Colorado Avalanche Successfully Mount #GetGabeIn Campagin For All-Star Game

The Colorado Avalanche mounted a social media campaign to get Gabriel Landeskog added to the All-Star Game roster. It worked.

Last week the Colorado Avalanche announced that captain Gabriel Landeskog had been shortlisted for Last Man In at this year’s All-Star Game. This is an opportunity for fans to choose one player from each division in the NHL to be added to the All-Star roster.

What followed was a fun and cleverly executed campaign to motivate fans to vote for Landeskog. It started subtly with various members of the team being asked to hold buttons similar to those used in political campaigns.

They re-posted a video from a few weeks ago where members of the team had been asked what they thought Landeskog’s spirit animal was. Although most Avs fans have probably seen the video at this point it was a good way of showing the more lighthearted side of the team to those who might not be aware and who were considering who to vote for. Fun videos like this tend to stick in people’s minds.

The campaign stepped up a level during the home game against the New York Rangers. The team set up a voting booth where people could cast their votes for Landeskog and get a campaign sticker for doing so. As the poll requires voters to have an NHL.com account, having someone there to help set that up was definitely an inspired way to get more votes.

They also gave out posters which looked great in photos.

The rest of the team weighed in on why people should vote for Gabe and it’s clear how much admiration and respect his has from his teammates.

Then the big guns came out. It started with a seemingly innocent tweet about a plan to help with the campaign. Landeskog’s face is priceless, but little did anyone know that the plan would involve a series of elaborate and hilarious photos.

I don’t think anyone is in denial about the fact that Landeskog is a good looking man. It’s been commented on by men, women and his teammates. Add glasses and you have a photo that’s definitely going to entice people to vote for him.

This was then followed by a series of photos, much in the same vein as a political campaign ad, depicting Landeskog as a good captain who helps out his team and looks after them.

And then, to finish things off, they added a dog. Because everyone loves dogs.

Everyone also loves a good pun, and dogs.

https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/1081665612651421699

There might also have been a little, tiny bit of blackmail involved as well.

But it was all done with tongue in cheek and with a good sense of humor.

True to their word they just posted the Landesdog video while I was in the middle of writing this.

That wasn’t the end of it though. The next day they followed up with actual hockey stats, for those who weren’t moved by the smart, helpful captain or the dog.

Attention was then turned to us, the fans, to see what we wanted. Our voices were clear.

True to their word the Avs posted nothing but Gabe on their Instagram until voting closed. They were brilliantly subtle about it though. Those who weren’t aware might not have even noticed it was happening.

http://coloradoavalanche.tumblr.com/post/181877274703/tbh-you-can-barely-tell-we-are-posting-gabe-in

The stakes were upped yet again with the addition of a baby to the campaign.

Ian Cole is given credit for the final product. After days of photos and interviews the team posted an actual campaign ad video.

Returning to my earlier point about how everyone thinks Gabe is good looking, here is Erik Johnson making sure to mention that in his endorsement.

What I find especially interesting about the whole campaign is that other teams started to pay attention to what the Avalanche were doing. The Edmonton Oilers shared some photos of their choice, Leon Draisaitl holding a variety of babies. Coincidentally Draisaitl also made it onto the final roster.

So, while credit of course has to be given to everyone who voted, and to Landeskog for making it onto the shortlist in the first place, I think at least some credit needs to be given to the Avs media team for this brilliantly marketed campaign.

It was fun to watch the whole thing unfold and clearly it motivated people to vote.