Coming out of the Olympic break, not only did the Nashville Predators get a new name for the building at 501 Broadway they call home, there was a new look for one of the two machines that resurfaces the ice at the Bridgestone Arena as well.
In the three Predators home games played since the calendar turned to March, one of the team’s two Zamboni® ice resurfacing machines bears the logo of Brentwood-based sock manufacturer Swiftwick International. And their Chief Executive Officer could not be more thrilled.
“It’s really cool, isn’t it?” CEO Mark Cleveland said with the pride of a father showing off pictures of a newborn child. “It’s such a surprise for our cycling, mountain climbing, and trail running and marathon running customers. They come to the hockey arena, and there we are on a Zamboni. We’re having a great time with it. We’re super excited with the working experience we have had with the Predators.”
Clearly there are numerous avenues for a company to market their products to hockey fans, but the most unique of those opportunities has to be having your logo splayed all over a four-ton piece of American-made heavy machinery cruising around the ice a three miles per hour in front of up to 17,113 pairs of eyes at a Nashville Predators game.
“Our super-cool little looking brand right next to gigantic well established brand name supporters of the Predators,” Cleveland said. “It makes us feel like a deeper part of the community. We’re a micro company. We manufacture socks in America.”
Swiftwick has had their logo on the dasher boards at Bridgestone Arena for most of the current season, and the successes they have seen with that decision fueled their expansion into other marketing opportunities with the Predators. The company also sponsors an in-game promotion where fans in the upper deck are given seats on the glass, and they were also a part of the Predators February Fangtastic 5K Run/Walk.
“We’re clearly getting Predator fans with a great deal of loyalty deciding to try our socks out,” Cleveland said. “We were on the dasher boards because of the TV exposure helped us build brand in other markets where Swiftwick is being picked up by specialty retail outlets.”
The loyalty Cleveland speaks of is not just resulting in Predator fans purchasing Swiftwick socks; it has caused those same Predator fans to tell other Predator fans to purchase Swiftwick socks.
“We do a lot of social media, and we have seen a lot of fans saying, ‘Swiftwick is supporting the Predators, so we need to support them,’” Swiftwick Director of Marketing Rachel Scott said.
On the Predators side of the equation, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Derek Perez sees the partnership between Swiftwick and the team as a natural fit.
“He’s Nashville-based, so he has Nashville ties,” Perez said. “Between the local and national exposure that you get, there really is no better bang for your dollar. Half the battle for them is getting people to put their foot in the sock, and once they do, they typically wear them consistently.”
Perez counts himself as one who became a Swiftwick convert after trying on a pair of their socks.
Cleveland sees a lot of similarities in the business approach of his company and that of the Predators.
“We are really passionate about a good product,” he said. “You can see a matching passion from the Predators about their product and how they put together successful partnerships.”
So when the Predators return to Nashville ice Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, make sure to notice Mark Cleveland’s new addition cruising around the ice at the intermissions. He will be in attendance that night, but there is no word yet on whether or not he will be passing out cigars in celebration.
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