Hockey has a diversity problem. Canada is the most diverse country in the world. But our national game? Not so much. Sadly, discrimination is a fact of life for anyone who doesn’t fit the traditional hockey mold. As one of hockey’s biggest sponsors, Scotiabank has a responsibility to change that and is setting out to make hockey more diverse, inclusive and accessible for all Canadians.

Canada’s game should be for all Canadians. But right now, it isn’t. So in three words, Scotiabank’s new sponsorship platform outlines a simple yet radical vision for the future of our national game: hockey for all.

The campaign tackles hockey’s diversity problem head-on by highlighting

real athletes who have overcome discrimination. From household names like

PK Subban to a peewee coach who was told he should be coaching cricket,

the campaign shines a spotlight on hockey’s culture of discrimination while

celebrating the diversity that does exist within the game.

The PR strategy was to introduce Hockey for All through an exclusive interview featuring our star athlete partner (PK Subban) via The Globe and Mail. The Globe is Canada’s national paper of record - it has wide reach and is highly credible. By announcing through The Globe, we were making sure as many Scotiabank customers and Canadian hockey fans as possible understood the “why” behind the ads they’d be seeing during the hockey game that evening. From there, we followed with a regular cadence of Scotiabank cultural and financial announcements that coincided with milestones on the 2021/22 hockey season calendar.

On opening night of the NHL season, hockey for all launched with a film that signaled our commitment to creating meaningful change. The film highlights the real, hurtful words, comments, and insults experienced by hockey players of all stripes and juxtaposes them with those players’ achievements. From Stanley Cup Champion Trevor Daley being told to “stick to basketball” to online commenters telling five-time Olympic Gold medallist Jayna Hefford to “make me a sandwich”, each comment was based on the real, lived experiences of the athletes. In its dramatic conclusion, we hear PK Subban responding to a voice telling players to go back where they belong by declaring “This is where we belong.”

- Hockey For All reached 1 in 4 Canadians

- Canadian's awareness of Scotia's 'hockey for all' messaging significantly impacted all key brand performance indicators.

- Metric | Control % / Exposed %

- Familiarity | 40% / 64%

- Favourability | 20% / 30%

- Opinion | 9% / 19%

- Likelihood to recommend | 15% / 27%

- Purchase consideration | 16% / 26%

- 7/10 Canadians agreed that "hockey for all" messaging is meaningful and feels authentic coming from Scotiabank

PR results: Secured 41 earned stories at launch, with 100% of the stories carrying key messages from our press materials, resulting in a reach of more than 6 million organic impressions.