Richard. Geoffrion. Lafleur. Roy. Joel. Twist Image president and founder Mitch Joel is the newest member of the Montreal Canadiens’ team, his Montreal agency chosen to oversee mobile marketing for the storied NHL franchise following a competitive review.
Twist Image will oversee mobile app development and assist in mobile marketing strategies and tactics for the Canadiens. The agency’s primary focus will be a “complete overhaul” of the Canadiens’ current mobile app, with the new product slated to debut before the start of the 2013-14 NHL season.
Joel, one of four brothers who grew up a Habs fan in his native Montreal, said that mobile is becoming an increasingly important platform for sports franchises to connect and interact with fans.
“We live in a time when fans are so intrinsically connected to a [sports] brand and its players, and most of that connectivity is happening in the palm of their hand,” said Joel. “Just by the nature of how much mobile has shifted in the past three of four years, the capacity of this brand to do amazing things and to augment that [via mobile] is paramount.”
Twist Image wants to evolve the Habs’ current app beyond scores and a newsfeed (which Joel called “mobile 101”) in favour of a complete experience encompassing elements such as information, transactions and gamification.
The idea is to create a mobile app that, like Twitter and Instagram, can’t be easily replicated in a web-based environment, said Joel. Mobile also affords the opportunity to contextualize the experience based on when and where fans are interacting with the app, Joel added.
Twist Image will also work to incorporate the Canadiens’ sponsorship partners into the app’s functions, said Joel.
