With the NHL playoffs about to get underway, LG has launched a hockey-themed B2B campaign to connect with its dealers and sales teams across Canada.
Produced by XMC Sports and Entertainment the “2011 LG All-Star Line Up” highlights the newest LG products and technology through a web show hosted by a Stanley Cup champion many Canucks will recognize: Nick Kypreos. Fellow Canadian sportscaster Daren Millard co-hosts.
Kypreos and Millard host the web content for English-speaking Canada, while former NHL coach Michel Bergeron and former player and Hockey Night in Canada regular PJ Stock take hosting duties for French Canada. The show is 18 minutes long, but salespeople also have the option to watch a four-minute segment on an LG device instead.
The show is part of a digital experiential platform XMC developed and produced for LG for the electronics company to educate its more than 365 nationwide dealers and sales teams about the 2011 products for LG’s home entertainment business.
In the web show, the sportscasters reveal their “all-star picks.” These include Rookie of the Year (which goes to the Nano Full LED Slim), MVP (the LG Cinema 3D TV), and Most Innovative for 2011 (the LG Smart TV). The internal campaign was handled entirely by XMC, LG’s sponsorship and experiential marketing agency of record.
XMC vice-president Jeanette McFarlane said XMC went with the sports highlight format since the product review literature typically sent to dealers can be overwhelming and “won’t keep their interest.”
To keep dealers and salespeople riveted, XMC took a more digestible approach. The philosophy, said McFarlane, was based on the idea that even if people don’t have time to watch a whole hockey game, they’ve got time to watch the highlights. “It’s a way we can entertain and educate them at the same time,” she said.
All LG’s dealers got an e-mail blast directing them to a site that showcases the new products. Subsequent direct mail outreach included a metallic “playbook” with sell sheets, a DVD of the web show content that uses consumer-speak and can therefore be played on in-store TVs by dealers, a puck autographed by Kypreos or Bergeron, and product “hockey cards” (complete with gum).
XMC also incorporated other interactive elements for dealers into the campaign, such as gaming, microsites and promotion to prompt participation.
The “2011 LG All-Star Line Up” campaign runs until June 1.
