Premier Lacrosse League: Welcome Home, from Whirlpool
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Integrated Campaign
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
A monumental milestone warrants a legendary announcement, and that’s exactly what drove the strategy behind the PLL’s introduction of its eight teams’ new home cities, dubbed “Welcome Home From Whirlpool.” In collaboration with Whirlpool, The Official Home Appliance Partner of the PLL, the league introduced its teams’ first home cities in league history, marking the league’s biggest announcement and investment in the business since the PLL’s inception in 2018.
The Welcome Home From Whirlpool activation was a monumental moment in lacrosse and the attention and buzz it generated was commensurate to the significance of the announcement itself. From major media outlets like ESPN, to TikTok influencers, sports analysts, and content creators, the Welcome Home From Whirlpool Campaign permeated pop culture and conversations coast to coast.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
Welcome Home From Whirlpool leveraged multiple channels to execute a can’t miss launch and milestone moment. The campaign tapped into national broadcast, social, influencers, PLL players, radio, web, the PLL app, digital fan voting, and more. While the campaign kicked off Nov. 14, 2023 with the introduction of PLL teams’ new home markets, it will continue throughout 2024 as each team is welcomed home during their inaugural homecoming weekend this PLL season.
Welcome Home From Whirlpool creative will exist on OOH in each home market, and every homecoming weekend will feature a Welcome Home pre-game tailgate. It’s rare for leagues to partner with a brand sponsor for the most pivotal moment in its history, yet rarer to do so in a way that resonates with fans and drives impactful engagement. Innately unique and inimitable, Welcome Home from Whirlpool reached sports fans coast-to-coast at local and national scale, delivering $1M in brand value in just 72 hours for the PLL’s newest partner, Whirlpool brand.
Objective
A monumental milestone warrants a legendary announcement, and that’s exactly what drove the multi-channel strategy behind the PLL’s introduction of its eight teams’ new home cities, dubbed “Welcome Home From Whirlpool.” In collaboration with Whirlpool brand, The Official Home Appliance Partner of the PLL, the league introduced its teams’ first home cities in league history, marking the league’s biggest announcement and investment in the business since the PLL’s inception in 2018.
The campaign served as a dual announcement, revealing the first-ever home cities and introducing the league’s official partnership with Whirlpool brand. The authentic alignment between Whirlpool brand and home cities announcement was what made the campaign successful. Whirlpool, a blue-chip family brand, creates products that help make a home feel like a home—to Welcome Home the PLL’s eight teams alongside Whirlpool brand, aligned perfectly.
At its core, Welcome Home From Whirlpool was designed to make a massive media splash and reach sports fans from coast-to-coast. The campaign was created to establish and grow fan affinity, while simultaneously promoting a key league partner.
Strategy & Execution
The campaign kicked off in July 2023 when fans voted for where they hoped would become home to a PLL team. In 24 hours, 50,000 fans submitted their votes—an early indicator of the excitement, and value of this moment for the PLL and its fans.
Following a series of teaser videos on PLL social, home cities were then announced live on SportsCenter with the Welcome Home From Whirlpool graphic front and center on ESPN. Beyond ESPN, the campaign received 43 unique pieces of media coverage across the national landscape, distribution across PR Newswire, and local TV, radio, and online publications.
All team social channels flipped to reflect the refreshed team branding. Whether Utah zen, or New York grind, each channel embodied the personality and culture of the respective home markets.
The league leveraged influencers to maximize exposure. 200 celebrity influencers received Welcome Home gearboxes, resulting in 197 posts promoting the campaign. ESPN and Whirlpool brand both posted on their respective channels to promote the activation, reaching a subscriber base of 26M+.
Welcome Home From Whirlpool branding took over the PLL App and Website, with banners across both platforms and pop up ad units upon landing on the home pages.
Organizations
- Premier Lacrosse League
- Whirlpool Brand
Links
Featured
- Paul Rabil
- Dan Orlovsky
- Field Yates
- Anish Shroff
- Josiah Johnson
- Marlon Humphrey
- Hank Lockwood
- Dan “Big Cat” Katz
- Max Delonte
Credits
Paul Rabil
Co-Founder & President
Premier Lacrosse League
Mike Rabil
Co-Founder & CEO
Premier Lacrosse League
Shannon Blakely
Vice President of North America Brand Marketing
Whirlpool Corporation
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
