Canucks Sports & Entertainment

Canucks 50th Season: Colourful Past. Bright Future. Learn More

Vancouver Canucks (NHL), Vancouver Warriors (NLL), Vancouver Titans (OWL), Seattle Surge (CDL), and Rogers Arena

Digital Marketing Associate

When it comes to sports and my experience as both a fan and athlete, everything is fast-paced – the speed of the game, how players move with almost super-human reflexes, how referees make snap decisions and most importantly, how quickly fans get absorbed into the beauty of the game. 10 months ago, I was fortunate enough to land my dream role at Canucks Sports & Entertainment (CSE) during the peak of the franchise’s 50th season celebration. The Canucks presented an opportunity to work for a team that my family grew up watching, in an industry that I was truly passionate about. I told my Dad that he may not have gotten the hockey player that he always dreamed of having, so this was going to have to be the next best thing! It was my first full-time job after graduating university and entering into an industry that was filled with lots of thrilling action, exciting atmospheres, and iconic moments.

However, there are many uncertainties and unknowns that this new reality has presented us all with. The professional sports industry has needed to drastically change, adapt to new health standards and unfortunately, can no longer operate at its fullest capacity. Despite these challenging times that are much bigger than hockey, and sports in general, we have to divert our focus from the things that are out of our control and hone into the things we can. I am optimistic about the future, because really, that’s all we can be.

Looking back on my time at CSE, I am grateful to have been part of an organization that looks to bring to life world-class performances and iconic events while also doing their part to actively contribute back to BC’s community through ongoing volunteer initiatives and local grassroots social-development programs. I hope to one day be back in an arena filled with thousands of other like-minded sports fans and concert-goers. But until then, I’ll still be cheering as loud as I can for the Canucks from a socially safe distance - Go Canucks Go!

During my time with Canucks Sports & Entertainment (CSE), I managed the strategic planning, tactical execution and post-campaign performance of 20+ marketing initiatives tailored for single game buyers, season ticket members and retail merchandise purchasers via digital channels on paid social, paid search and email newsletters. Alongside the Digital Marketing Strategist, I conducted a full-scale digital analytics audit report, presentation, and recommendation plan on paid social channels to the Director and VP of Marketing. We highlighted the wins, losses and opportunities for improvement of current campaign structures, strategies and tactics. By cross-collaborating with the Content, Partnership, Community/Fan Engagement, and Member Experience teams, I helped spearhead the development of an efficient digital marketing briefing system, Facebook & Twitter Ads strategy guides, and best practices toolkit. I also actively worked with Rogers Arena’s concert promoters, food & beverage staff, and retail merchandise teams to develop event-based and game day promotional newsletters.

Some of my fondest memories during my time with the organization were meeting some of hockey’s greatest legends. These include Alex Burrows, Markus Näslund, and the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel Sedin. I’ll always remember and be grateful for having the opportunity to witness the Ring of Honour Ceremony for Alex Burrows and the Jersey Retirement Ceremony for the Sedins. Thank you CSE for these incredible moments! P.S. I’ve met Petey, shook his hand, and had a 10-second conversation with him, but unfortunately no photo…yet!

Here is a brief look at some of the unique projects and my favourite campaigns that I had the pleasure of taking part in as Digital Marketing Associate of Canucks Sports & Entertainment (CSE).

Disclaimer: All marketing advertisements and images belong to Canucks Sports & Entertainment (CSE).

canucks for kids telethon 2020

Paid Social &
Email Campaign

Duration: Feb 27 - Mar 10, 2020
Objective: Landing Page Views and Donations
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, MailChimp

This year, the organization celebrated the 30th annual Canucks for Kids Fund (CFKF) Telethon. The signature event is a radio and television telethon aimed to support children's health and wellness, foster the development of grassroots hockey, and facilitate and encourage education in British Columbia. Held on March 10th, 2020 when the Canucks competed against the New York Islanders, the Telethon helped to encourage donations from the generosity from fans, donors, players, employees and sponsor partners. This was a project that I was extremely passionate about and thankful to have been a part of. I think it’s very important for large organizations, who have the means, power, and capabilities to connect with the larger community to give back whenever and wherever they can. Initiatives like this one, are one of the reasons why I have an admiration for the important work that the Canucks’ Community team and the Canucks for Kids Fund organization do to help uplift children and tackle issues that affect the wider underprivileged communities in our city.

results

Paid Social
Based on the past Telethons, this year’s digital marketing campaigns ran for approx. 2 weeks. As a change from past years, which were optimized towards link clicks, the 2020 Telethon was optimized towards Landing Page Views and Conversions to better engage with users who were more likely to intentionally view the donation page, learn more about the cause and donate. The campaign drove users to the Canucks Telethon page as well as to the direct donation page on Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.

Impressions increased by +19% from F19
Link clicks increased by 2x from F19
CTR increased by +59% from F19
Total donation amount increased by +20% from F19

Email
This year was the first that a stand-alone email newsletter was created and sent to past donors from 2018 and 2019. The additional ENEWS (contest & promotions) inclusion emails were sent to a growing audience list of subscribers. Overall, the emails sent closer to the event date on March 10 resulted in a higher engagement rate.

Dice & Ice Gala Auction 2020

Paid Social &
Email Campaign

Duration: Feb 7 - Feb 14, 2020
Objective: Link Clicks and Landing Page Views
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, MailChimp

The annual Dice & Ice Gala is the Canucks for Kids Fund's (CFKF) signature event. In its 20th year, this event continues to be a highlight for guests who get to mingle with Canucks players, management and media personalities in an intimate setting. Featuring an online auction with rare sports memorabilia, unique Canucks experiences, getaways, wine, concert tickets, luxury golf and more, guests can place their bids and support the important work of the Canucks for Kids Fund. I had the privilege of taking part in the development and execution of the Dice & Ice digital marketing campaign and also got to attend the event itself as a Canucks staff volunteer. It was such a pleasure experiencing the event come to life to bring together the Vancouver community and witnessing first-hand the inspiring initiatives and people that work collaboratively to raise funds for the Canucks for Kids Fund.

Results

Paid Social
With a 62% higher spend than the previous year, results were improved year-over-year:

Impressions increased by +469% from F19
Link clicks increased by +725% from F19
CTR increased by +65% from F19
CPC decreased by -81% from F19

Email
Subscribers increased by +31% from F19
Open rate increased by +21% from F19
Link clicks increased by +21% from F19

Single Game tickets

Vancouver Canucks vs Columbus Blue Jackets (March 8, 2020)

Paid Social Campaign

Duration: Feb 27 - Mar 8, 2020
Objective: Ticket Sales
Channels: Facebook, Instagram

For this particular ad campaign, we wanted to make a large push to promote ticket sales since this game was one of the unique theme nights for the season. It was to celebrate Minor Hockey Night, a chance to honour the countless volunteers, grassroots programs, and the future of hockey in a celebration of minor hockey. The purpose of the campaign was mainly to generate ticket sales but also to work closely with the Market Research & Insights Strategist to test out additional StellarAlgo audiences. We viewed this as a collaborative project that was an opportunity for us to look into retargeting and re-tapping into a previous avid fan market.

results

Of the four ad sets created and executed, the two top-performing ad sets were the Retargeting: Website and Prospecting: Lookalike. Overall, ad copy version 2 out-performed version 1 in revenue, ROAS and CPA.

Paid Social
Retargeting: Website had a +23% higher ROAS than average ticketing campaign

Prospecting: Lookalike had a +34% higher ROAS than average ticketing campaign

online 50/50 super jackpot

vancouver canucks vs boston bruins (february 22, 2020)

Paid Social Campaign

Duration: Feb 20 - Feb 22, 2020
Objective: Landing Page Views and Donations
Channels: Facebook, Instagram

The 50/50 raffle is an opportunity to give fans at home a chance to win the big 50/50 jackpots as well for fans attending the games at Rogers Arena. The 50/50 program supports the Canucks for Kids Fund and is available for all home games and specific away games. The funds raised support CSE’s beneficiaries, including the Canucks Autism Network, Canuck Place Children's Hospice and the BC Children's Hospital Foundation, as they provide the vital care and programs that kids and families depend on.

results

This particular Super Jackpot occurred during the Canucks’ game against the Boston Bruins on February 22, 2020. It was the third of the season, with the previous ones being the home opener against the LA Kings (LAK) on October 9, 2019 and the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (TOR) on December 10, 2019. As a change from previous jackpot campaigns, which were optimized towards link clicks, landing page views was the chosen objective to better target audiences that would result in quality traffic to the raffle page.

Paid Social

Keeping in mind that budget was 4x that of TOR and 2x that of LAK, the campaign garnered notable improvements across KPIs:

Impressions increased by +405% from TOR and +72% from LAK
Link clicks increased by +365% from TOR and +174% from LAK
CTR was about the same as TOR and +62% from LAK
CPC decreased by -14% from TOR and -21% from LAK

Disclaimer: All marketing advertisements and images belong to Canucks Sports & Entertainment (CSE).

we are all canucks

Celebrating the amazing female teammates who make up nearly half of all Canucks Sports & Entertainment employees!
P.S. I’m near the middle back section of the photo. #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2020