2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

The one-line key insight: On October 10, the NHL announced a ban on Pride Tape – damaging years of social progress and sending a clear message that hockey isn’t for everyone.

They used the NHL’s banned tape to start a grassroots protest against the league – putting the brand's values over the value of their sponsorship.

Hockey has a longstanding homophobia problem – with a history of discrimination, bullying, and violence. In 2016, Pride Tape was brought into the National Hockey League by players and teams showing their support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

On October 10, the NHL announced a ban on Pride Tape – damaging years of social progress and sending a clear message that hockey isn’t for everyone.

Scotiabank, one of the NHL’s biggest sponsors, is committed to making hockey more inclusive through its longstanding hockey for all platform, and is a proud supporter of the 2SLGBTQ+ Community.

With the ban, inclusion in hockey for an entire community was at stake. Despite Scotiabank’s billion-dollar partnership with the NHL, they did what no other sponsor was willing to do.

The brand used the NHL’s banned tape to start a grassroots protest against the league – putting their values over the value of their sponsorship.

Scotiabank filled branches across the country with the now unused rolls of Pride Tape – supplying fans, athletes, and 2SLGBTQ+ leagues and organizations – putting thousands of rolls on the ice in rinks across the country, and turning hockey sticks everywhere into protest signs.

The brand launched a national campaign using Pride Tape to make protest signs in Scotiabank branches, out-of-home boards, and even right outside of NHL arenas. Fans used the tape to create their own signs and brought them into arenas to protest during NHL games. They even saw NHL players bring the tape onto the ice, in clear defiance of the NHL. Turning a few thousand rolls of hockey tape into a rallying cry for those who were excluded from the game.

Media coverage spanned across the globe, appearing in NPR, The Daily Mail, and ESPN. Scotiabank’s initiative yielded more than 250 million earned media impressions, across broadcast, online coverage, and social posts. All pickup was totally organic.

Less than 2 weeks after “Pride Tape For All” launched, the NHL rescinded their decision, with media coverage around the NHL’s decision crediting Scotiabank’s action as a huge contributing factor.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick
Chief Strategy Officer: Sean McDonald
Group Creative Directors: Caroline Friesen, Robbie Percy
Art Director: Ashley Park
Writer: Aman Soin
Group Strategy Director: Crystal Sales
PR Lead: Meredith Montgomery
Director of Integrated Content: Todd Harrison
Director of Print Production: AJ Merrick
Agency Integrated Producer: Venus Pun
Studio Manager: Todd Bennett
Studio Artist: Kostas Loukopoulos
Group Business Lead: Caitlin Bourada
Group Account Director: Daniel Riggi
Account Director: Kelly Brennan
PR Coordinator: Maya Ventresca

Client:
Global Chief Marketing Officer: Laura Curtis Ferrera
Vice President, Global Sponsorship & Events: Mike Tasevski
Vice President, Head of Global Brand: John Rocco
Director, Global Brand Management: Katie O’Donovan
Director, Global Sponsorships - Hockey: James Savage
Senior Manager, Brand Sponsorships: Matthew Dicker
Manager, Global Sponsorships: Nick Kalyn
Assistant Manager, Brand Sponsorships: Diana Colley
Director, Communications: Doug Johnson
Senior Manager, Communications: Charlene Callaghan
Manager, Communications: Kelty Reid
Director, Social Media and Content: Shefali Vyas
Manager, Social Media Marketing: Maja Protuger
Senior Manager, Merchandising: Lia Van Pelt
Manager, Merchandising: Judy Chau