Figure helped the LA Kings Valley Ice Center rebrand, program, and market the relaunch of its in-house youth hockey program.
Figure helped the LA Kings Valley Ice Center rebrand, program, and market the relaunch of its in-house youth hockey program.
Creative
The development of the rink’s youth hockey program began with Figure’s exclusive branding, identity, and marketing planning workshops. These provided an in-depth dive into the program’s values, voice, and competitive landscape. We then effectively elevated the brand with a clear, consistent, fan-favorite identity system, simple skill level program categorizations for players, a parent-friendly digital POS experience, and on-brand, hockey specific marketing collateral.
Services Provided
– Executive Creative Direction
– Branding Workshop
– Identity Workshop
– Marketing Planning Workshop
– Digital Registration and POS Experience Design
– Organic and Paid Social Media Creation and Management
– Email Marketing Management and Collateral Creation
– Company SOP and Employee Training Manuals
Creative
The development of the rink’s youth hockey program began with Figure’s exclusive branding, identity, and marketing planning workshops. These provided an in-depth dive into the program’s values, voice, and competitive landscape. We then effectively elevated the brand with a clear, consistent, fan-favorite identity system, simple skill level program categorizations for players, a parent-friendly digital POS experience, and on-brand, hockey specific marketing collateral.
Services Provided
– Executive Creative Direction
– Branding Workshop
– Identity Workshop
– Marketing Planning Workshop
– Digital Registration and POS Experience Design
– Organic and Paid Social Media Creation and Management
– Email Marketing Management and Collateral Creation
– Company SOP and Employee Training Manuals
Messaging
NAME:
Valley Youth Hockey
ONE LINE DESCRIPTION:
The Valley Youth Hockey program is a fun, supportive, recreational youth sports program for beginner to intermediate coed players, ages 6-15.
PROGRAM PRINCIPLES:
- Hockey is for everyone.
- Our goal is great kids, not just great hockey players.
- Build healthy life skills.
- Beginners are welcome.
- Increase accessibility.
- Grow a healthy, lifelong passion for the sport.
- Good communication and customer service.
PRIMARY BENEFITS:
Players:
- Self-confidence, team building, personal maturity, healthy life skills.
- Fun, competitive individual skill development and team play
- Supportive coaching environment, encourages love of the sport
Parents:
- Excellent youth sports cost value
- Lowest cost entry to the sport
- Equipment discounts
- Safe, low-to no contact
- USA Hockey Certified Professional Coaching
- Age-appropriate USA Hockey American Development Model curriculum
Identity
The rink operates under a branding license agreement with the Los Angeles Kings NHL team. This brand association has created strong patronage links with its recreational hockey players and youth hockey families. We tapped into that brand loyalty and created an identity system rooted in the traditions of the professional club, its history, and the rink itself.
We incorporated the pointed block design prominent in the rink’s primary logo, used a flowing, skating-style script type for the title, and a crown for an added touch of regality. The colorway was elevated above the rink’s black, white, and silver colors, pulling forward a fan-favorite set of royal purple and gold used in professional club’s original brand colors from its inception in 1967. Finally, the range of type weights available in Montserrat and Nunito gave us a universal typographic identity, easy availability, and web use flexibility.
Program Branding
Family participation and retention were the key measures of success for the program. The rink expressed a desire to build a structure that brought in very young, beginner level players and offered them a progression of classes that elevated their skill level and kept families involved in the program as their children aged. We organized the youth program into three successive skill levels, with names based on the royalty aspect of the professional “Kings” franchise. Each level name, messaging, and distinct sub-branded logo was carried throughout the customer experience from digital POS registrations to team apparel, to additional email and social media marketing collateral.
Distribution
We had a very short window to relaunch the program so we attacked it on multiple platforms at the same time. Our overall messaging introduced the program rebranded start, eased registration with QR codes and links, promoted the “hockey is for everyone” aspect by welcoming beginner level starts. We marketed to a large email database assembled from previous youth programs at the rink and the current adult league players and built the rink’s first ever paid ad plan and use of IG/FB stories. We created print materials to promote the program’s launch and to train the staff, upgrading its customer service approach. Finally, we made branded apparel including home and away jerseys, coaching wear, and off-ice family shirts and hats to build a visual appearance inside the rink and out.
Results
75% increase in player signups for the relaunch season
70% average email open rate and zero unsubscribes over 14 emails sent during relaunch marketing period
30k+ reach and 350+ clicks across four short run, hyper-local paid IG/FB campaigns
14% engagement increase across organic IG/FB posts
Successfully managed transition of program from rink control to a private youth hockey club where it continues to grow