By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The Vegas Golden Knights are rolling out a just-updated “Vegas Born” marketing campaign that is fan-centric in its artwork, with a new campaign video including jubilant fans plus William Karlsson’s instant-classic, between-the-legs, short-handed goal that defeated the San Jose Sharks to clinch the division in year one.
“We have fans playing the hero role,” Vegas Golden Knights Chief Marketing Officer Brian Killingsworth told LVSportsBiz.com. “We want to pay homage to the fans. It’s really all about recognizing the community and its unprecedented support of this team.”
The graphic images show some actual Golden Knights season ticket holders at VGK home games, from a woman waving a rally towel during the Stanley Cup playoffs to a young girl sitting on her dad’s shoulders.
Killingsworth said that in updating the Vegas Born-themed campaign, the team took a step back and observed the highlights of the first season of a major-league team that was also the first big-league sports franchise in Las Vegas history.
The unprecedented success of a first-year team, the players’ performances on the ice that produced a run to the Stanley Cup Finals and the historic launch of the city’s first-ever major league team were all highlights.
But there was one over-arching theme — the community and fans behind the Golden Knights amid the bond forged between team and city, Killingsworth said.
That’s why the pieces of marketing artwork show fans in places typically held by players.
The video spot opens with the giant, red-glowing Golden Knights mask dropped to the T-Mobile Arena ice to start each game of the playoffs and includes scenes of a small child grasping a stick, fans wildly waving playoff battle towels and the stunning, highlight-reel, Sportscenter Top Ten Karlsson goal that clinched the Pacific Division. Here are some of the video images:
The Vegas Born mantra was a powerful theme during the inaugural season, which included an emotionally-charged home-opener Oct. 10 when the Golden Knights paid tribute to the 58 people killed and more than 500 injured during a gunman’s shooting massacre on the Strip Oct. 1.
The Vegas Born took on a bigger meaning as the season wore on in light of the mass shooting.
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The Golden Knights will use the new images at T-Mobile Arena, on billboards, in digital displays, during TV broadcasts and in print ads.
The video spot is 30 seconds and includes a litany of fan images, including a baby with a hockey stick and lots of fans waving that battle towel that was a constant image along the Knights’ journey to the Finals that included series wins over the Kings, Sharks and Jets.
The team hopes the video will help fans return to that emotional place of the unprecedented inaugural season, Killingsworth said.
As for the campaign artwork, eventually the players will be phased into the promotional marketing materials later in the season, he said.
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