Canucks & Beyond
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200 and Counting
by Alanah McGinley on 01/29/08 at 02:14 PM ET
Comments (12)
“Orca Bay” is no more—the Vancouver Canucks’ operating company underwent a long-overdue name change today: Canucks Sports & Entertainment.
And it’s a big day for the new company, as tonight’s game represents the team’s 200th consecutive sellout. Which is all well and good, but team president Chris Zimmerman isn’t taking anything for granted, either:
...Zimmerman doesn’t want to hear comparisons to the sold-out-from-now-to-eternity Toronto Maple Leafs.
“That’s an incredibly dangerous thing that I would never say,” Zimmerman said. “We talk all the time about ‘don’t take any of this for granted.’ Loyalty can be a fragile thing.”
Especially in Vancouver, which has historically been a fickle market.
That’s for sure.
Matthew Sekeres in the Globe & Mail provides a chart documenting attendance over the past 15 years:
1993-94: 15,226
1994-95: 13,932
1995-96: 17,795
1996-97: 17,320
1997-98: 17,119
1998-99: 15,803
1999-00: 14,649
2000-01: 17,017
2001-02: 17,713
2002-03: 18,396
2003-04: 18,630
2004-05: No season
2005-06: 18,630
2006-07: 18,630
2007-08: 18,630 (through 25 games)
The 1994-95 season certainly jumps out at you, considering it followed on the heels of an exciting Stanley Cup run. But the numbers are a bit misleading, too, given that season was locked out till January, and fans were just as unimpressed with a huge jump in ticket prices.
So what turned it around? Former GM Brian Burke indicates three factors were at work, which Sekeres explains here:
First, the Canucks began concentrating on group sales, believing that getting people into GM Place, even with discounted tickets, would keep them coming back.
Second, the team’s style of play changed to suit Burke’s fiery personality. Crawford instituted an up-tempo style that produced goals and fights and one of the NHL’s best lines in Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi.
Third, after a five-year absence, the Canucks returned to the postseason in 2001.
So what will sustain the success and profits now?
The first factor is obliterated by success—you don’t offer discounts when you have no tickets to sell.
The second factor is obliterated by circumstances—this team is playing such an utterly different style from the Crawford era, you’re hard-pressed to consider it the same sport.
And the third factor… well, the blush of making the playoffs is no longer an exciting goal—the market now expects it. And more.
Zimmerman knows all this, knows that the team’s profitable ways can’t go on forever purely based on the product (and he sure can’t count on them to win the Stanley Cup!), so he aims to make the team part of the fans’ very identity. Win or lose.
This former executive for Nike had a very clear goal with his marketing. “We Are All Canucks” was no accidental catch-phrase—it’s the branding that Zimmerman believes will take the Canucks over the top—brand-wise—with the goal being to achieve Maple Leafs- and Canadiens -type fan loyalty.
“The one thing those franchises might have on us is longer histories,” Zimmerman said. “[But] we want to create something that, over time, has that kind of brand power and fan affinity.”
I guess we’ll see. Creating a brand like those historic teams requires exactly that… “history.” But I suppose the Leafs have proven that marketing can also overcome a whole generation of losing, too.
I’m perfectly aware that Canucks’ fans are fickle (and sort of nuts—judging by call-in radio shows, anyway). But I suspect the same is also true everywhere else in this country. Vancouver is just one of the easier targets for criticism, never having won the Cup.
And yet we still insist on keeping hope alive. Go figure.
I’m sure some Oilers’ or Flames’ fan will comment or email shortly to remind me why we shouldn’t bother…
Filed in: | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: chris+zimmerman, marketing, vancouver+canucks, we+are+all+canucks,
Comments
Thanks for the nice comment. And a Boudrias autograph? Wow.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/29/08 at 04:26 PM ET
So in a supply demand market that is short in supply and high in demand, logic would say they should raise prices.
<I am now putting on my flame retardant suit>
Posted by Ryan from BC on 01/29/08 at 04:43 PM ET
No need for the flame retardant suit—I can respect the tenets of capitalism.
However, supply and demand also has to be balanced with treating fans well, otherwise the demand might not always be there.
As the second most expensive team to check out in the NHL (based on parking, tickets and concessions, according to an article in the Vancouver Sun the other day, I believe), I’d say Zimmerman is smart to work hard at keeping that loyalty.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/29/08 at 05:08 PM ET
Too bad Zimmerman doesn’t work for the NHL, as it clearly shows he has a vision for the franchise/brand. The NHL’s marketing campaign’s have concentrated solely on the ‘home run’, they have forgotten to build, build, build...which is what brand marketing is all about.
Posted by GZ Expat from Chiner on 01/29/08 at 05:21 PM ET
And yet we still insist on keeping hope alive. Go figure.
Could be worse.
You could be rooting for the Chicago Cubs, the epitome of sports futility.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/29/08 at 08:11 PM ET
Watch the next time the Canucks play a crappy team, like Los Angeles. The lower bowl (the Suits) will be, at best, 3/4 full.
These people aren’t LOYAL. They aren’t HOCKEY FANS. They are EVENT FANS. There is a big difference.
Posted by jackass on 01/29/08 at 09:57 PM ET
Expat -- I agree. The NHL isn’t always the best brander of their product, that’s for sure. Not sure how much credit I would give Zimmerman yet though; time will tell. Although, he is credited with making Nike Golf such a powerful brand… so it’s a good bet he knows what he’s doing.
Baroque -- Nah, I’ll leave the Cubs to you. But it’s good to be reminded millions of others know my pain.
Jackass -- Ha! Well, don’t discount this important fact: an empty seat is just as likely a hockey fan looking around the concourse for a beer. This is the era of defensive Canucks’ hockey… beer is really freakin’ important!
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/29/08 at 10:17 PM ET
Hey how come my last comment there said my user name was jackass?
You got some fancy software there that’s forming opinions?
Posted by Ryan from Dapuddle on 01/29/08 at 10:37 PM ET
I’ll leave the Cubs to you. But it’s good to be reminded millions of others know my pain.
“One Hundred Years of Tradition...And Counting!”
It isn’t their marketing slogan, but it should be.
(At least my American League team is the Tigers, and they are pretty good.)
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/30/08 at 10:47 AM ET
Nice try, Ryan. I figured you chose it as your alter-ego screen name… and to mess with my head.
Baroque, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I cheered for a team with a history of success. Hell, it’s taken me most of the last 18 months just to get used to having a world class goalie. God forbid they ever win anything, I’d probably turn into one of those smug, boring fans who brag ad nauseum about their Stanley Cup winning team…
Perhaps that will be the time for me to start enjoying the Cubs.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/30/08 at 05:43 PM ET
I just attended the last game against the Wild.... the one part of the marketing and brand that stands out to me, but isn’t mentioned, is that being a “Canucks fan” means that you are Canadian!
I could help but notice the thousands of young second generation Canadians (Asian and Indian) that wear the Canuck jersey as a tool for being more Canadian....
just my two cents…
Posted by Garry from Interior on 02/16/08 at 12:02 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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I guess I’m a rare Flames fan that has a soft spot for the Canucks, for a couple of reasons.
One, the Canucks held a mini-training camp in my hometown when I was 10 or 11 and I was able to obtain Andre Boudrias’ autograph (that’s going back into the Canucks archives).
Two, Trevor Linden has always been one of my favorite players in the league.
Thus, good on the Canucks for achieving 200 consecutive sellouts, and here’s hoping for 200 more (and a Stanley Cup somewhere down the road, just not at the expense of the Flames)
Posted by dash_pinched on 01/29/08 at 02:22 PM ET