night

The anticipation for the first game of the season vs. the day of the first game of the season are two disparate tentpoles and two different engagement opportunities - and we treated them as such.

Lead-Up: Content Approach + My Role

The days leading up to Opening Night are magical. They represent the final time the brand has full control of the narrative - before wins + losses, expectations + pressures come into play. 

Coming off a Cinderella postseason run the spring prior, our goal in the lead-up to Opening Night 2022 was to use our content to capitalize on that momentum, energize our fan base and double down on our brand credo, No Quit In New York.

My Role: Created, briefed, led copywriting for and executed cross-platform social/digital content and coverage plan. 

Directed team of shooters, editors + designers in asset creation.

In the lead-up to Opening Night, our audiences were at the peak of their excitement - content-wise, we had to take advantage.

Lead-Up: Creative Snapshot

Graphics + produced video have their purposes - but so do simple, organic photos that simply make the fans feel something.
In a time of peak excitement, creative should convey hype + energy just as much as the copywriting.

In elevated moments, strong creative + strong copy need to work in tandem to deliver maximum impact for the brand.

Using a combination of exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes capture, we capitalized on the prior season's momentum while priming our audience for the season to come.

02 — Opening Night

With the lead-up complete, it's go time. When Opening Night arrives, you must plan ahead in an effort to deliver max engagement without needing to rely on team performance.

Ownable hype graphics - to both our city + our brand - set the tone for the most exciting day on the sports calendar.

The Opener: Content Approach + My Role

The lead-up to Opening Night accomplished our goal of driving hype + energy. On the night itself, the goal was to take advantage of the fact that our audiences were more engaged than ever by utilizing a robust content mix to drive max engagement and growth - without having to depend on a win. 

Feeding the beast in these moments of peak interest is critical. These opportunities come around once, maybe twice, per year, and the social team’s role is simple: to use every tool in the box  to capitalize, including behind-the-scenes coverage, influencer collabs, pop culture references + more.

My Role: Led strategic direction and channel programming throughout the tentpole. 

Collaborated with shooters and creatives on real-time asset production. 

Opening Night: Creative Snapshot

We made this organic moment from "Big Daddy" our own, tapping into pop culture to appeal to those outside our core audience.
Capitalizing on a trend circulating in the non-sports community, we delivered unique content while speaking Gen Z's language.
Bringing fans behind the scenes to the most sacred place - the locker room - cements our accounts as a must-follow. (Click.)

Lo-fi content capture from inside the building brought this special moment to millions of fans outside the building.