2021 Winner
2021 Winners
Molson Canadian
Molson Canadian Stanley Cup Batch
In Canada, hockey is more than our official sport. It’s a culture, a religion, and a unifying force in a world that increasingly feels divisive. Hockey is more than a game; it’s a sport that defines our nation.
As an iconic symbol of this beloved game, the Stanley Cup is one of the most famous trophies in all of sports. 128 years later, the Stanley Cup remains the coveted trophy for which NHL teams battle to hoist above their heads each season.
As the eponymous beer for Canadians, Molson Canadian has served as the unofficial beer of hockey and has been there for every win of the Cup for over 50 years. But, American competitors like Budweiser have tried to invade that territory by outspending Molson. They weren’t going to stand for it.
So, they had to do something big. After six months of building back hockey equity and demanding attention, they needed to earn back their share of hearts and minds, and reclaim the mantle as the beer of hockey.
Every Canadian hockey fan grows up dreaming of winning the Stanley Cup, and the greatest tradition of all, drinking beer from Lord Stanley’s Mug. But, that action is reserved only for Stanley Cup winners. As the official beer sponsor of the NHL, if there was ever a brand that could bring that dream to life, it’s Molson. They have the access that every fan wishes they had, so they thought like a fan and approached the NHL with a fan forward idea.
To reclaim their spot in the fridges of Canada’s hockey fans, they needed to win over the hearts of rookie and diehard fans alike. The fan who used to walk around with their skates on to break them in before their first game. The fan who dreamed of going all the way, but blew out their knee in the minor leagues. The fan whose dreams will never die thanks to beer league. The fan who believes year-over-year that this is the year the Leafs will win the Cup.
So they pitched it: let’s bring the Stanley Cup to a Molson Canadian brewery to do something never done before and pass our beer through the bowl. Then, let’s bottle it to create a limited-edition batch and give all fans a chance to do what every Canadian dreams of: to drink from the Stanley Cup—the NHL said yes.
They went through multiple rounds of testing and innovation, creating special rigs so that beer could flow through the bowl and into the vat. From there, it hit the bottling line, was placed in specially designed packs, and the Stanley Cup batch was then distributed at retailers across the country.
They launched with a big bang. On the June 6th edition of Hockey Night In Canada during the Montreal Canadiens vs. Winnipeg Jets game, Ron MacLean himself gave a personal introduction to our innovation before a special viewing of the :60 TV spot. In addition, paid media supported an online flight of the :30 and :15 cutdowns.
Bottles of the Stanley Cup batch were made available on shelves across the country. Using the design of the Stanley Cup as inspiration, the Stanley Cup batch bottles featured silver labels and were contained in a black carton mimicking the flight case that safely nests the Stanley Cup during its travels around the world.
They were fortunate enough to have Brad May and Willie Mitchell as spokespeople speaking of their memories winning the Cup with media outlets. They also created seeding kits including the Stanley Cup batch beer along with special white gloves to Stanley Cup-winning NHL alumni such as Paul Coffey, Dave Bolland, and Kris Versteeg to give them the opportunity to relive those wins.
The campaign was broadcast nationally during Hockey Night in Canada earning over 3 million placements within the first 24 hours and an additional 8 million people tuned in for the June 6th edition of Hockey Night In Canada. Following, they reached a total of nearly 15 million earned media impressions from 194 placements during the campaign period, with an additional 5.1 million OLV impressions and 4.2 million paid social impressions from NHL alumni content.
With bottles made available from British Columbia to Newfoundland, Molson Canadian brought dreams to life for hockey fans across the country. Volumes of the 6-pack SKU were +27.8% versus the plan, and +3.3% versus last year nationally. From a distribution perspective, the new SKU listings in New Brunswick and PEI had 70% distribution amongst both provinces, with overall distribution +1% versus last year.
As an iconic symbol of this beloved game, the Stanley Cup is one of the most famous trophies in all of sports. 128 years later, the Stanley Cup remains the coveted trophy for which NHL teams battle to hoist above their heads each season.
As the eponymous beer for Canadians, Molson Canadian has served as the unofficial beer of hockey and has been there for every win of the Cup for over 50 years. But, American competitors like Budweiser have tried to invade that territory by outspending Molson. They weren’t going to stand for it.
So, they had to do something big. After six months of building back hockey equity and demanding attention, they needed to earn back their share of hearts and minds, and reclaim the mantle as the beer of hockey.
Every Canadian hockey fan grows up dreaming of winning the Stanley Cup, and the greatest tradition of all, drinking beer from Lord Stanley’s Mug. But, that action is reserved only for Stanley Cup winners. As the official beer sponsor of the NHL, if there was ever a brand that could bring that dream to life, it’s Molson. They have the access that every fan wishes they had, so they thought like a fan and approached the NHL with a fan forward idea.
To reclaim their spot in the fridges of Canada’s hockey fans, they needed to win over the hearts of rookie and diehard fans alike. The fan who used to walk around with their skates on to break them in before their first game. The fan who dreamed of going all the way, but blew out their knee in the minor leagues. The fan whose dreams will never die thanks to beer league. The fan who believes year-over-year that this is the year the Leafs will win the Cup.
So they pitched it: let’s bring the Stanley Cup to a Molson Canadian brewery to do something never done before and pass our beer through the bowl. Then, let’s bottle it to create a limited-edition batch and give all fans a chance to do what every Canadian dreams of: to drink from the Stanley Cup—the NHL said yes.
They went through multiple rounds of testing and innovation, creating special rigs so that beer could flow through the bowl and into the vat. From there, it hit the bottling line, was placed in specially designed packs, and the Stanley Cup batch was then distributed at retailers across the country.
They launched with a big bang. On the June 6th edition of Hockey Night In Canada during the Montreal Canadiens vs. Winnipeg Jets game, Ron MacLean himself gave a personal introduction to our innovation before a special viewing of the :60 TV spot. In addition, paid media supported an online flight of the :30 and :15 cutdowns.
Bottles of the Stanley Cup batch were made available on shelves across the country. Using the design of the Stanley Cup as inspiration, the Stanley Cup batch bottles featured silver labels and were contained in a black carton mimicking the flight case that safely nests the Stanley Cup during its travels around the world.
They were fortunate enough to have Brad May and Willie Mitchell as spokespeople speaking of their memories winning the Cup with media outlets. They also created seeding kits including the Stanley Cup batch beer along with special white gloves to Stanley Cup-winning NHL alumni such as Paul Coffey, Dave Bolland, and Kris Versteeg to give them the opportunity to relive those wins.
The campaign was broadcast nationally during Hockey Night in Canada earning over 3 million placements within the first 24 hours and an additional 8 million people tuned in for the June 6th edition of Hockey Night In Canada. Following, they reached a total of nearly 15 million earned media impressions from 194 placements during the campaign period, with an additional 5.1 million OLV impressions and 4.2 million paid social impressions from NHL alumni content.
With bottles made available from British Columbia to Newfoundland, Molson Canadian brought dreams to life for hockey fans across the country. Volumes of the 6-pack SKU were +27.8% versus the plan, and +3.3% versus last year nationally. From a distribution perspective, the new SKU listings in New Brunswick and PEI had 70% distribution amongst both provinces, with overall distribution +1% versus last year.