How a city and its hockey team incited pride and excitement in the community about a sold out event

In May 2014, the City of London and the London Knights hosted the MasterCard Memorial Cup hockey tournament. The games were all sold out; so selling tickets was not the issue. The unique marketing challenge was to reach beyond the London Knights’ existing fan base to rally pride in the hometown community and encourage participation even for people without a ticket.

With an approach reaching past the arena and onto the street, Lashbrook Marketing and Public Relations positioned the Memorial Cup as a fun, exciting and inclusive district surrounding Budweiser Gardens. A successful pitch convinced a conservative city department to install larger than life hockey jersey street advertising and host free community activities at FanFest that would bring people to the downtown core. With 100,000 cardboard hockey helmets swiped from shelves, Londoners were engaged and energetic, maintaining attendance throughout the tournament.