The Detroit Red Wings are again offering fans the chance to have their photos featured on digital advertisements and city billboards throughout metro Detroit as part of their “Octopi Hockeytown” campaign, which aims to generate support and enthusiasm for the team during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which begin tonight in Boston.
Building off the success of last year’s multi-platform campaign, social media users can share their content by using the hashtag #OctopiHockeytown. Their posts will appear in an aggregate feed on OctopiHockeytown.com, says Alex DiFilippo, a spokesman for the Red Wings.
“You can use the hashtag through all of the different social media channels,” DiFilippo says. “We pull several photos through Instagram and put them on billboards. Fans have a chance to actually see themselves on billboards.”
Last year, the campaign secured 10 million impressions through social media. In addition, last year’s virtual “Octopus Toss,” where fans can download photos of an octopus and share it with friends via Facebook and Twitter, was the most shared post in the history of the team’s digital promotions, DiFilippo says.
As part of the campaign, the team will host viewing parties of the playoff games, DiFilippo says. The first will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at Hockeytown Café in downtown Detroit, where former player Darren McCarty will sign autographs for fans. McCarty will also be available at the second viewing party for Game 2 at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Ciccarelli’s Sports Bar in Shelby Township.
Starting Thursday fans can take a photo with a large graphic of “Al the Octopus” outside Joe Louis Arena, DiFilippo said. Fans can visit the campaign’s website to take part in daily contests and giveaways of T-shirts, jerseys, and playoff tickets.
