Tonight is the night – The Maple Leafs face the Boston Bruins tonight at the ACC. Thousands of fans will come out. Mayor Rob Ford declared it a Blue and White Day. The brand of Toronto Maple Leafs is strong and gets stronger with each win. Which makes us wonder, do brands always have to be in the winning seat to gain the respect of their fans?
Enjoy the Party tonight. Go Leafs Go!
Traditionally, a number of factors go into the concept of making a brand “great” and with the Toronto Maple Leafs, at least during the NHL’s modern era there has been (I would argue) one overarching thrust behind it: social identity. I stress identity as opposed to the product as the product on the ice has often been often poor, sometimes mediocre, and only fleetingly good. Henri Tajfel and John Turner’s basic premise behind social identity theory fits well into the professional sports paradigm and the good people at MLSE have masterfully marketed the concept that we are a part of “Leaf Nation” –from social categorization to social identification to social comparison — so by extension those that identify with this nation belong to the tribe that lives and bleeds blue and white.