Kraft Hockeyville: Building Community Participation

Kraft Hockeyville

Corporate & Financial, Consumer & Lifestyle

Kraft Hockeyville has a legacy of uniting the spirit and passion of Canadian hockey communities. The program, run in partnership with Kraft Heinz, the NHL and NHLPA, helps protect the future of hockey in Canada by investing in where that passion comes to life – the local arena. This program has enjoyed massive success over the years but wanted to connect with more communities, and new audiences, across Canada. Kraft Heinz tasked Proof Strategies to help.

Where Did We Start?

As with many well-known national legacy programs, increasing participation year-over-year can be a challenge. We needed to think differently to engage new audiences who could be interested in Kraft Hockeyville. We also wanted to uncover innovative ways to better connect with existing audiences to move them from general awareness to active participation in the program.  

What Opportunities Did We Identify?

Using qualitative and quantitative research, we identified new, untapped audiences to engage with the program, and discovered that Kraft Hockeyville had an opportunity to change the way it communicated with traditional audiences of parents and arena staff to better encourage action.

What Was The Solution?

We developed and executed an integrated communications approach, with an audience-first lens, designed to increase program awareness and encourage nominations. We leveraged innovative digital platform partnerships and earned media to connect with our traditional audiences and drive action. We used influencer relations and a robust community-based approach that included outreach to local sports organizations and elected officials, to generate awareness and encourage participation with new audiences.

How Did We Do?

Kraft Hockeyville had a record setting season, with nominations up 54 per cent year-over-year. The results of the program demonstrated the effectiveness of our strategy by exceeding all of our initial communications objectives and KPIs, and over indexing in nominations regional markets with historically lower rates of participation.