ZSC The Essence of Lions
ZSC Lions
Issue 59 | June 2021
Agency
serviceplan Switzerland
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officers Raul Serrat, Pam Hu¨gli Executive Creative Directors Marcin Baba, Micha Seger Creative Director Michael Kathe Copywriters Henry Clarke, Peter Liptak Art Directors Nadja Tandler, Tizian Lienhard
Production Team
Art Buying Nathalie Jakober Production Carmen Anderegg, Denise Goldmann
Other Credits
Account Executive Nicolas Gspan Client Chief Marketing Officer Roger Gemperle Marketing & Sponsoring Manager Louis Huber
Date
May 2021
Background
Covid-19 prevented sports fans around the world from attending their favourite teams’ matches and in March 2020 the Swiss government banned fans from going to sports events in response to the pandemic. Consequently, more than 4,000 fans of Zurich’s ZSC Lions ice hockey team held season tickets for games they could no longer see live.
Idea
Since the fans couldn’t go to the ice, ZSC Lions took the ice to their fans.
Essence of Lions was a unique memento of the ’silent season’ of 2020/21, conceived to thank fans for their support and anticipate their return to the stadium. Emerging from the mantra ‘When the world freezes, melt’, Essence of Lions was a 15ml bottle of water made by melting ice from the ZSC rink where the team had the season without spectators.
The symbolic gift was mailed to fans and led them to a page on the club’s website. A film explained the gift alongside additional content of players and management reflecting on the past year and looking forward to being reunited with their fans. Although the small bottles were intended as collectibles, the mailing suggested a host of uses for the water they contained, from baptising baby ZSC Lions fans to cleansing rooms of evil spirits and polishing trophies.
Results
Every season ticket holder renewed.
Our Thoughts
You don’t have to be a psychologist to know that a thoughtful gift strengthens the relationship you have with a friend.
‘Psychology Today’ reports that ‘gifts that reflect who the giver is increase closeness between giver and receiver.’ They go on to say that when a gift is ‘emotionally-laden with associations’ their recipients feel more deeply bonded.
So, even though the times are bad, ZSC have managed to make their fans feel good.
And that’s a neat trick to pull off when, for comparison, the Premier League football clubs in the UK are (at the moment) looking at a combined shortfall of £350 million in sales for next season.