Across the globe, few things inspire as much fervor, passion and loyalty as sport – and within professional sports, history has singled out a few truly outstanding franchises that are relentlessly relevant in the lives of their fans and communities. The Green Bay Packers. FC Barcelona. The New Zealand All Blacks.
In North America, the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks have now joined this pantheon. This past June, the club won its third Stanley Cup Championship in the past six years – no small feat in an era of capped salaries (a team can’t just buy the best players), geographic realignment (teams are playing vastly different schedules than two years ago), slightly declining attendance (down 1% year-over-year) and talent parity (the highest- and lowest- ranked playoff teams in Chicago’s conference in 2015 were separated by just 12 points, meaning that the outcome of 3 of 82 games explained 100% of the variance between those teams).
In business terms, the Blackhawks are one of 30 entrants competing night-in and night-out in a category with changing regulations, dynamic markets, fickle customers and strong competitors. Yet, this team has been the best in hockey since time and time (and time!) again since 2010. The Blackhawks brand has become so strong that Nielsen now refers to it as “America’s NHL Team.”
So how have they done it?
Answer: By doing all of the things that organizations do to make their brands relentlessly relevant. They’ve been customer obsessed. They’ve been pervasively innovative. They’ve been ruthlessly pragmatic. And most of all, they’ve been distinctively inspired.
Customer Obsessed
When Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz took over the franchise in 2007, he reversed a decades-old policy his late father and former owner Bill Wirtz had of limiting television broadcasts, bringing the fastest game on earth and one of the NHL’s “Original Six” franchises into a million Chicagoland living rooms. The team has appeared twice in the league’s coveted New Year’s Day Winter Classic outdoor game, playing the 2009 game at hallowed Wrigley Field in front of 40,000 fans and drawing eyeballs from 4.4 million viewers at home. The team’s TV ratings, jersey sales and social media metrics offer proof that the Hawks have become the most popular hockey brand in the U.S. In addition, youth hockey participation is up anywhere from 25% to 40% and growing all around Chicagoland.
Pervasively Innovative
As the team’s young phenoms began to blossom in 2009, the Blackhawks knew they’d need to surround those great players with “bench strength” to create a truly outsanding team. So they hired 9-time Stanley Cup winning coach Scotty Bowman away from the rival Detroit Red Wings to advise on player recruitment and scouting. When fans said they wanted to engage with the team beyond the rink, the Blackhawks created an owned YouTube channel to connect in authentic and fun ways. The team’s training staff even got into product development, formulating a proprietary coconut water for its players, which became an additional source of licensing revenue. And, through signature programs like the annual Ho Ho tournament, the team’s brand has become synonymous with helping Illinois youth lead more active, healthy lifestyles.
Ruthlessly Pragmatic
The Blackhawks have committed millions of dollars to paying superstar players, but they’ve also signed short- and long-term deals with “role” players that pick up the slack. To help build for the future while winning in the present, they’ve had to make tough trades, such as July’s move of star center Brandon Saad to Columbus and Patrick Sharp to Dallas. Coach Joel Quennville isn’t afraid to sit even his most critical (and expensive) players when they need a physical or mental rest, as he did with starting goalie Corey Crawford early in the 2015 run to the Cup. The team and the organization have a playbook and they stick to it on and off the ice.
Distinctively Inspired
The Blackhawks have assembled a cast of likeable, fun-loving, hard-working young men, a group of once-in-a-generation players that inspires kids and impresses adults. Captain Jonathan Toews combines a humble, self-effacing manner with an on-ice intensity that no one in the NHL can match. Defenseman Duncan Keith plays seemingly every shift, guarding opponents’ top players with grace and grit. Patrick Kane’s blend of flashy skill and hard-nosed play endear him to dads who grew up with old-time hockey and to their kids who mimic his moves in their driveways and on their PlayStations. These highly skilled, charismatic individual players come together to put on the best show in the NHL 82 nights a year – the Blackhawks are the most-watched team in every rink where they play. This passionate following has even prompted some NHL teams to prohibit their season ticket holders from selling to Chicago fans who traveled across the country to see their beloved team.
It’s rare that sport can bestow the tag of “dynasty” on a team, but is equally rare that a team has the discipline to cultivate success like the Blackhawks have over the past decade. By being relentlessly relevant, the Hawks have cemented their position as a truly great sports franchise, made hockey relevant in the lives of millions around the country, and earned the heart of a hard-working city that deserves nothing less than a winner.
photo credit: Don’t drop it… via photopin (license)