Sports sponsorship is one of the oldest and most traditional forms of media. The See My Name campaign takes something as simple as a logo placed on a jersey, and turns it into a bold statement about recognition and a way to actually increase visibility for female athletes.

In Canada, Molson is known as the official beer of hockey, and while most famously linked to the NHL, its commitment to athletes doesn’t stop at male leagues.

Through the establishment of the PWHL in August 2023, female players finally had a league of their own. But like most professional women’s sports, the league was faced with disparities in investment, viewership and awareness, which all translated to a lack of awareness for its players. Compounding this lack of awareness was traditional jersey design – majority of PWHL players have long hair; with their names placed above their numbers, it often gets covered, meaning that it makes it very difficult for the public to see their names, and therefore receive recognition.

Thanks to its rich history with hockey, and its commitment to bring “Everyone In” through its inclusive brand platform that was introduced in 2022, a partnership with the PWHL was a natural fit for Molson – in fact, they were already in talks when the league was conceived. But Molson didn’t want to establish just a partnership – it wanted to enact meaningful change through greater visibility to the league’s players while doing so.

With these considerations in mind, Molson’s PWHL partnership would be introduced at the highly publicized PWHL Toronto versus Montreal game on March 8th, where it would unveil redesigned jerseys that featured Molson’s logo atop the player’s number, with their names below, allowing everyone to “See My Name.”

Molson has a longstanding history with hockey, and we wanted female leagues to be no exception. With talks already underway with the PWHL, we knew there was an opportunity to branch out of the NHL space, and show the nation how Molson could support female athletes.

Noting the existing disparity between men’s and women’s leagues, the brief was clear – introduce Molson’s new partnership with the PWHL in a way that would impact change for the better and bring greater visibility and recognition to the PWHL’s players.

To bring more visibility and recognition to PWHL players, Molson sponsored the space above PWHL jersey numbers. By shifting the player’s name below their number, and affixing its logo above, Molson sacrificed the visibility of its logo, which would now be covered by the player’s hair, to allow the player’s name to be seen.

While the jerseys would make their official debut during the March 8th game, it was imperative that we drove coverage around the initiative beforehand. To do so, we created an anthemic OLV featuring players from PWHL Toronto and Montreal, as well as a very simple and clear key visual – the assets by which we would amplify the idea. These pieces launched one week before the game on Molson’s social channels.

The simple yet impactful jersey redesign, captured in our OLV and key visual, lent themselves well to sharing across traditional and social media.

This campaign was a rethinking of traditional sponsorship media itself, turning a simple logo placement on a jersey into a powerful statement for visibility in women’s sports.

In addition to the jersey sponsorship, the campaign ran in multiple channels to reach a broad audience.

Owned social channels did the heavy lifting to share the video, creating online buzz.

Sportsnet and Breakfast Television integrations were key to ensure there was broadcast coverage. Both extended to digital placements, such as a Sportsnet homepage takeover.

Specific OOH placements were purchased to reach consumers in high impact areas, including near Scotiabank Area in Toronto, a key placement for hockey fans.

Existing PWHL jerseys of Toronto and Montreal athletes were re-designed to include the Molson logo on top of the player number. By sponsoring that specific space, the player’s names were shifted below the number, increasing visibility. The intent was not to change any other elements of the jersey. They were not meant to overly showcase Molson, but rather make a subtle change to increase visibility and awareness of the players.

Additional channels included:

Organic Social

OLV

Sportsnet Integration

Broadcast - Countdown Clock, Billboards during games

Digital - Homepage takeover

On-air Talk Show segments

OOH

Media began running on March 5th with OLV to generate buzz ahead of the March 8th game. Social posts featuring female jerseys were shared throughout the week, further promoting player visibility.

Molson saw both an increase in sales within 3 weeks since the campaign launch, with retail volume exceeding by 5.8% nationally and +15.2% in Ontario. There has been an increase in brand love, with new consumers finding Molson both locally and internationally. Overall, the total earned impressions exceeded 2.9 billion with the majority being overwhelmingly positive responses, boosting brand perception and making it the most shared campaign in Molson history.

Incredible voices on social media organically began to applaud Molson for the initiative and even some legendary women athletes like Billie Jean King, who resposted on her Instagram story.

Additionally, Molson is spreading the campaign globally, working with the English Football Association to feature the jerseys in the 2025 Women’s FA Cup Final that is sponsored by Carling (a Molson-owned brand.)

See My Name reimagined a traditional live event media placement, a simple jersey sponsorship, and turned it into an impactful statement about women’s visibility and a way to literally increase name recognition for female athletes.