Last blog I talked about how to brand a hockey team. But I didn’t quite focus on marketing and branding. I wanted to build a context first and discuss why you were considering a specific team in the first place. What does it have to do with marketing? Well, it starts with their soul and how your values as a parent align with it. Looking first what is inside you, what your values are as a parent of a player is intrinsic to what you look for in a hockey team. What are they all about? What signals are you getting from their players? Parents? What do their practices look like? Are the coaches screaming? Players standing around? Goofing around? Are they getting their attention? What are the drills like? Systemic? Skill driven? Teamwork compliant? Are the kids having fun? You can tell a lot about a team and its DNA by they way they run their practices. Risk taking, trying new things, getting out of your comfort zone. These are all good qualities that should be embraced by the team your willing to commit your time, resources and most importantly your child to. On the flip side, this is a critical component of how the “TEAM” markets itself. Because it’s what they DO, not what they SAY that is at the core of who they really are. “You are what you eat,” as the expression goes and it’s no different in hockey. And that leads to the most powerful branding and marketing tool one can use— “word-of-mouth.” So from a branding and marketing standpoint— that is their greatest asset and all of their marketing communications material should emanate and reflect this point of view. If you’re involved in hockey operations and running a team, you should have a clear-cut message. Do you have a value statement? Is your mission clear? Why are you running a team to begin with? Make no bones about it, running a team and having an organization is a business. But unlike manufacturing or software development, your assets are people. Young people at that. Young adults who look up to you as role models. Not just for becoming a better hockey player, not because of their love of the game, but to be shaped and molded into up-standing citizens. To be better people while learning and playing the game they love. So when you consider your brand, consider how you want to market yourself, look no further than your soul. Ask yourself why, why am I doing this— other than the obvious, what is your passion? What drives you? As one of our great “Thought Leaders,” Simon Sinek states, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” What is your why?

Next blog: exploring your “why,” and just how one goes about marketing that.