The National Hockey League has developed a number of new digital products and touch points for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs to provide fans numerous ways to celebrate the most exciting time of the NHL® season.
Daily Digital Video Shorts: New this year to the post-season, the League will produce twice-daily, seven-day-a-week digital video shorts aimed to inform, engage and entertain all fans – from those who are new to the sport to the most avid hockey fan. The two- to three-minute videos, which begin appearing tomorrow and continue throughout the entire run of the Stanley Cup® Playoffs, will come in two editions: the “Stanley Cup Countdown,” which will be released after the night’s games are completed, and an afternoon edition that will be known as “Melrose’s Place.” Every video will end with Stanley Cup Playoffs broadcast tune-in information so fans are sure to know where to go to see all the action.“Stanley Cup Countdown” and “Melrose’s Place” will be distributed through all NHL platforms, including NHL.com™, NHL Network™, NHL Mobile™, NHL Social™ (Twitter / Facebook) and other key third-party League digital syndication partners.
NHL Social: The NHL has increased its number of social media followers by 211% the past three seasons and is poised to deliver a number of new Stanley Cup-themed applications and shareable experiences, many of which will be the first of their kind. The NHL also is pleased to announce that the most recognizable trophy in sports – the Stanley Cup — now has its own Facebook page (Facebook.com/StanleyCup.) Fans are encouraged to “friend” the Cup and explore its page, which will offer the trophy’s history and folklore, fun facts and updates on the Cup’s whereabouts from the road.
The following is a list of additional new features from NHL Social being introduced for the #StanleyCup (official hashtag):
Virtual Beard App – Through Facebook and NHL.com, fans of all ages and genders will finally be able to participate in the grand tradition of growing a Playoff beard. By uploading a photo to the virtual beard app and declaring fandom for a particular NHL team, a beard will begin to appear on the fan’s face in the picture. The beard will continue to grow as their favorite team moves on to the next round. If their team is eliminated from the Playoffs, they are then able to shave their virtual beard. If a fan would like to declare their allegiance for another team who has continued on to the next round while their first choice team hasn’t, they may do so and continue to grow their Playoff beard.
Fan Photo Mosaics – In the coming weeks, fans will be asked to share photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram showcasing their passion for a team while tagging the photos with the team name in a hashtag along with the official secondary hashtag for the Stanley Cup Playoffs — #BecauseitstheCup. The uploaded photo will then be aggregated into a Stanley Cup-shaped mosaic that brings together fans from all over the world and is shareable through Facebook pages and personal websites.
Locker Room Postcards – In the vein of good-natured ribbing between fans of rival teams, Facebook users will be able to send sarcastic sympathy postcards to friends after their team is eliminated from the Playoffs. Visa serves as the presenting sponsor of this application in Canada.
FourSquare – In October 2010, the NHL became the first sports league to have a full-time, dedicated presence on Foursquare. Today, the NHL and FourSquare are utilizing that partnership to engage and promote the Stanley Cup Playoffs. By “checking in” to a Playoff game, hockey fans can find other fans and locations to watch a game, while unlocking a Stanley Cup Badge – the League’s first official “badge” available through the platform. Additionally, fans who check in at the Stanley Cup fountain in Times Square between April 11 – 13 will receive a special offer – buy one hat, get the second hat half off – at the NHL Powered By Reebok store located on the corner of 6th Avenue and 47th Street in New York City.
Molson Canadian Playoffs Facts – Molson Canadian will extend its bottle back label’s Playoffs Facts program to Facebook and Twitter, allowing fans to “like” and share interesting stats and timely facts related to this year’s Stanley Cup run.
Twitter Aggregator App Presented by Geico – This is an app for Facebook that tracks the mentions of every Stanley Cup game online and through social platforms. As each team battles it out on the ice, they will also compete online through this app for the title of “Noise Leader” of the game. The team that has the most mentions online will be named the “noisiest” making them the winner. Now when fans root for their team through social networks, they also are rooting them on to win through this online match-up.