Shifting Opinion Toward a Shared Win

Hockey is not just a game, its part of our Canadian culture.  People are passionate about ‘their’ hockey team.  And hockey is big business.  So when four famous NHL’ers and their business partner wanted to purchase the Kamloops Blazers, they needed to convince the community, media and fans that new ownership was a winning formula.

After what is described as ‘being driven out of town’ when their initial offer to purchase the team was interpreted as a hostile takeover of a much loved community asset, they hired Communication Solutions.  We developed a strategy and a community relations strategy  that would demonstrate transparency, change opinion, maximize the power of inclusion and influence people’s actions.  Our campaign “Kamloops Wins!” convinced the current owners, community, media and fans to support new ownership and was voted the 2^nd top local news story of the year.  The result – Sold!  76% of Blazers Society members voted to sell the team to our clients.

“The process we endured during our pursuit of the Blazers was a difficult one. Communication Solutions were excellent partners and a critical part of our team.  We would likely not have succeeded without their efforts and pensive advice.”

– Tom Gaglardi, CEO, Northland Group