That’s what the Bruins have done by hiring Mullen as their official ad agency for the upcoming season.
Mullen replaces Allen & Gerritsen and is the brains behind last spring’s popular commercial campaign that featured a seven-foot bear with new rules for fans of the Black and Gold.
Never Date Within the Division.
Never Tuck In Your Bruins Jersey.
Hang Up Your Phone And Watch the Game.
Always Have Your Victory Dance Ready.
Bill Maher couldn’t have done any better with those calls to action. The spots were sharp, uncompromising and funny — the perfect way to say this is a new era in Bruins hockey.
The team’s play got Boston excited about hockey again, and the new rules made sure the Hub stayed excited. The old-school hockey town had fallen on lean times for most of the millenium, stuck in the doldrums, relegated to duck-boat-parade-spectators status, overshadowed by the Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics and all their championship runs.
Not anymore.
The Bruins are players in the Boston sports scene and a force to be reckoned with in the NHL. After reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, they have set their sights on being the last team standing.
And the Black and Gold are counting on Mullen to help them maintain that momentum and increase their market stature.
According to The Boston Globe, the Bruins have already sold 5,000 more season tickets than last year.
This isn’t a reclamation project. This is about strengthening a Bruins brand that oozes history and tradition like blood from the face of one of Milan Lucic’s victims. This is about letting people know that this Original Six franchise is making a comeback. This is about raising the stakes and increasing awareness.
The Bruins have worked hard to become relevant in Boston again — on and off the ice.
It starts at the top with the front office making shrewd personnel moves. Claude Julien was the right choice for coach. Julien is a roll-up-your-sleeves kind of teacher the Bruins needed to restore order to a team that had become lethargic and undisciplined.
Peter Chiarelli then went to work on revamping the roster. He sought strong, talented, team-first characters to add to the strong, talented, team-first core in place. All the players bought into Julien’s grind-it-out system. They showed what is possible when everyone accepts their role, is dedicated to the same goal and does their job every shift.
Now the next level is calling.
The Bruins know their turnaround won’t be complete until another Stanley Cup is raised. So does the city of Boston. And so does the company charged with creating innovative promotions to trumpet the Black and Gold’s success.
As Mullen focuses on devising new ways to showcase the Bear, they haven’t forgotten the first rule of advertising — it’s a lot easier to market a winner.
Bruins fans just needed a reason to believe. After years of waiting, they finally have one.
