Centennial Jersey Reveal

Chicago Blackhawks

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The 7th Annual Awards

Nominee ✨

• Best Advertisement: 60 Sec and Under

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ABOUT THIS ENTRY

While every other franchise in 2025 chased novelty with new colorways and dramatic redesigns, the Chicago Blackhawks made the opposite bet — that a jersey unchanged since 1955 didn't need to be reinvented. It just needed to be remembered.

How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?

The standard for a product reveal video is awareness. This one set a different standard entirely — purchase conversion at $500 a unit, three months before the product was available anywhere.

That reframe is the benchmark worth carrying forward. In an era where content is measured in views and impressions, this video proved that a single piece of creative — built on cultural authenticity rather than marketing spectacle — can function as a direct revenue driver. The sixty-second format didn't limit the impact. It focused it.

The pre-sale model itself is the industry idea worth adopting. By using a cinematic reveal to drive commitment before general on-sale, the Blackhawks transformed passive fan interest into a half-million dollars of pre-sale revenue and a waitlist of buyers primed for the official launch. Demand wasn't just measured — it was manufactured and monetized before a single jersey shipped.

For any franchise or brand considering how to maximize a product moment, this work answers the question simply: build a video worthy of the product, root it in authentic culture, and give fans a reason to act today rather than wait.

Objective

The Centennial jersey hadn't changed since 1955. In a launch landscape defined by dramatic redesigns and surprise colorways, the challenge wasn't generating curiosity — it was converting it.

The objective was straightforward: 

• Produce a single short-form video that would reveal the Centennial jersey as a pre-sale exclusive
• Drive immediate purchase intent before the official on-sale
•  Sell through a limited run to a targeted audience of Blackhawks fans who already knew exactly what they were buying — and needed one compelling reason to act now.

Strategy & Execution

The insight was simple: don't fight the jersey's story. Let it win.

The jersey didn't need a dramatic reveal or a manufactured hype moment. It needed a voice that felt as authentically Chicago as the crest itself. That voice belonged to Al Scroch — a Chicago creator whose unfiltered, hyper-local perspective gave the video a ZIP code that no traditional sports marketing could replicate.

The video opened with a montage of external voices unprompted declaring the black jersey the number one jersey in hockey, establishing immediate cultural credibility before a single frame of product appeared. Heritage landed first — gold borders, lace-up collar, Centennial patch — each detail revealed deliberately, building the kind of certainty that turns interest into a $500 purchase decision.

Hockey highlights cut against Chicago street scenics blurred the line between uniform and culture. Animation and rotoscoping added a contemporary visual layer while an original music track drove the pacing forward — ensuring the piece felt as premium as the product it was selling.

This wasn't a video about a jersey. It was a sixty-second argument for why you needed one before anyone else could get it.

 

Organizations

• • Cintri helped with 3D animation

Featured

• • Al Scroch - Multidisciplinary artist and performer
  • Music - The Who
  • Baba O'Reilly

Credits

Jerry Ferguson
EVP, Brand & Marketing
Chicago Blackhawks

Lyndsey Stroope
Director, Brand & Communications
Chicago Blackhawks

Trevor Bray
Director, Content & Creative
Chicago Blackhawks

Brian Howe
Director, Events & Experience
Chicago Blackhawks

Audra Fornaro
Manager, Content Production
Chicago Blackhawks

Alec Ruden
Manager, Growth Marketing
Chicago Blackhawks

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